Wildlife
The Pequannock Watershed is rich in wildlife compared to the rest if New Jersey. It provides a magnificent forest cover for many species of birds and provides plentiful food and cover for minks, otters, muskrat and even beaver in the northern sections.
There are trout in at least two of the Watersheds streams and black bear have been sighted recently near the Uttertown Bog. The Bog provides a yarding area for deer when they come together for the winter from the very end of December until the first thaw. There are turtles in the Bog as well, the most important of which is the green bog turtle.
In the northeastern section of the Watershed there are more bear, rattlesnakes and copper heads and hawks, owls and turkey vultures. Throughout the Watershed there are more rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, and woodchucks. The porcupine, rare in New Jersey, has also been sighted. In addition to trout, the streams and other water bodies in the Watershed also hold pickerel, bass and catfish.
Bird life within the Watershed is abundant and includes species rarely found in the State. Among the birds in the Pequannock are the nuthatch, varieties of the warbler, finch, grosbeak, chickadee, wren, flycatcher, titmouse, flicker, woodpecker, thrush, junco, bunting, Baltimore Oriole, bluebird, swallow, geese, duck, green heron, bufflehead, mergerganser, as well as the birds of prey already mentioned and the rare peregrine falcon.
Recognizing that the Pequannock Watershed is one of the last remaining wild areas in the State of New Jersey, the Pequannock Watershed provides for the preservation of wildlife habitats. It does so in a manner that will ensure that future generations may look over this list without fear that most no longer exist. That fear is only too common for this generation in the State of New Jersey.