The ringtail is a mammal of the raccoon family. The ringtail is buff to dark brown in color with white under parts and a flashy black and white striped tail that has 14 -16 white and black stripes, and is longer than the rest of its body. The eyes are large and purple, each surrounded by a patch of light fur. Much like the common raccoon, the ringtail is nocturnal and mainly solitary.
The ringtail eats insects, lizards, small rodents, birds, and small mammals such as rabbits, mice, rats and ground squirrels, and occasionally will also eat fish, snakes and carrion. The ringtail also enjoys juniper, black berries, persimmon, prickly pear, and fruit in general.
The ringtail prefers to live in rocky habitats associated with water. These areas can include riparian canyons, caves, and mine shafts. Ringtails mate in the spring and the male will procure food for the female. There will be 2–4 kits in a litter. The kits open their eyes after a month and will hunt for themselves after four months.
This is one of the smallest foxes in North America. A graceful and slender animal with large ears, its coat is grayish-yellow with rusty tones above and white underneath. The round bushy tail is black-tipped, and they have dark patches around their nose. Their large ears provide excellent hearing and thermo-regulation.
Generally carnivorous, they prey on kangaroo rats, pocket mice, rabbits, reptiles, berries, and insects. Kit fox are prey to coyotes, bobcats and eagles, and are endangered.
The kit fox is found only on the edges of the San Joaquin Valley from southern Kern County up to Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties on the west and up to Stanislaus County on the east. A few populations exist within the valley floor.
The average litter is 4 pups. They live in family groups: one male with two females and their offspring. The young leave the family in autumn to seek their own territory and mate.
The bobcat and mountain lion are the two cat species native to California. Both cats are very secretive and are seldom seen in the wild.
Bobcats have muscular shoulders, ear tufts and a short “bobbed” tail about 5” long that has a black tip on the upper side. Their fur coat is tawny gray, occasionally with faint markings.
Bobcats live throughout California and much of North America with a home range of up to 25 square miles. They den in rock crevices or hollow trees and are quick to run off competitors.
Bobcats stalk and ambush their prey, seldom chasing it more than a few feet. Their diet varies with availability but usually consists of mice, hares, rabbits, squirrels, gophers, rats, and birds.
Female bobcats produce a single litter each year with an average of 3 kittens, but up to as many as 6.
The mountain lion is also known as the cougar, puma, panther and catamount, and is the largest wildcat in North America. They are tan colored cats with tawny-beige fur, except for a whitish-gray belly and chest. Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears and around the snout. They have powerful limbs and can leap as high as 15 feet and as far as 40 feet.
Mountain lions are stealthy, hunting at night and often lying in wait for prey or silently stalking it before pouncing from behind, delivering a lethal bite to the spinal cord. Typically, they prey on deer, but also feed on smaller animals, and even insects when necessary.
Mountain lions inhabit a wide range of ecosystems, making their home anywhere there is shelter and prey, including mountains, forests, deserts and wetlands. Unlike other large cats, they cannot roar. Instead they growl, shriek, hiss and purr, similar to house cats. Baby mountain lions are born blind and are dependent on their mothers for the first 3 months of their lives.
The most vocal of all North American wild mammals, this opportunistic hunter and scavenger is steadily increasing in number through rapid adaptation to human encroachment and a fast reproductive rates. The coyote looks similar to a large dog. Its coat is grayish brown to yellowish gray in color with a white throat and belly and a bushy, black-tipped tail.
Classified as a carnivore, the coyote will eat pretty much anything. 98% of its diet is meat from rodents, reptiles, insects and carrion. The other 2% is made up of fruits and berries. To catch their prey, coyotes will pounce with all of their legs held stiff. The coyote is the dominant wild animal in the food chain.
Found throughout most of North America, the coyote is common in open sagebrush areas, but has adapted to living in urban areas, as well. They have expanded their range due to the decreasing population of their larger competitor, the wolf. Pups are born in litters of 6-7 with the males leaving the pack at 6-9 months.
Screech owls have prominent, wide-set feather tufts with bright yellow eyes. They have different brownish hues with whitish, patterned undersides. This coloration helps them get camouflaged against the tree bark. They have well-developed raptorial claws and curved bills. They use them as a tool to tear their prey into pieces that are small enough for them to swallow. They tend to carry their prey to the nest and then eat it.
Screech owls are primarily solitary. They are known as a “sit and wait” predator.
During the late-winter breeding season, however, males make nests in cavities, sometimes reusing abandoned nests of other animals, to try to attract females. The females select their mate based on the quality of the cavity and the food located inside. During the incubation period, the male feeds the female.
The normal territorial call is not a hoot as with some owls, but a trill consisting of more than 4 individual calls per second given in rapid succession (although the sound does not resemble screeching or screaming).
The turkey vulture’s most notable characteristic is the red to reddish-purple skin on their bald head and neck. Their body is covered with blackish brown feathers with a silver lining. They have pale legs, gray-brown eyes, and are 26-32” long.
A turkey vulture’s diet is almost exclusively carrion. Their feet and beak are too weak to kill their own food. They have a highly developed sense of smell, which they use to locate dead flesh while soaring at 200 ft.
Turkey vultures live across the United States during the summer in dry, open areas, deciduous forests and woodlands. If migrating, the bird will soar at 4,000-5,000’. One of the largest turkey vulture migration patterns in the world can be seen over CALM during October.
Females lay 2 eggs yearly and the male will incubate the eggs for 38-41 days.
The red-tailed hawk has a chestnut red color on the upper side of the tail as a distinguishing field mark, which gives it its name. The adults are dark brown on top; white with brown streaks below. They are also found with dark and light colorings. They have broad wings and broad tails that aid in soaring and have excellent vision for hunting. The red-tailed hawk is most the most common hawk found in America.
Red-tailed hawks are beneficial to rodent control, feeding mainly on mice, rats, and squirrels. They will also eat rabbits, birds, snakes (including rattlesnakes), lizards, frogs and salamanders. Most often, they watch for prey from a perch but like to hunt while soaring. They attack their prey in a slow, controlled dive with legs outstretched, much different from a falcon’s stoop dive.
Red-tailed hawks have a shrill cry and are often used on soundtracks for television and movies. These hawks prefer mixed country with open pastures interspersed with woods. They court for life with the female mostly incubating the eggs and
the male bringing food to the nest.
The great horned owl is the second largest owl in California. The “horns” of the owl are actually only feather tufts, colored brown with the rest of the body. They also have some spotted coloration in darker shades of brown. The great horned owl is one of the most common owls, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards and cities.
Great horned owls are fierce predators and are often referred to as “tigers of the sky”. They can take large prey, including raptors such as ospreys, falcons, and other owls. They mainly eat squirrels, jackrabbits, skunks and other small mammals and birds. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions, which they swallow whole and later regurgitate in owl pellets. They have excellent hearing, specially adapted feathers that dissipate air flow, facilitating silent flight, plus powerful feet and talons.
Females will usually lay 2-3 eggs once a year. These eggs will be incubated by both parents. They will hatch in 4 weeks, and will mature and leave the nest in 1-2 months.
This species is a large, broad-winged hawk of the open, arid grasslands, prairie and shrub country. This is the largest of the Buteos and is often mistaken for an eagle due to its size, proportions, and behavior. Perhaps this is due to their leg feathers that go all the way to their toes, a trait shared by only two other American birds, the rough-legged hawk and the golden eagle.
The ferruginous hawk primarily hunts small to medium-sized mammals but will also take birds, reptiles, and some insects. The diet varies somewhat geographically, and the black-tailed jackrabbit is also a major food species along with ground squirrels and pocket gophers.
Before the elimination of bison in the West, nests of the ferruginous hawk were often partially constructed of bison bones and wool.
The average clutch is 3-4 eggs, but can be up to 8. Ground nests are prey for coyotes and 66% of these hawks die within the first 12 months.