Special Animals of the California Central Valley

Exotic

Animal or plant species that have been introduced into an area

(non-native)

Muskrat

Habitat: Marshes, edges of ponds,

lakes, and streams; cattails, rushes,

water lillies, open water.

Diet: aquatic vegetation, clams, frogs, and occasionally fish

Predators: chief predator is the mink, but while on land they also fall prey to foxes, coyotes and lynx as well as some of the larger avian predators. 

Introduced species in California

American Bullfrog

Native to Eastern U.S. Introduced to California

probably during gold rush as a food source for miners

Diet: voracious appetite, will eat almost anything that moves and that it can swallow, including invertebrates and small vertebrates such as mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, even turtles and other frogs.

This aggressive frog is a big threat to native animals of all kinds

Opossum Omnivorous: eats insects, snails, rodents, berries, over-ripe fruit, grasses, leaves, and carrion; occasionally will eat snakes, ground eggs, corn or other vegetables.

Solitary and nocturnal: predators: humans (and cars),

dogs, cats, owls, and larger wildlife

North America’s only marsupial

Ring-necked Pheasant

descended from stock brought from several different parts of the Old World

Adult pheasants feed on berries, seeds, buds and leaves; chicks feed largely on insects.

Starling

approximately 100 birds introduced in New York City's Central Park in the early 1890s. A society dedicated to introducing into America all of the birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare set these birds free.

Diet: invertebrates, fruits and berries, grain, will also scavenge through garbage.

Endemic

Any species of plant or animal which exists only in a certain geographical area

Yellow-billed Magpie

feeds mainly on animal matter, including insects, bird eggs, nestling, and carrion, They will also eat acorns, seeds, grass, and berries

Habitat: oak woodlands and urban area

Endemic to Central Valley California

Giant garter snake

found only in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys

inhabit agricultural wetlands and associated waterways. These include irrigation and drainage canals, rice fields, marshes, sloughs, ponds, small lakes, low-gradient streams, and adjacent uplands

feed primarily on fish and amphibians

Predators include raccoons, skunks, foxes, opossums, hawks, egrets, bullfrogs

Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle

Endemic to the upland riparian areas of the Central Valley of California

Adults feed on the elderberry leaves and flowers, eggs are laid on the stem or leaves of an elderberry plant, and the larval and pupal stages develop within the elderberry stem pith

Extirpated

A species of plant or animal that no longer exists in a certain geographic are that used to be its home

Grizzly Bear omnivores, they feed

on a variety of plants and berries including roots or sprouts and fungi as well as fish, insects and small mammals

Became extinct from the Central Valley by the mid 1800s due to hunting and habitat destruction

Pronghorn Antelope Pronghorns were

extirpated from California by the end of the 1800s

The destruction of the herds of pronghorn and tule elk may have dealt a critical blow to the California condor, which relied on their carcasses as a primary food source.

Grey Wolf

Human fear, superstition, and outright hatred of this animal decreased its population drastically and eradicated it from California.

Feral

Domesticated Animals that have been released into the wild

Feral Cats

Cause a serious threat to native animals especially birds

Carry disease

Feral Pigs Eat wide variety of vegetation, including

roots, acorns, tubers, grasses, fruit, and berries, but also eats crayfish, frogs, snakes, salamanders, mice, the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds, young rabbits, and any other easy prey or carrion

Chief predator is human By wallowing and rooting around the

edges of watercourses and swamps, they destroy the vegetation that prevents erosion and provides food and nesting sites for native wildlife

They compete with native animals for food, pose a threat to ground-nesting birds, and can spread environmental weeds.

Feral pigs can be a serious agricultural pest. year. In some areas, they kill newborn lambs, carry diseases

crepuscular