PRESENT DAY MOUNTAIN MAN

BOBCAT (Lynx Rufus)

Below are Bobcat tracks preserved in mud. This is almost a direct register walk with the hind foot on top of the front (look at the four uppermost toes in the picture-this is the hind track stepping on top of the front track.). Note the bigger heel pad on the lower part of the two tracks-the bigger heel pad indicates the front foot, which makes sense physiologically since the majority of the weight of a Bobcat is on the front of the body. Also note the characteristic three lobes on the bottom of this heel pad, indicating a member of the cat family. Finally, note how the toes of the front foot are set at an angle to the heel pad, another characteristic of cats. Although it's not apparent from the picture, we knew it was a Bobcat because of its size:

MOUNTAIN LION (Puma concolor)

Below is a typical overstep walking pattern of a Mountain Lion. From left to right, the tracks present in this order-left front, left hind, right front, right hind, left front, left hind, etc. This is the pattern most typical of a Mountain Lion in a relaxed and casual traveling state (much like our own walk):

Mountain Lion Scat. Note the dark (almost black) appearance, somewhat glossy, and the presence of deer hair (their primary food) in the broken piece in the center of the picture:

Below is the scat of a huge Mountain Lion that is at least two weeks old. It is just slightly under 2" in diameter. Originally it was probably a little smaller than 2" due to the fact that as the scat breaks down from the elements and bacteria the Deer hair starts to unravel and expand. You can tell it's a Mountain Lion from the large size, the overwhelming presence of Mule Deer hair and parts, and the fact that there is absolutely no remnants of vegetation in the scat (they are strict carnivores):

Notice in the photo above the white bone fragment just above the Multitool's left side. Below is a close-up view:

A Mule Deer hoof was found in the scat upon closer inspection. Below are pictures of the hoof of a fawn that was eaten by this Mountain Lion:

STRIPED SKUNK (Mephitis mephitis)

Here is the lope (sometimes called a 1-2-1 lope for the foot pattern or a 3 x 4 lope) of a Striped Skunk crossing a muddy wash. Skunks will often use this gait when crossing open areas as they are exposed and want to get across quickly, perhaps suggesting a nervous and wary emotional state. Note the claw marks way out ahead of two of the tracks denoting the front feet (second and third from the left). These are front feet and are used for digging, hence the long claws. From left to right, this track reads left front, left rear, right front, right rear. We can assume he was moving along at a pretty good clip since the rear tracks are presenting ahead of the front feet:

Here is the 1-2-1 lope of a Striped Skunk in the snow. Here the skunk is moving in the direction of the bottom of the picture (as evidenced by the claw marks on the uppermost foot). The feet read like this: the bottom left corner of the picture is the right hind foot, the middle of the picture is the right front foot, the foot to the right of middle in the picture is the left hind foot, and the uppermost foot in the picture is the left front foot. The two front feet came down first and the hind feet followed. A lope is a faster pace than walking and it is a common behavior of skunks to lope across open areas as they become more nervous about being exposed out in the open. Many animal behaviors as well as emotions can be read in the tracks of animals (as well as people):

Below is a picture of the hind feet of a skunk that was hit by a car. Notice the separation (dividing line) in the heel pads of the hind feet as well as the shorter nails:

Here is a right front foot from the same skunk. There is also a separation in the heel pad as well but notice the much longer length of the nails. This is because skunks typically dig with their front feet only:

GRAY FOX (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)

Below are the tracks of a Grey Fox. Like all North American canines, you can tell the front feet from the hind feet by their size-since most of their weight is in the front, the front feet are larger (they also splay more than the hind feet as well). Note the presence of fur marks in the tracks. Foxes have hairy feet. The four toes give away the direction of travel-he is moving from right to left in this picture. The claw marks, which don't always show, are present in this picture ahead of the toes. This is almost a direct register which is typical of foxes and cats. True direct register occurs when the hind feet step directly on top of the front feet. You can tell it's a fox by the size of the track (it's about the size of a quarter or bigger), the hairiness of the track, and because you can almost draw a straight line that goes across the top edge of the two outer toes and along the bottom edge of the two inner toes. This is a medium speed walk since the hind foot is very close to the front foot. If this was a fast walk the hind feet would've been in front of the front feet:

The scat of a Grey Fox, seen below, is usually tapered at one end and is a small cylindrical shape:

Grey foxes typically leave their scat on high, conspicuous places like rocks or boulders as shown below on a boulder. The fingers in the picture give you relative size:

RACCOON (Procyon lotor)

The Native Americans had many legends surrounding the Raccoon (Procyon lotor). Many tribes believed because of their mask that they were a spirit disguised as an animal whose main purpose was to play mischievous tricks on us. They had many names for this creature because of its behavior-the Sioux Indians’ word for it was “wica” which means “little man”, while the Algonquian Indians called it “arakun” which means "he scratches with his hands”. This word “arakun” was eventually shortened to “raccoon” which was shortened again to the slang “coon”. The early European immigrants mentioned the raccoon as well-Columbus wrote in his journals about a clown-like dog - a “perro mastin”, while Captain John Smith wrote about it in 1612. The Procyonidae family (to which the raccoon belongs) are sometimes seen to be small cousins of the bear family, perhaps due to their stocky build. This is evidenced by the name Germans have for the animal: “Waschbär”, or “washing bear”, describing the unique habit Raccoons sometimes have of washing their food. In fact, the last part of their latin name, lotor, actually means “washer”.

The Raccoon is a medium-sized mammal that has salt-and-pepper grey to black fur with lighter colored fur on its belly. Their coat may contain yellow, red or brown, however, depending on their habitat. It is easily recognized by the black mask across the eyes on its broad head, the pointed snout, and the rings on its bushy tail. This tail has from four to ten dark rings and can comprise up to half of their body length. Including their tail, their total body length averages from 2’ to 3’5”. The typical weight of these stocky creatures is anywhere from 10 to 30 pounds, although in rare cases they can get up to 40 or 50 pounds. The largest raccoon on record, in fact, was a 62 pounder recorded in Wisconsin! Even so, these animals have been known to squeeze through holes as small as 4 inches in diameter. As it is with most of the animal kingdom, the adult males are usually heavier and larger than the adult females. Their weight often varies with habitat, seasons, and food availability, usually weighing more in the fall in preparation for winter.

A raccoon’s amazingly sensitive human-like front paws with their flexible finger-like toes are highly dexterous, allowing them to pry open garbage cans, open jar lids, open door handles, undo latches, turn faucets on, untie knots, catch flying insects out of the air, climb easily down a tree headfirst or tail first, and even tell the difference between objects without being able to see them. Much of this is probably due to its finger in the thumb position having some opposition. Their round, short ears are also highly sensitive, having a greater auditory range than a dog. They also have exceptional night vision although some researchers think they may be color blind or possibly color weak and may not be able to see for long distances. Their sense of smell is good as well and it is not unusual to witness a raccoon pressing an item up against its nose to smell it. They regularly shed their fur during the spring months typically, looking rather scraggly in the summer months. They are sturdily built animals that can drop 40 feet out of a tree without injury and can run up to 15 miles an hour.

Raccoons are highly adaptable animals whose range extends from lower Canada to Argentina, and with the exception of extremely cold climates, inhabits all of the United States. They are typically found in environments that have trees and water although they have adapted to farmlands and urban areas as well. Look for them in forests, wetlands, and plains in brushy or wooded areas near creeks, rivers and lakes close to sources of food and water. Although their preferred den is in a hollow tree or fallen log, expect to also find them in vacant homes and buildings, sewers, caves, rock piles, junk piles, cattail bunches and brush piles, haystacks, and the abandoned burrows of ground animals. In fact, the ground burrows are actually safer for a raccoon as it’s harder for a hunting dog to get a raccoon out of a burrow than treeing it. These dens serve as sleeping quarters during the coldest parts of winter as well as a place to raise their young.

Their home range is affected by the seasons, quality of their environment, available food, population levels, age, and sex. Their home range diameter is anywhere from 1 to 20 square miles, the greater range diameters typically held by males. Although adult males are somewhat territorial, it is not uncommon to see overlaps in home ranges, especially in heavily populated areas. They only travel as far as necessary to satisfy their appetite although males may wander up to five miles from their den during mating season. Females, on the other hand, rarely wander from their den more than a half mile.

These animals are extremely curious, smart, adaptable, shy, and exhibit very interesting behaviors, including the theft of objects that they fancy. They are primarily nocturnal but will occasionally be seen during the day when safety and food provide opportunity, sometimes regulating their feeding schedules to the tides near coastal areas for oysters and clams. Their daily behavioral patterns are often determined not only by the differences of the individual personality of a particular raccoon but also by the availability of food types in a particular season. In spring, raccoons will dine on animals and insects more than plants. Expect to see them feeding more heavily on a variety of plants and fruits, berries, and nuts in summer as a wider diversity of plants become available. Late summer and fall is extremely important as they begin to bulk up on these same plants and store body fat to be able to survive through the harshest winter weather. When winter finally comes, acorns are the most common fare.

Raccoons don’t hibernate as some people think but they do “hunker down” in their dens during the worst storms of winter (only a day or two in the southern states). They prefer solitude even though members of a family will sometimes co-habitate for food or shelter, the family unit usually being a mother and her young (although a Minnesota trapper once found 23 raccoons in one cabin!).

Raccoons will sometimes exhibit the interesting behavior of washing their food in water, the reasons for which scientists aren’t exactly sure of. They do not, however, always do this before dining, though they may play in water with their food. They are also good swimmers as well, albeit reluctantly as their fur is not water-proof and has a tendency to weigh them down. Even so, raccoons are ferocious fighters and have been known to drown dogs that have pursued them in water. These animals also make a wide range of sounds, including purring, whimpering, whining, hissing, snorting, snarling, growling, barking, squealing, and even screaming.

Although raccoons are classified as carnivores, plants are the largest part of a raccoon’s diet in most habitats, being fruit eaters chiefly. This, of course, helps plants and trees by dispersing their seeds through their feces. The meat that they do eat tends to less vertebrates and more invertebrates (insects). Their diet tends to be widely varied, eating fruit (grapes, berries, cherries, persimmons, peaches, apples, plums, figs, watermelons) greens and vegetables, nuts (acorns, walnuts), grains (corn is a favorite), insects (ant larvae, snails, termites, ground bees), water dwellers (clams, crayfish-a favorite, fish, frogs, turtles and their eggs) small mammals (mice, squirrels, rabbits), and birds (young waterfowl, ground and shrub-nesting birds like vireos and thrushes, domestic poultry and their eggs). They will also steal your dog or cat food, go through your garbage, scavenge roadways for carrion, and have even been known to cannibalize younger raccoons.

Breeding usually occurs in February (the peak) and March, although it may happen as early as December or as late as June. Males are not monogamous and frequently mate with many females each Spring. They usually will not live with the female, and when they do it is only for the month preceding the breeding and then until their young are born. After a 2 month pregnancy, females give birth to one litter per year, generally in April or May (although some late breeders may not give birth as late as August). Litters can vary from one to eight raccoons. Newborn raccoons are blind, deaf and covered with hair. They gain their sight and hearing in 3 weeks and by the sixth week they can support their own weight. They are weaned off the mother’s milk and can begin hunting in as little as two months from birth (some individuals 4 months), accompanying their mother on hunts. The young will stay with the mother through the year, even denning with her in the winter. In the following spring the young become independent of their mother, males establishing their territories sometimes several miles from their mother‘s area (females tend to stay closer to the mother). Although it takes two years to reach full development, female raccoons are ready for breeding in one year while males take two years.

A raccoon can be expected to live from 3 to 6 years in the wild (some up to 16 years). The main causes of death in raccoons are man (cars, trapping and hunting for fur and food), predators (foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, great horned owls), and diseases such as rabies caused from malnutrition. Although raccoons were almost extinct in the 1920’s due to fashion trends, they have comeback in such strong numbers that in some areas management has been necessary. This is due largely to the damage they do to agricultural crops and livestock. In addition, raccoons also damage homes when they rip off shingles attempting to enter chimneys and attics for denning sites, spill garbage can contents, and raid pet food.

Although people have kept them as pets, it is unwise to try to pick up or capture a raccoon for this purpose. Mothers are fierce and protective of their young and will bite if provoked. They can also carry a type of roundworm egg (found in their small intestine and feces) which is dangerous to pets and humans if ingested, causing damage to the eyes or nervous system, or even death. Rabies are also a worry, being transferred through saliva when bitten or spinal cord or brain tissue when handling a dead animal through the mouth, nose, or eyes. Furthermore, raccoons can carry lyme disease (from deer ticks), ringworm and salmonella. If these are a concern to you, pets and family members should not be allowed near raccoon scat, or live or dead raccoons. Do not allow them to eat from a pet’s food bowl, try to feed them, or try to take away food from them as well. Abnormal behavior isn’t always a sign that they are sick.

The tracks of a raccoon are some of the easiest to recognize, the fore paw resembling a baby’s handprints. There are five toes on both the fore and hind paws. Although they walk plantigrade (flat-footed), the heel on the hind paw sometimes doesn’t show (depending on the substrate). Claw marks are often visible, appearing as small dots in front of the tracks. The front paw is the smaller paw, measuring 1 ¾ - 3 1/8 inches long by 1 ½ - 3 ¼ inches wide. The rear paw measures 2 1/8 - 3 7/8 inches long by 1 ½ - 2 5/8 inches wide. The width of their trail can vary from 3 ½ to 8 inches, depending upon speed of travel (faster speeds show a narrowing of the trail width). Their stride (the distance from the bottom of a particular paw’s track to the bottom of the next track made by the same paw) can vary from 8 to 30 inches, also dependent on speed (longer distances mean faster rate of travel).

Raccoons have many different styles of walking patterns, but their most common gait is a type of walk called pacing where they move the legs on one side of their body together at the same time; i.e., the left front and rear feet move, then the right front and rear feet. This usually results in an interesting track where the left front foot registers alongside the right rear foot (and vice-versa). However, as their speed increases they typically will move from a pacing pattern to a diagonal walk to a bound and then finally to a gallop.

Trails made by raccoons tend to be straight with little meandering, going directly to and from dens and feeding areas. Look for raccoon sign at springs, creeks and lakes where they will leave tracks on sandy and muddy banks and overturned rocks when looking for food. Look for tracks around oak trees also during acorn season. To determine if a tree is being used as a den, look for tell-tale signs like claw scratch marks on the bark, raccoon hairs left on the tree that have black and grey/yellowish bands, and holes in the trunk or higher up in the tree that could provide shelter. Their scat breaks apart easily with a stick, is usually uniform in diameter, and often looks granular. Learn what bear cub, opossum and skunk scat looks like as raccoon scat is often confused with these. Latrine areas are usually on large rocks or boulders, woodpiles, fallen logs, at the base of big trees, and abandoned buildings.

Raccoon meat is considered a delicacy by many and can be obtained through hunting and trapping means after checking all regulations in your area and obtaining the proper licenses. They are fairly easy to trap but require a strong trap to hold onto them. Snares and live catch traps are legal in California. You can bait a trap with sardines or other fish, chicken, canned cat or dog food, and trappers often add bright shiny objects either above or behind the trap as an attractive curiosity to lure them. Scatter some bait in front of the entrance to the trap, just inside the trap entrance, and place the rest behind the trigger or snare. Be sure a single door live catch trap has tight wire mesh and that the back is up against a large object so that the raccoon can’t reach through the mesh to get the bait. Since raccoons bulk up early in the fall in preparation for winter (when their metabolism slows down as well), trapping in the early part of the season tends to net the best results. Hunting at night, where permitted, can also be effective when using strong lighting. Treed raccoons can be located in the upper branches by shining a flashlight and looking for the red or greenish reflection of their eyes. They can easily be dispatched with a .22-caliber firearm.

The easily identifiable human-like front paws of the raccoon can be seen in their tracks:

A couple of great Raccoon sounds can be heard on this webpage:

http://www.loomcom.com/raccoons/gallery/index.html

BRUSH RABBIT (Sylvilagus bachmani)

WESTERN COYOTE (Canis latrans)

Can you tell the differences between the Western Coyote tracks above and the domestic dog tracks below?

This is a coyote in a loping pattern. A lope can be distinguished from a walk by a series of separate pattern groups; a walk has a series of tracks with no distinguishable breaks between tracks (no 4 track groupings of patterns). In this particular case the coyote was in a medium lope as the rear feet were somewhat ahead of the front feet (the rear feet on canines are smaller than the front feet). A lope becomes a full gallop when both rear feet are ahead of both front feet. From left to right the pattern reads like this: right front, right hind, left front, left hind:

Here are two pattern groups:

And finally, a series of groups in succession to give you an overall feel of what they look like:

WESTERN GRAY SQUIRREL (Sciurus griseous)

Last spring, David was walking in front of our home when a tiny grey ball of fur ran up to him and began to follow him everywhere. Our neighbor explained that a squirrel’s drey had fallen from a tree in his yard and that the little kittens were running around looking for their mother. A drey is a nest made of leaves, sticks, and fur (the mother‘s tail and belly hair). Though we only found three kits that day, Squirrel’s can have up to five kits in each litter.

Knowing that Western Gray Squirrels could have fleas or ticks carrying Lyme Disease, Bubonic Plague, and occasionally Rabies, David donned a welder’s glove to pick up the youngster and feed him peanuts. Although David wanted to keep the pet, we called squirrel 911 to pick him up. They assured us that the squirrel would be returned to our neighborhood when he was able to survive on his own. Since the kits are relatively slow in development and would not leave the nest for six months or more, it could be a really long time to raise a wild animal in your home.

Western Gray Squirrels mate anytime between December and June. This is that crazy time when they act twitterpated like Thumper in the Disney Movie; Bambi. Mating behavior begins with the female attracting the males by behavior, scent, and vocalizations, who in turn hunt for her through their sense of smell, while calling her. When the males get close to the female they fluff, wave, and flick their tails. They speed around the branches, whining, squeaking, and dancing around her while chattering. Taunting them, the female takes off and the wild pursuit begins. Male squirrels will often fight over the female but the strongest male inevitably reaches the female first and passes his strong genes on to the next generation.

Western Grey Squirrels, the largest native tree squirrels in California, were close to extinction in 1900 and are currently closed to hunting in California. Populations of the Western Gray Squirrel are threatened with habitat loss, road-kill mortality and disease. Habitat has been lost to urbanization, wild fires, and overgrazing. The loss of habitat causes more road crossing deaths. Instinctively, squirrels dodge their predators with a to-and-fro strategy. Believing that cars are predators leads to what we recognize as squirrelly behavior and often results in their death. If you have ever seen one hit, you know that they scream in severe distress.

They are identified as having gray body fur, a white patch on the belly, white rings around the eyes, and occasionally little black flecks on their bushy long tail. Their coat grows thicker in the winter and helps them avoid predators by camouflage. A squirrel’s tail serves many functions: it provides cover from sun or rain, keeps them warm on a cold day like a blanket, helps them maintain balance, and even is used to give warning signals of potential dangers. The hind feet of a grey squirrel can swivel backwards 180 degrees which allows them to climb down a tree headfirst, allowing them to scan for predators. They ascend a tree headfirst. They have excellent hearing and often depend on auditory signals from other squirrels or birds to warn them of a potential danger. You have probably heard them. These alerts often result in the rest of the squirrels present joining in, resulting in a choir of squirrels hoarsely barking at the offending intruder. Besides alarm calls, they also communicate with a flick of their tails or by stamping feet. Their excellent eyesight enables them to see above and beside themselves at the same time and they are one of the few mammals that see color.

As a member of the rodent family, they have long sharp incisors that constantly grow and must be worn down through continual gnawing. Be careful! Squirrel’s teeth and claws are sharp and they will bite if provoked. Grey squirrels can also run close to 16 miles per hour on flat areas and can even swim! Some of the oldest of them reach ten years of age.

They don’t migrate or hibernate, and have a territorial range of up to thirteen acres. They spend most of their time on the ground foraging but travel by trees when covering longer distances. Tree squirrels are prey for bobcats, hawks, eagles, foxes, coyotes, owls, mountain lions, raccoons, snake, bears, dogs, crows, house cats, and even humans. So it is understandable that they are most comfortable in the safety of the trees. They feed solely during the day. Foraging times are typically in the morning and late afternoon. Primarily, their dining fare is pine nuts, acorns, and leaf stems and buds, but they will also eat bird’s eggs and young, insects, fungi, berries, flowers, bulbs and roots (as many gardeners will attest to), and much of the leftovers in your trash can.

Much to our distaste, squirrels also strip bark from trees and brushes to get at the sap underneath which may kill our favorite fruit trees or geraniums. Recently, we wrapped chicken wire around our blueberry bush to protect it. Also indigenous plants such as wild strawberry or Rosa californica seem to fare better than exotic non-natives.

Squirrels are not solely destructive. They are known as “scatter-hoarders” who will make many caches of food while in preparation for the coming winter. Scatter-hoarding greatly aids in the re-forestation of an area as they rarely are able to find all of their stored caches.

If you want to take pictures or just get to know the squirrel in your area, you can use peanut butter as bait. Watch for your squirrel’s favorite eating spot. Look for the remains of removed tree buds, gnawed bark, acorn hulls, partially eaten pine cones, and pine cone scales underneath a tree or at the base of a stump, rock, or mound. Watch where he or she goes in the evening. Take your camera and bait, and be patient. We put peanuts on our deck.

A Western Gray Squirrel's drey:

Different stages of squirrel gnawings:

Acorns that have been opened by a Western Gray Squirrel:

Evidence of a Western Gray Squirrel's cache of acorns in a sandy wash (notice the claw marks):

A Western Gray Squirrel with political views:

Want to hear one? This website has a pretty good downloadable audio sample of a Western Gray Squirrel:

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/animals/TreeAnimals.shtml

CALIFORNIA GROUND SQUIRREL (Spermophilus beecheyi)

The previous picture shows a California Ground Squirrel coming out of its den at the base of a tree. Below is another example of a California Ground Squirrel's den. Notice the acorns with chewed ends at the entrance:

MERRIAM CHIPMUNK (Tamias merriami)

Below is a juvenile Merriam Chipmunk I rescued from a cat. I heard his distress call and shortly after saw a cat emerge from behind some trash cans. After letting him have a couple of days to recuperate I put him in the maple tree in our yard (where he has taken up residence). Note the stripes on his back that are distinguishing marks from squirrels. When the winter snows come in he will go into hibernation. Soon he will retreat into a ground burrow and go intp a state called torpor where his body temperature will drop substantially as well as his hearbeat rate. He will spend much of the winter in this sleep-like state, occasionally getting up to eat from stored food supplies before returning to sleep. Sometime after February (after the weather warms up) we will expect to see him again when he will be seeking a mate:

MULE DEER (Odocoileus hemionus)

This is Mule Deer browse on Lamb's Quarters (a type of plant). We know it's Deer and not Rabbit because of the height of this browse (about 3 feet). We also know it's Deer browse because Deer do not have upper incisors, leaving the plant with a clean angled cut from the bottom (because of the lower incisors) and a rather sloppy torn-off top end (where it doesn't have upper incisors). Look closely at this picture from the bottom up. Can you see the bottom part of the cut is clean while the top is not such a clean cut?:

BLACK BEAR (Ursus americanus)

Here is a picture of a tree we found that a Black Bear had scratched up:

The close-up pictures below show five claw marks-the first picture is from the Bear's front left foot, the second from a front right foot:

Below is extremely fresh scat from a medium-to-large Black Bear. He was probably in the vicinity literally minutes before us since the outside was still very wet and not crusted over at all. There was also almost no change in the color between the inside and the outside when opened up. When determining whether you are looking at Bear scat or not, note the size (large dog or human size or larger), smell (at this time of year and at this place there is primarliy grasses, leaves and berries for it to feed on, giving it a kind of hay-like smell), and content (pits were found inside this one when it was opened up:

Upon opening the scat up we found a couple of hard pits inside (note the whitish-yellow balls at the top of the scat). The bear had apparently been eating some kind of fruit. Knowing the kinds of wild edibles in the area as well as where his trails are, we postulated what the pits could be from. We eventually figured it out. Can you guess what he was eating?

After scouting around the area we came to the inevitable conclusion that the seeds (pits) we found in the Black Bear scat could only be one thing: Holly-Leaved Cherry pits (see the "Wild Plant Uses and Insects" page). There were several Holly-Leaved Cherry shrubs on the way to the Bear's den. We ate a few Cherries ourselves to compare the size, shape, and color of the pits to the ones in the scat. Take a look for yourselves down below:

A free Black Bear sound clip can be downloaded at this webpage:

http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=176

BIRDS

ACORN WOODPECKER (Melanerpes formicivorus)

Below is an Acorn woodpecker on a palm tree:

Acorn woodpeckers have earned their name by the distinctive habit of making holes in trees and then caching acorns in them for later use. Some trees are literally riddled with holes filled with acorns. The pictures below demonstrate this:

The link below has audio clips of their familiar "Woody Woodpecker"-style call:

NORTHERN FLICKER (Colaptes auratus)

North Flickers are common in our mountains. They are members of the woodpecker family but unlike other woodpeckers they are frequently found on the ground (as in the pictures below) where they spend much of their time feeding on insects:

The familiar sound of this bird can be found at this link:

http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/Flicker-sounds.htm

BALD EAGLE (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Below is a concerned parent:

And, of course, the juvenile:

GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba)

A good way to distinguish the Great Egret from the Snowy Egret is the bill and feet (a Great Egret has black feet and a yellow bill; the Snowy Egret has yellow feet and a black bill as well as a tuft of "hair" on his head ):

MOURNING DOVE (Zenaida macroura)

Below is the scat of a Mourning Dove. Note how it's a small black pile on top of which is a whitish (with brown on top of that sometimes-as in this picture) pile on top of that:

Here is the very familiar sound of a Mourning Dove:

http://www.naturesongs.com/falcstri.html#lcolu

BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK (Pheucticus melanocephalus)

Above is a protective father watching over his baby (below):

You can hear a Black-Headed Grosbeak at this webpage:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/sounds

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH (Sitta Canadensis)

The sound of a Red-Breasted Nuthatch can be found here:

http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=440

HOUSE FINCH (Carpodacus mexicanus)

STELLER'S JAY (Cyanocitta stelleri)

The eggs of a Steller's Jay:

And the chicks:

A sound recording of a Stellers Jay can be found at this webpage:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Stellers_Jay.html

REPTILES

SOUTHERN ALLIGATOR LIZARD (Elgaria multicarinata)

I found this little guy in our yard. They do bite (and hard sometimes!) and can lose their tail like other lizards:

GENERAL TRACKING CONCEPTS:

Animal Runs:

Be aware of cleared areas in grass or brush where repeated travels wear a pathway. This animal "Run" is probably used by a California Ground Squirrel as well as a variety of other animals and leads from their den (see "California Ground Squirrel", above) to a creek found a little further up. Little clues such as dens close by, tracks, water sources, and the width of the trail (denoting body width) can help you piece together which animal uses the trail, the animal's travels, motivations, and even emotional states. Can you see the run in the center of the picture below?