California wildlife experts announced this week that the recent episodes of bears in backyards, coyotes snatching little dogs and cats, and mountain lions holed up in cozy city hideaways is a result of a lack of fresh water and game in their natural habitat.
“People have water. They’ve got fishponds. They’ve got swimming pools. They’ve got dog dishes filled with water and the animal in need of water is going to smell that water and is going to come down into urban areas.”
That’s how animal expert Martine Colette explains the constant sightings of wild animals invading human space in suburban and urban areas of Los Angeles County. Colette runs a wildlife waystation just north of Los Angeles. She said the drought has hit small animals especially hard.
Colette knows of one rescue group that has nursed hundreds of starving squirrels back to life and has released them into the wild. She told CBS News this week about a Great Horned Owl south of San Francisco that was looking for food and was plucked off the roadway by the highway patrol. Another waystation, she explained, has rescued more than 120 baby deer (fawns) this year because the soft, moist shrubbery they typically eat is no longer available within their territory. These and other stories have wildlife experts sounding further alarm that the historic drought affects more than people.
“[Animals] will travel long distances not to die and if that means traveling into our neighborhoods and places like that, they will travel,” Colette said.
Coyotes looking for water have become an increasing dilemma in the most densely packed parts of the county. Earlier this year, a pack of 15 coyotes were caught on a security camera running across a Burbank lawn. Nick Mendoza was walking his dog and immediately turned and began moving in the other direction.
“When I was walking, I saw four coyotes and the others began circling, coming around,” Mendoza said. “I knew then that I was prey, and when you’re prey, it’s very scary.”
And as the state enters fire season, there is more reason to be on the lookout for wild animals outside your front door. Experts contend that a bad wildfire will only displace more wild animals.
None of this information is new. Last year, the California Wildlife Foundation reported that wild animals normally move out of a burned area in search of more plentiful food and water. Because California is now more sparse and starved of water, this causes wildlife affected by the fires to have a harder time recovering. Further inland California is experiencing a rapid decline in deer, because the animals are having a difficult time surviving with the loss of vegetation and sufficient water supplies. Deer, experts say, will be forced to migrate to new land in search of adequate food and water, possibly bringing them into dangerous predator territory.
Predators don’t always ration food supplies, and with no clear knowledge of the dire situation affecting them, wildlife experts believe that mountain lions and bears may wipe out migrating deer populations leaving them little to eat in the future. This is particularly dangerous for bears who must “bulk up” on protein before hibernation. Even scavengers like coyotes may go hungry, because the larger predators will have eaten what they normally scrounge for. That may be why there have been so many neighborhood sightings of coyotes, bobcats, hawks and other wildlife searching for food.
An insufficient supply of water goes hand in hand with a decrease in fish. Salmon populations in California are suffering, wildlife experts contend, with some species—particularly the Central Coast Coho salmon—being in danger of going extinct because of climate change and the resulting drought. Crucial water passages for breeding salmon have become blocked due to a lack of water. Officials at the Wildlife Foundation report that if the trend continues and endangered salmon are not able to breed, that could mean the end of many species of salmon … and of course a higher cost at the corner market.
