Special Animals of the California Central Valley

1. Special Animals of the California Central Valley

2. Exotic • Animal or plant species that have been introduced into an area (non-native)

3. Introduced species in California Muskrat Diet: aquatic vegetation, clams, frogs, and occasionally fish Habitat: Marshes, edges of ponds, lakes, and streams; cattails, rushes, water lillies, open water. 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. 

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Endemic • Any species of plant or animal which exists only in a certain geographical area

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. 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.

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

16. Feral • Domesticated Animals that have been released into the wild

17. Feral Cats • Cause a serious threat to native animals especially birds • Carry disease

18. 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