| Wildlife
The preserve is blessed with a rich variety of large, small and colorful birds including magpies, eagles, hawks, woodpeckers, owls, vultures, quail and crows. Deer, bobcat, coyotes, rabbits, bats, racoon, skunks, gophers, squirrels and fox abound year-round. While deer are there all year, more are present during the summer when the higher elevations dry out. With more deer come their predator, the mountain lion (also called cougar or puma).
The reclusive wild boar visits the area in small packs. They are omnivorous, rooting for grubs, wild onions and acorns, scavaging carrion and eating what they can catch. They tend to avoid humans, but at from 100 to 500 pounds these non-native tusked crosses between the Russian boar that escaped the Hearst Estate and feral pigs can be like FORKLIFTS on jet fuel if surprised or wounded.
Rattlesnakes ...~~~~~~~o= come out of hybernation in April and May and shed their old skin in May and June - depending on how early warm weather returns. During this time they can be aggressive, but they otherwise avoid confrontation with anything that does not threaten or look like food.
If hogs, coyotes, rattlers, cougars and skunks sound daunting, consider it is really no different from the wildlife found in the greenbelt areas of the San Ramon -Pleasanton-Livermore Tri-Valley. Perhaps just over your fence?.
|
