Whatcom County has abundant populations of wildlife, including deer, elk, coyotes, and migratory birds. Large populations of wildlife living (and pooping) around our waterways- such as raccoons, beavers or birds- are one of the possible sources of high bacteria levels in creeks. Unfortunately, standard fecal bacteria monitoring cannot differentiate between bacteria from human, livestock, or wildlife sources.

​You can help us better understand where wildlife are most often seen and how they may be impacting water quality by tracking wildlife as you see them. The next time you see animals on your property, or while driving around, please log your sighting into our Whatcom Wildlife Tracking iNaturalist Project.

​A number of resource exist to for more information about how wildlife can impact water quality:

• Raccoons & Water Quality
• WDFW’s Living with Wildlife- Raccoons
• WDFW’s Living with Wildlife- Beavers