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Wildlife
Rainbows & Waterfalls 2000 |
Santa Teresa Park is a
wildlife sanctuary. It's filled with birds of all types. I've seen huge
wild turkeys on occasion and hear their gobbling frequently. Families of
quail can commonly be seen scurrying across the trails. Hawks, turkey buzzards,
and other raptors are almost always present, circling and soaring above.
There are many species of songbirds, such as meadowlarks and bluebirds.
Large mammals are here too. I almost always see deer grazing on the
hills in the late afternoon and evening. The upper parking lot on Bernal
Road is a good place for spotting them. Predators are here too. Once I
was hiking on the Bernal Hill Loop Trail and heard an eerie screaming cry.
I looked up to see the silhouette of a large doglike animal on the crest
of the hill. It was a coyote, the animal that the nearby peak and valley
were named after, though these predators are much less common than they
used to be. My friends have seen bobcats on the trails. They are usually
shy, nocturnal animals. If you're lucky, you may see a brush rabbit, probably
the cutest animal in the park, darting across the trail.
The park is also mountain lion territory, like most of the open spaces in the Bay Area. I've never seen a mountain lion, but have heard of people seeing them or their tracks. I've never heard of anyone being attacked or bothered by them. Signs in the park tell how to deal with them. This is also prime rattlesnake territory. I almost ran over one that was stretched across the Fortini Trail. Watch out for them on the rocky trails. There are also plenty of harmless snakes, like garter snakes. Frogs, newts, and salamanders can be found in the wet areas.. Adjoining lands are used for cattle grazing and raising horses, so these animals are frequently seen (and smelled).
Created 9/17/99, updated 12/25/00 by Ronald Horii |