Editing Sanders County, Montana (section)

===Fauna===
A variety of birds and other wildlife are found in Sanders County. The [[Tufted duck]] has been observed along the [[Bull River (Montana)|Bull River]]. An [[amphibian]], the [[Rough-skinned Newt]], has a disjunctive population at Thompson Falls which is un-contiguous with the remainder of the Western United States population of this species.<ref>C. Michael Hogan (2008) ''Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa)'', Globaltwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg {{Cite web |title=Rough-Skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa ) - - GlobalTwitcher.com |url=http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=43182 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527153302/http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=43182 |archive-date=May 27, 2009 |access-date=April 6, 2009}}</ref>

Sanders County is a "destination hunting locale" with trophy specimens of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus), Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni), Shiras Moose (Alces alces Shirasi), Mountain Goat(Oreamnos americanus), and Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis Canadensis) rounding out huntable ungulate species and Black Bear, Cougar and Wolves comprising the huntable carnivores.

Rocky Mountain Bighorns are regularly hunted in the county. [[Grizzly bear]], the Montana state animal, are also found in the county, but as an endangered species, hunting them is prohibited. Montana had the last huntable population of Grizzlies in the lower 48, allowing 10 bears a year (natural deaths, poaching and other causes of death were included in that total to decide when season closed) as late as the 1990s. Only Alaska allows hunting for Grizzlies at present.

Western Meadowlark, the state bird are found sparsely in the meadow areas of Sanders County along with Redwing Blackbird and Mountain Bluebirds.

The [[westslope cutthroat trout]] (''Onchorynchus clarki lewisi'') is native to the drainages of Sanders County. The threatened native [[bull trout]] relies on westslopes as a major prey species in its piscivorous diet. Catch and release fishing is required to maintain fishable populations of the two natives, which now compete with introduced rainbow trout, and warm-water species, such as largemouth bass, yellow perch, Northern Pike, and walleyes that have been introduced and thrive in the modified habitat of the Clark Fork River's reservoirs.