Montana is the fourth largest state in the country, covering 147,046 square miles, according to EnchantedLearning.com. In the east, Montana's flat plains stretch for miles while the Rocky Mountains dominate the landscape to the east. It is also home of famous national parks such as Glacier National Park and part of Yellowstone National Park, which it shares with Wyoming. Montana is also home to a wide range of animals and plants, some of which are quite rare.
Montana's mammals vary depending which part of the state you visit. Certain animals, such as the squirrel and the raccoon, live in all parts of the state, including towns and cities. The pronghorn, a small, deer-like animal, is common in all parts of the state, except for the Rockies. One of the rarest mammals in the state is the bison, which sometimes is seen in the Yellowstone region and on the state's border with North Dakota. According to the Montana Field Guide, the bison is a species of concern and faces extinction.
Perhaps the rarest mammals in the state include its bears and big cats. According to the Montana Field Guide, the grizzly bear is sometimes found in the northwestern part of the state in the Rockies and around Yellowstone in the southwest. Black bears are more commonly seen in the western portion of the state and in the Yellowstone region. Big cats like the mountain lion and the bobcat are found throughout Montana. More rare is the Canada lynx, which is endangered and relegated to the western portion of the state. Once designated as endangered, the gray wolf has made a comeback in Montana and is found in the Rockies and Yellowstone sections of the state.
Many types of birds live in Montana or stop there on their migratory path. The numerous species of owls are among the most interesting types of birds that call Montana home. Many of these owls, such as the western and eastern screech owl, the great gray owl and the short-eared owl, are listed as species of concern by the Montana Field Guide. One of the rarest and most unusual is the northern hawk owl, which looks and acts more like a hawk than an owl and lives year-round only in a small section of the northern Rockies, but winters in parts of western Montana. Northern hawk owls differ from other owls because they have long tails and can fly very fast. While other owls are nocturnal, the northern hawk owl hunts during the daylight.
Montana is home to a plethora of plants, ranging from beautiful wildflowers to mosses. Among the wildflowers that grow there are the Indian paintbrush, lupine and the delicate columbine. On the prairies of eastern Montana, rabbitbrush is a small shrub similar to the sagebrush that blooms into bright yellow flowers. The gumbo lily offers beautiful, white flowers and the wax currant, a small shrub, bears red berries that are edible for birds but not to humans. The wax currant also blooms in very distinct tubular flowers that range from white to pink, according to Blake Nursery.
