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The Wild Animals of La Cresta Ridge and Ravine
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The Cottontail Rabbits
(Sylvilagus)
Rabbits are a genus of American lagomorphs in the family Leporidae, in appearance closely similar to the wild European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cunicularis). Most members of the genus have a stub tail with a white underside that shows when they are retreating, and this is what gives them their name. However, this feature is not present in all cottontails (for example, the underside of the Brush Rabbit's tail is grey), nor is it unique to the genus - the European Rabbit also has a white scut.
The genus is widely distributed across North America, though most species are confined to particular regions. Most (though not all) species live in burrows, and all have altricial young.
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Cottontail Rabbit
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Opossum
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Opossum
(Algonquian wapathemwa)
Opossums are the only marsupials in North America.
Opossums are 15-20 inches long and weigh between 9 and 13 pounds. They resemble large, fat, rats. Their coats are a dull grayish brown, other than on their faces, which are white. Opossums have long hairless prehensile tails, which can be used to grab branches and carry small objects. They also have hairless ears and a long, flat nose. Opossums have 50 teeth (most among land mammals) and opposable clawless thumbs on their rear limbs. Opossums are nocturnal and during the day sleep in dark, hidden areas. At night they are often seen in trees.
The opossum diet includes bugs (including cockroaches), snails, mice and small rats. Some opossum lovers claim that they provide a valuable service to humans by competing with and eating other, more disease-ridden vermin. Like raccoons, opposums can be found in urban environments, where they eat pet food, rotten fruit, and various human garbage.
The Virginia Opossum is noted for its reaction to threat, which is to feign death. From this behavior comes the phrase "playing possum". While "playing possum", the opossum actually enters a near coma. It lies on its side, mouth open, tongue hanging out, with green fluid emitting from its anus. The opossum will "play possum" for 40 minutes or up to four hours at a time. Opossums that appear to be dead but not displaying fatal injuries should be given the benefit of the doubt--don't bury them alive.
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Squirrel
(genera Sciurus and Tamasciurus)
Squirrel is the common name for rodents of the family Sciuridae. In everyday speech in the English-speaking world it usually refers to members of the genera Sciurus and Tamasciurus. These typical members of the family are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, and are native to Europe, Asia and the Americas. Similar genera are found in Africa. However, the Sciuridae also include flying squirrels, and ground squirrels such as the chipmunks, prairie dogs, and woodchucks. The unrelated family Anomaluridae also have "squirrel" in their common name, though they are usually referred to as "scaly-tailed flying squirrels". The original translation of the word "squirrel" literally means "animal with the tail that casts a shadow." It comes from Greek, the syllables skia meaning shadow and oura meaning tail.
Typical squirrels include the European Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris, the Fox Squirrel S. niger, the Eastern Gray Squirrel S. carolinensis, the Western Gray Squirrel S. griseus, and the American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus.
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Squirrel
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The Bobcat
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The Bobcat
(Lynx rufus, or Felis rufus)
is a small wild cat indigenous to North America. They have reddish-brown or yellowish-brown coats that are streaked with black or dark brown and have prominent, pointed ears with a tuft of black hair at the tip. They have white underparts. They are named for their short or "bobbed" tail. Bobcats stand approximately 25–30 cm (10–12 inches) high at the shoulder. The male Bobcat typically weighs from 11–16 kg (24–35 lb) and its habitat is deciduous forests and wooded areas in most of the western and southeastern United States and Mexico.
They breed in late winter or early spring and have a gestation period of about two months. A female may have one to six kittens each year. Bobcats move about their home ranges most actively in the hours near dawn and dusk, hunting small mammals. They seek cover in conifer stands and on rocky ledges.
Unlike the larger Canada Lynx, which they resemble, bobcats are often highly adaptable to human-caused changes in environmental conditions; some biologists believe that there are more bobcats in the United States today than in colonial times. They have vanished from parts of the midwest where most suitable habitat has been replaced by cultivated fields.
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Raccoon
(Procyon lotor)
Description: Body length: 1.5' - 2'. Tail length: 8 - 16". Weight: 10 - 44 lbs., males are larger than females. Coat is long, dense and gray-black. There is a distinctive mask around the eyes. The tail has 5 to 7 rings. The feet have 5 toes with curved, non-retracting nails. The front feet support the weight of the body. 40 teeth.
Habitat: Usually found near water, except in the high mountains or deserts. Prolific in urban areas, even cities. Range: Entire United States, from Southern Canada to Panama.
Social Structure: Solitary except in winter when there can be one adult male and numerous females and juveniles sharing a den. Male has the territory and will defend it against another male.
Diet: Omnivorous, feeds on fruits, berries, nuts, frogs, crayfish, clams, fish, salamanders, baby mice and rabbits, snails, birds, eggs, earthworms, carrion, insects and garbage.
Activity Time: Nocturnal.
Breeding Biology: Breed late in winter. 1-6 young, average is 3-4. Gestation period is about 63 days. Females breed at 1 year old, males don't breed until their 2nd year. Males are only present at breeding time. Age of independence is about 8 months
Interesting Facts:
• Raccoons do not truly hibernate, but will remain in their nest for a month or more if the temperature is below freezing.
• Raccoons are opportunistic animals, notorious as crop marauders, garbage bandits and escape artists.
• They do not "wash" their food, but will dip it in the water.
• Raccoons walk on their toes, not on their entire foot.
• Can run about 15 mph in a sprint.
• Can jump down from heights of 35 to 40 feet and land feet first.
• Good swimmers.
• Young are preyed upon by bobcats, coyotes, fishers, bears, cougars, large owls, eagles and alligators. Only the larger predators can take an adult raccoon..
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Raccoon
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Coyote
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Coyote
(Canis latrans)
Is a member of the Canidae (the dog family) and a relative of the domestic dog. Coyotes are only found in North America. Coyotes may occasionally assemble in small packs, but normally hunt alone. Coyotes live an average of about 6 years. The word "coyote" is of Nahuatl origin.
This coyote stands less than two feet (0.6 m) tall and varies in color from gray to tan with sometimes a reddish tint to its coat. A coyote's ears and nose appear long and pointed, especially in relation to the size of its head. It can generally be distinguished from its much larger relative, the Grey Wolf, by its overall slight appearance compared to the massive 75 to 125-pound (34 to 57 kg) stockiness of the bigger canid.
Despite being extensively hunted, the coyote is one of the few medium-to-large-sized animals that has enlarged its territory since human encroachment began (another is the raccoon). Coyotes have moved into most of the areas of North America formerly occupied by wolves, and the "dog" you see scrounging from a suburban trashcan may in fact be a coyote.
Coyotes are considered to be highly intelligent and adaptive animals.
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White tailed Deer
Cervidae Artiodactyla
A deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. A number of broadly similar animals, from related families within the order Artiodactyla, are often also called deer.
Depending on the species, male deer are called stags, harts, bucks or bulls, and females are called hinds, does or cows. Young deer are called fawns or calves. Hart is an expression for a stag, particularly a Red Deer stag past its fifth year.
Deer are widely distributed, with representatives in all continents except Australia and Africa. These are Fallow Deer, Red Deer, Sambar Deer, Hog Deer, Rusa Deer and Chital Deer Although exotic to the continent, environmental factors restrict their ranges to habitable patches, thereby preventing any one species from becoming a serious pest. Red deer introduced into New Zealand in early 1900s (a gift from US President Theodore Roosevelt) have been largely domesticated since the late 1960s and are common farm animals there now.
Deer differ from other ruminants in that they have antlers instead of horns. There are about 43 species of deer worldwide. Deer are selective feeders. They have small, unspecialised stomachs by herbivore standards, and high nutrition requirements: ingesting sufficient minerals to grow a new pair of antlers every year is a significant task. Rather than attempt to digest vast quantities of low-grade, fibrous food as, for example, sheep and cattle do, deer select easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh grasses, soft twigs, fruit, fungi, and lichens.
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White tailed Deer
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Skunk
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Skunk
(Mephitis Mephitis)
Striped Skunks are considered to be the most primitive of the living carnivores. They are furry animals with a stocky body and a small, elongated head. The Skunk's legs are short with powerful claws. The ears are small and round. Skunks cannot see too well, but their sense of hearing is good. The coat of a Skunk is black with two broad white stripes, which form a cap on his head and shoulders, and a thing white stripe down center of his muzzle. Skunks have a bushy black tail with a white tip. Skunk's coloration isn't protective at all - it's bold and advertising to enemies that this animal shouldn't be bothered.
Photo source:
Length: Body length is up to 18 inches (45 cm) plus tail 7-16 inches (18-40 cm).
Weight: 2.6-11.7 pounds (1.2-5.3 kg).
Striped Skunks - Economic Importance
The Striped Skunk fluid contains musk and is used as a base for perfumes. Also Skunks are trapped for their fur and pelt, though they are low-valued. Striped Skunks are the easiest of furbearers to catch, falling prey to dirt-holes, bait-stakes and burrow sets.
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Grey Fox
(Urocyon cinercoargenteus)
These foxes are unusual in that they live in pairs rather than in a pack. Life span Grey foxes can live for about 13 years in captivity.
Statistics Body Length: 53-73cm, Tail Length: 28-40cm, Shoulder Height: 30cm, Weight: 2.5-6.5kg.
Physical Description Grey foxes have grey fur, apart from the throat, inside legs and under-parts, which are white.
Distribution Grey foxes live in the south-western United States and Mexico.
Habitat They inhabit mixed pine-oak woodland bordering pastures and fields.
Diet
Grey foxes feed on invertebrates, insects, small mammals, birds, plants, fruits and grains.
Behaviour
Most grey fox activity is at night, or at dawn and dusk. Their main dens are a hollow tree, or a burrow.
They are also called a tree fox because they often climb trees seeking refuge when threatened. The pack consists of a pair of adults and their young.
Reproduction
After a gestation period of 51-63 days, females give birth to 1-10 cubs, which weigh 100g at birth.
Conservation status
The grey fox has been hunted for its coat.
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Grey Fox
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Mountain Lion
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Mountain Lion
Mountain Lion has being seen in nearby Helen Putnam park.
Description: Body length: 7 to 8 feet. Weight: 80 to 200 pounds, males are larger than females. Also called Catamount, Puma, Cougar, Panther, Mountain Devil, Screamer cat
Habitat: Most commonly found in rocky terrain, but found in all areas from forest to desert. Range: Western North America from British Columbia to western Wyoming, to California and Western Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennesse and Florida.
Social Structure: Usually solitary. Strongly territorial
Diet: Large mammals such as deer, also will eat coyotes, porcupines, beavers, mice, birds, marmots, hares, raccoons, and even bugs like grasshoppers that are fun to chase. One animal would eat an average of 1 deer each week.
Activity Time: Crepuscular (twilight)
Breeding Biology: Gestation is 90-96 days. Litter size 1 to 6, average 2 to 4. Age of independence is 1 to 2 years
Interesting Facts:
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