Download Special Animals of the California Central Valley

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
Introduced
species in
California
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.
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American Bullfrog
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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, overripe 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
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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
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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, lowgradient 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
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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
Feral Pigs