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Mammals of Glendora
Compiled by Dick
Swinney
copyright August 2007
All observations by Dick
Swinney unless otherwise noted
Last updated: March 3, 2012
Special Observation:
May 19, 2008
John Cullen found a deer carcass in his
front yard at N. Cullen Avenue. A Mountain Lion had killed it and
ate its internal organs the first night. John drug the carcass in
front of his wildlife camera. A Black Bear appeared at about 9:00
pm. John saw him and scared him away. Later, about 11:00 pm., the
Cougar showed up and came again about 1:00 pm. for a few seconds.
About 3:00 pm., a coyote showed up. The next night, the bear came
again and took the deer up the hill. John took many photos of the
animals. John’s neighbors want him to kill the Cougar but John
won’t do so unless it attacks him or others.
Class Mammalia - Mammals
Order Marsupalia - Marsupials
Family Didelphidae - Opossums
Didelphis virginiana Virginia
Opossum
North area: Fairly common in
residential areas
1 collected dead on the road at 100
yds. W. of Loraine Ave. on 1/3/98, specimen mounted and retained in
author’s personal collection.
South Hills: Fairly common in
residential areas
Order Insectivora - Insectivores
Family Soricidae - Shrews
Sorex ornatus Ornate Shrew
North area: Rare, only 2
observations.
Observed dead along stream side at MG,
specimen preserved, identified and later lost; summer, approx. 1980;
Kevin Sweeney(Caretaker of Big Dalton Dam), found dead near residence
below Big Dalton Dam, May 17, 2011, speciman mounted and retained in
the authors collection.
South Hills: No record
Family Talpidae - Moles
Scapanus latimanus Broad-footed
Mole
North area: Uncommon in natural
and residential areas alike
1 observed crossing BDC Rd. near Mystic
Cnyn. and tunneling into loose dirt on the other side.
South Hills: No record
Order Chiroptera - Bats
Family Vespertilionidae - Vesper
Bats
All species collected from BDC. No
collecting has been done in the SH or the southern area of town.
Therefore occurrence levels will not be separated here for north area
and SH.
Eptesicus fuscus Big Brown Bat
Occurrence: Common
Observed each year from 1976 to 2005
roosting in the FCT. Bats usually roost after 9:30 pm. What time
they leave the tunnels is uncertain. There are several locations
within the 2 tunnels where roosting occurs. They have never been
observed roosting here in the daytime; night roosting colonies
usually between 5 & 12, lower numbers may be because of early
observation time; 1 collected on July 18, 1989 at 10:00 pm., mounted
and retained in author’s collection.
Lasiurus blossevillii Western Red Bat
Occurrence: Listed as uncommon
throughout the state.
1 roosting in Cupressus sp.
tree? at 6 ft. above ground on 26 March, 1994 at 1.5 mi. N.E. of GMR
at BDC Rd., 10:00 am.; specimen collected and mounted, retained in
author’s personal collection. This specimen represents the
only Glendora record.
Lasiurus cinereus Hoary Bat
Occurrence: One of the most
wide-spread species in the Americas and the only terrestrial mammal
in the Hawaiian Islands. Although widespread, it is mostly a
solitary bat and hence not frequently seen. When migrating, it may
travel in flocks and roost in groups of 2 to 7, especially if
roosting areas are limited.
1 collected by Paul Keiser near BDD on
May 5, 1942; specimen sent to the U.C. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
and given Accession No. 6828, received by Raymond Hall, Curator of
Mammals. This is the only known specimen for the City of Glendora.
Myotis evotus Long-eared Bat
Occurrence:
1 collected on April 30, 1991 at MG, on
WC restroom wall at 8:00 am., mounted and retained in author’s
personal collection.
Myotis ciliolabrum Western
Small-footed Bat
Occurrence:
1 collected on 16 Aug. 2002 by Anthony
Garduno & Dick Swinney; 0.9 mi. N.E. of GMR at BDC Rd., under
bark of White Alder tree - Alnus rhombifolia, along stream
side, tree dead with exfoliating bark., 7:15 pm. (daylight), specimen
mounted and retained in author’s personal collection.
Myotis volans Long-legged Bat
Occurrence:
1 collected on May 31, 1989 at 0.7 mi.,
E. of GMR on BDC Rd., struck car window at 10:00 p.m., mounted and
retained in author’s personal collection.
Myotis sp
Family Molossidae - Free-tailed Bats
(Guano Bats)
Tadarida brasiliensis Brazilian
Free-tailed Bat
Occurrence:
The following information was taken
from a phone conversation with the Health Dept. of Monrovia on Dec.
11, 1996 with Mark Spears:
The only bats received from Glendora
have been Brazilian Free-tailed Bats. Normally receive aprox. 6 bats
each year from the Glendora Animal Control. A bat was diagnosed as
positive for Bat rabies from 1346 W. Alosta, Glendora in June or July
of 1994 or 1995. Bat rabies is distinct from canine rabies. No
other species of mammal received from Glendora has ever been
diagnosed with rabies as far as Mark knows.
Order Carnivora - Carnivores
Family Canidae - Dogs, Foxes, and
Allies
Canis latrans Coyote
North area: Commonly seen in
the residential areas but they retreat to natural areas for daytime
shelter.
1 skull collected from dead animal at
0.4 mi. W. of Damian Ave. on 210 Frwy in winter of 2000, skull
prepared and retained in author’s personal collection
South Hills: Fairly commonly
seen but whether the animals remain in the SH for daytime shelter or
return to the northern foothills is unknown.
Many sightings in the SH by Kris
Silverman in 1997
Seen every year from 2000 to 2006 by
Erica Landmann-Johnsey
Urocyon cinereoargenteus Gray
Fox
Gray Fox by nature are secretive and
shy and not as apt to be seen as many other animals.
North area: Uncommon
South Hills: Uncommon
2 observed during spring of 1994 by Ken
Mosely on Los Cerritos Rd. in the SH.
1 at Hicks Senior Center, Heritage
Oaks, SH, in Nov. 1996
1 in Puma Lane neighborhood during
winter/spring, 1997, Kris Silverman
1 near Bonnie Cove Trail in 2006 by
Erica Landmann-Johnsey
Family Ursidae - Bears
Ursus arctos Southern
California Grizzly Bear
Extirpated from southern California or
extinct, if considered as a separate subspecies.
From the California Grizzly,
University of California Press, Berkeley, Tracy I. Storer and Lloyd
P. Tevis, 1996.
At their peak it is estimated that
10,000 California Grizzlies once roamed the country. Storer, et al.,
pointed out that the Indian population at that time was 130,000
making a man to bear ratio of 13 to 1. The present ratio is a
billion-to-zero.
According to Ingles in Mammals of
the Pacific States,1947; the last California Grizzly was killed
in 1922 at Horse Corral Meadows in the mountains of Tulare County.
By about 1880, grizzlies in California no longer were in the lowlands
they had dominated for centuries; those that had survived inhabited
hilly and mountainous areas. The San Gabriel Mountains north of
Pasadena had grizzlies in the 1890’s. In July, 1894, and July,
1895, Joseph Grinnell saw fresh bear tracks daily near Waterman
Mountain and Mount Islip. The last specimen in the San Gabriels, a
nearly full-grown male was shot by Walter L. Richardson on May 16,
1894, in Big Tujunga Canyon. Both skull and pelt were saved and are
now the best preserved museum example of a California Grizzly(MVZ
46918). The last captive California grizzly “Monarch”,
when killed in 1911, weighed 1,127 pounds. After nearly 22 years in
captivity where he was under-exercised and probably overfed, the
decrepit bear was killed.
If the Grizzly of southern California
is considered as a subspecies as some do, then it is now extinct. If
not, it would simply be called extirpated from California, as it
survives elsewhere.
Because the first black bears were
introduced into the San Gabriels in 1933, any mention of bears in
early Glendora history would have been before May 16, 1894. There
would not have been any bears in the Glendora area from 1894 to 1933.
Dorothy Brown recalled her Grandfather
John Bender talking about a Grizzly that tore up his Giant Reed Grass
pipe in Bender Canyon in the late 1800s, date uncertain.
The Signal, January 18, 1890, ( first
page missing , the time of article uncertain but relates to history
of the area (Glendora?)
“A day or two ago a man with a
trained bear appeared on our streets and entertained both young and
old for some time. The bear walks upright, shoulders arms, and
kisses his master or sits up with all the dignity of an alderman. He
and his owner also entertain with a regular catch-as-catch-can
wrestling bout in which the bear always prevails. It is a well
trained beast but is muzzled tightly with a staple running from the
nostril through to the mouth. This variety of the grizzly is known
as the cinnamon bear but is not, there being only the polar, black
and grizzly on this continent”.
Ursus americanus Black Bear
Introduction
from California Grizzly, Tracy I.
Sorer and Lloyd P. Tevis Jr., University of California Press, 1996.
The original range of the black bear in
California, so far as known was from the oregon line south in the
Coast Range to Bodega, Sonoma County, and in the Cascade-Sierra
Nevada from Siskiyou County southward through the Tehachapi Mountains
to Tejon Ranch (Grinnell, 1933 :96). There were and are no records
of naturally occurring black bears for the coast ranges and counties
south of the Golden Gate or for southern California. This means that
during early days, any mention of “bear” south of the
limits indicated pertained to grizzlies, whether so specified or not.
Originally the region west of Tejon
Ranch, Kern County, had only grizzlies; but as these were
exterminated, black bears spread into parts of Santa Barbara County
and even into San Luis Obispo County (Grinnell et al., 1947: 104-105,
fig. 24).
According to Meg Breit, Glendora animal
control officer in a newspaper article on Aug 21, 1998, in the San
Gabriel Valley Tribune, the bears roaming the San Gabriel Mountains
are descendants of 11 bears deported from Yosemite National Park in
1933 for being troublemakers.
Another article in the Glendora
Community News stated that the number of deported bears from Yosemite
was 27 and were relocated to the San Gabriel and San Bernardino
Mountains, Iss #31, July 2, 1999 by Irisita Azary.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 12/2/2000,
City News Service
Because hunters with bear tags must
return their tags whether they kill a bear or not, the Department of
Fish and Game (DFG) are better able to estimate the overall bear
population in California as well as estimate population density in
particular areas. Tags include dates and locations of bears
harvested statewide, so the DFG can monitor the black bear
population. The DFG estimates there are 18,000 -23,000 black bears
statewide. “The black bear population is stable to
increasing,” said Cristen Langner assistant to the senior
wildlife biologist for the CDFG.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 28,
1995, Michael Gougis, Staff Writer
Since the shooting of a bear in Azusa
on May 1994,which was caught by TV news cameras, local game wardens
and police departments have new, nonlethal ways of capturing wild
animals that stray into humans’ domain. Attitudes have changed
as well. Officials are willing to give a wandering animal, such as a
bear captured in a Glendora back yard last week, a break. “ I
think the different humane societies are better prepared,” said
Rhonda Reynolds, Glendora’s senior animal-control officer. It
was Reynolds’ steady trigger finger on a tranquilizing gun that
brought down the 250 to 300-pound bear in Glendora. “They want
to avoid some of the mistakes that were made last year. Still, this
year we’ve been lucky; you never know what an animal’s
going to do,” Reynolds said. Much has changed since the May
1994 shooting in Azusa and the widely publicized saga of Samson, the
spa-loving bear captured in Monrovia. Some of the changes include:
1). Tranquilizing rifles were donated
to cash-strapped SFG wardens by private citizens and police unions.
2). A Montana company donated a
pepper-based bear-repelling spray to the Monrovia Police Department.
3). Pasadena Humane Society officials
purchased a state-of -the-art tranquilizing rifle and a device that
shoots nets over smaller wildlife. “We use it for deer and
dogs,” said Humane Society Sgt. Endel Jurman. “We bought
it for peacocks, but they’re faster than this. And they’re
smart, they know what this thing is and that it means trouble for
them.”
4). The SFG Department, struggling with
the same budget problems besetting all state agencies, now staffs a
24 hour hot line in Sacramento for agencies that find themselves
stuck with an uninvited bear. That was one of the recommendations
issued after Azusa police said they were unable to find immediate
help last summer when the bear was discovered sleeping in a carport.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune May 24,
1994, Michael Gougis
Bear experts say that May is the season
when suburban visits can become more common. Yearling bears are
kicked out of the den by their mothers, and must find a home, and
food, on their own. “A bear at this time of year could be
getting pretty hungry, said Dr. Glenn Stewart, a professor of Zoology
at Cal Poly Pomona. Stewart has studied the animals for decades. The
bears go to sleep in December and sleep until mid-March or early
April. In response to the euthanized bear in Azusa, Stewart said “I
can’t say it wasn’t appropriate. It would have been
better if he had been shot (with the tranquilizers) in the shoulder -
there’s less fat there. But if It was me there, I could see
myself shooting him in the rump, it’s a bigger target.”
The following taken from
newspaper articles:
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 29,
1994, Tori Richards, Staff Writer
David Ashby called Glendora police when
he said an adult bear was in his driveway around 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday. “I was coming up my driveway and it was running in
front of my car. I was 30 feet away from it. He broke to the left
and I have no idea where it went,: Ashby said.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, August
3, 1994, from Staff Reports
Another bear was sighted in the
foothills of Glendora Monday night, the fourth time since July 22,
police said. The bear was lying in the middle of Hicrest Street at
11:30 p.m. when a car approached. The bear lumbered through the yard
of 1111 Hicrest and disappeared into the hills, Glendora police
Officer Brian Summers said. A bear was spotted July 22 under a
backyard avocado tree on Hicrest Street; on July 24 lumbering along
Barranca Avenue and La Crosse Street, and last Wednesday on a Conifer
Road driveway, police said.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 9,
1995, Staff Reports
A bear who wandered into a resident’s
backyard Saturday was chased back into the foothills by Glendora
police. Lt. Tim Crowther said he shot the brown bear with five
rounds of rubber bullets, causing the 400-pound animal to lumber back
into the woods north of Hicrest Road. Rubber bullets do no permanent
damage to the animal, he said.
Glendora Community News, August
1995, by Agent Brian Summers
“Grandpa Bear”, a 250-pound
male black bear was found in the back yard of Mrs. Elizabeth Howard,
Glendora on July 18, 1995. Sounds of a helicopter awakened nearby
residents. The bear was subdued by Glendora Animal Control Officers
then tranquilized when representatives of Wildlife Waystation
appeared. The sleeping bear was then taken by the SFG officials back
up into the forest.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 8/1/95,
Karen Rubin
A 300-pound male bear, which state
officials estimated is 3 to 5 years old, was spotted about 9 p.m. in
the 900 block of Rainbow Drive in a gated foothill community, said
police Lt. Tim Crowther. Officers went to the scene but didn’t
find the bear. This may be the second sighting of the bear in five
days. On Wednesday night, a bear fitting its description was spotted
in the 300 block of East Crestline. Animal-control officers found it
in a tree but left it alone, Crowther said.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, August
20, 1998, Cecilla M. Gomez, Staff Writer and August 21, 1998,
Jennifer Erdmann, Staff Writer
A 200-pound black bear was captured and
returned to the forest. About 6:10 a.m. Wednesday police were called
to Easley Canyon Road and waited more than four hours for a bear to
climb down from a tree. An officer fired rounds from a bean-bag
loaded shotgun (reported as 12 times in the following Glendora Press
article). Another officer fired at the bear with tranquilizing darts,
hitting him several times. The bear fell out of the tree after which
police and animal control officers loaded it onto a trailer for a
quick trip into the hills, where the animal was revived and released.
Glendora Press, August 27, 1998
(Covering the same story as above)
Police Cpl, Brian Summers was one of
the first officers on Easley Canyon, arriving just after the bear
scampered up the tree adjacent to Jim Ferran’s home. “He
was standing in the tree,” Summers said. At one point, a local
television helicopter tried to help. “Channel 5 tried to come
down and blow air: said Greg Cunningham, public information officer
for Glendora police. “He just wouldn’t move.”
Officials said they prefer that animals
stuck in trees come down on their own. Tranquilizers and bean bags
are used as a last option. “The branches broke his fall,”
said Chanelle Davis, wildlife biologist from the State Department of
Fish and Game. “He was asleep when he hit the ground.”
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, May 12,
1999, Troy Anderson and David Mark
An Azusa Pacific University security
guard spotted a small black bear wandering near the science hall at
around midnight Monday (date uncertain). “He just happened (to
pass) by the security guard. She was doing her rounds. They saw
each other, said Azusa police Cpl. Dean Brewer. The guard called
police and the animal shinnied up a fir tree. Officer called in the
state Department of Fish and Game, who shot the bear with a
tranquilizer dart about 2:30 a.m.”The bear slipped about
two-thirds of the way down the 60-foot tree”, said Jim Holland,
chief of campus safety at Azusa Pacific. The bear was taken to the
San Dimas Canyon Nature Center and then released in the Angeles
National Forest above Azusa on Tuesday morning (May 11, 1999). The
bear weighed 180 to 200 pounds. State game officials at first tried
to use a cage that was too small for the animal, then waited for a
crew from Lake Castaic to bring a larger trap, said Maureen Riegert
Foley, spokeswoman for Azusa Pacific University. It was the first
bear seen on campus in many years, Foley said.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 5,
1999, from staff reports
A bear was seen at 10:52 p.m. on July 3
in the 700 block of N. Glendora Avenue. Another sighting came 10”00
a.m. Sunday of a bear walking through a back yard in the same block
said Lt. James Woolum. At 3:25 p.m., a resident in the 1000 block of
Oak Canyon Lane saw a bear in a neighbor’s back yard. It was
about 250 to 300 pounds
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, June 30,
2002, staff reports
A 200-pound black bear wandered into
the 800 block of North Loraine Avenue. “When officers tried to
shoot him, he went through several yards where he was finally
tranquilized in a yard in the 900 block of Willow grove Avenue said
Glendora police Sgt. Ted Groszewski. “He was taken to an
animal hospital, checked out and released into the mountains.”
The incident happened around 6:30 a.m. There were no injuries and no
property was destroyed, Groszewski said.
Glendora Community News, June 2003
At about 3:12 am, Glendora Police were
called to the area of Baseline and Inverness about a bear roaming the
streets.The 600 pound, 5-6 year old bear climbed a wall into the
backyard of a residence and went up a tree. This residence belonged
to Glendora Mayor Mike Conway. Animal Control Officer Rhonda
Reynolds had to use two tranquilizer darts to get the bear out of the
tree and it took four police officers and two residents just to lift
the animal. While trying to release the animal, Reynolds came to a
locked gate, which limits access to Glendora Mountain Road at night.
While waiting for the gate key, the bear woke up and started shaking
the truck. Police personnel cut off the lock, so the bear wouldn’t
destroy the truck before the key got there. The bear was driven
about 5 miles up Glendora Mountain Road and released back into the
wild.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Aug. 6,
2004, Jammie Salagubang, correspondent
The Michelsens said bears had been
visiting their property regularly during 2002 through 2004.Michael
Michelsen saw a bear in his yard 22 times in one month. They
nicknamed it Pooh Bear because he ate all of the honey from a
neighbor’s bee-hives. Three police cars came to the house one
night after being summoned, blaring their sirens and shining their
lights. They fired a bean bag shot into the air. “The bear
ambled past them to retrieve another garbage bag. He slashed into it
and ate the contents like an animal. Because he was.”
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 16,
2004, staff and wire reports
Glendora police were called to a home
with a bear in the tree. Sgt. Ted Groszwski of the Glendora Police
department said police didn’t disturb the bear, in accordance
with California Fish and Game laws. “We don’t take an
active role, unless they pose a danger to the public,”
Groszwski said. The bear eventually left the two-acre property and
suspects the animal was only there to forage for food. Groszwski
said bears make frequent appearances in Glendora and believes the
avocado groves near the ridge of the hillside attract them.
Groszwski said that bears have no trouble jumping over a 6-foot
fence.
Bears killed
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, August
24, 2002, Marianne Love, staff writer
A 150-pound female bear had to be
sedated on August 23, 2002. This made it impossible to return to the
wild during the hunting season, said Rhonda Reynolds, senior animal
control officer with Glendora police. Reynolds said that once a bear
is tranquilized, it becomes a danger to hunters in the wild who may
choose to shoot and eat it, which would result in illness. “There’s
the chance of sickness,” she said. “When hunting season
comes into play, the ruled change. Someone can become very ill,
especially if they are allergic to the tranquilizing drug.
Hallucinations and self-mutilation can result, Reynolds said.
She said the last thing I want to do is
euthanize a bear. It was old and acting strangely. It was
underweight and not in the best of condition Reynolds said. Reynolds
drugged the animal before it was transported to San Bernardino, where
an autopsy was performed.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, May 13,
2004, staff reports
An injured brown bear that turned up in
a back yard Wednesday was euthanized by Fish and Game officials. The
bear had so many injuries it was unable to be taken care of, said
Glendora police Lt. Rob Castro. “The bear was moaning and in a
lot of pain,” Castro said. A residents in the 700 block of N.
Vista Bonita Ave. saw a blood trail, followed it and discovered the
animal. who weighed about 300 pounds. Apparently, old wounds were
reopened when the bear became caught between a tree and a fence on
the property, according to Larry Cox, communications and marketing
manager for the city. He said the bear also had a type of parasite
that gets behind the eyes and tunnels into the brain.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Dec.2,
2000, City News Service
Nine bears were killed in the Los
Angeles County during the black bear season that ended Thursday,
according to the California Department of Fish and Game. They were
form seven locations: Pacific Mountain; near Crystal Lake: in San
Gabriel Canyon; at Shoemaker Road; on Pine Mountain; on Glendora
Road; and near a ranger station at Red Box Canyon. For those
hunters with bear tags that do not get a bear, the blank tags must be
returned to DFG or hunters risk losing their privilege for the
following season, said Cristen Langner, assistant to the senior
wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune,
____Rodney Tanaka, Staff Writer
La Verne - After attacking Barbara
Morales at the Marshall Canyon Tree Farm on __?, the bear was shot
and killed by sheriffs deputies. See article under Bear Attacks.
Bear Attacks
San Gabriel Valley Tribune,_July,
200l, Rodney Tanaka, Staff Writer and Tribune Staff Writer David
Bradvica , 30 July 2001
In nearby La Verne a woman was bitten
by a bear at the Marshall Canyon Tree Farm on July 29?The bear nudged
her. It slobbered on her. It clamped down on her arm and shook it.
“It happened so fast,” Barbara Morales, 32, said Monday
“I felt a crunching. I kicked the bear as I was pulling my arm
out.” She ran to safety. She suffered four puncture marks on
her left forearm and was treated at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical
Center and released Sunday night. The bear was shot and killed by
sheriffs deputies. Tests revealed the bear did not have rabies, said
Steve Martarano, CDFG spokesman. An examination of the bear showed
it was a healthy 85 pounds, about 2 feet tall, about a year old and
had in its stomach what appeared to be a young deer skull and plastic
and paper bags, a sure sign it was a “garbage bear,”
Martarano said.
The young bear had been hanging around
the facility for the past six weeks and was seen in the vicinity
shortly before it bit the woman. Park employees herded everyone
inside the park office to eat lunch once the bear was spotted, but
Morales apparently did not stay inside, said tree farm Supervisor Tom
Loria.
Other Bear Sightings
North area:
One seen by Joe Hawks in Feb. 1980 and
also seen by Jerry Greeran in Big Dalton Canyon.
Sighting in 1992 of a bear and 2 cubs
at Big Cienega Springs in the upper drainage of Big Dalton Canyon.
One sighting at 11:00 on 1/15/94 N. of
the Brodiaea Reserve.
The caretaker of Cotta Villa on north
Easly Canyon Drive was interviewed on Oct. 19, 1997 concerning bears
in his area. A bear and her Cub were seen every week at the Villa in
recent months. He thought its den was is a water tunnel north of the
garage.
One bear was removed from the canyon
but there is still one remaining at the site. They call him
“Baleau”.
A bear was observed by several people
including Julia Davenport at the Senior Citizen Home on Glendora Ave.
in the spring of 1998 in the far-western area of the South Hills.
Dorothy Hilliard encountered a bear
while on her horse on the Lower Monroe Motorway, summer 2000?
Nov. 2?, 2004 - BDC, Coulter Pine Tr.
1 bear observed by Richard Marvin while
working on trails during a Glendora Trails Day. Bear came out of
brush behind the author and quickly returned back into the forest.
The following information was sent to
me by Mark & Jill Bakker on 13 June 2007:
It was early summer of 2004. Our
neighbor gave us a strawberry pie and we could not eat it all, so we
threw about 1/2 of it away. Later that night, we heard something in
our trash and looked out of our bedroom window. There in our
driveway was a bear with our strawberry pie. It started to walk away
with it when it must have decided the pie was so good he had to eat
it now. It layed down flat in the middle of our drive way with its
back legs sprawled out hehind him, just like a little puppy, enjoying
his strawberry delight.!
Pat Sassone has had several visits with
her local bears. She has a great photo she took in 1992 of a large
bear(black in color) after it finished its drink from her outside
birdbath at dusk near her front door. She recounted to me on 12/14/06
that she talked persuasively with the bear trying to make it
understand that all bears were supposed to drink from her three ponds
in the bottom of Gordon Canyon below her house. She thinks the bear
understood all the hand-motions she was making to it. She wanted to
make sure it new which way to go. It worked she says, as the bear
slowly ambled off without a comment.
Pat said she never used to have bear
visits before the development of several homes below her property,
with all the enticing munchies that new trash cans often bring. On
the day of my visit, she had decided to stop filling the bird bath.
Not because of the bears but because of the deer which were making it
impossible for her to have nice gardens. She said they would rather
drink from the bath because they don’t have to bend down to
drink. They also have to learn to go the the ponds for water she
said. No deer or bears up on the ridge top where her house is
located in what she calls Sassone’s Natureland.
A bear was heard and seen by residents
at 1112 W. Sierra Madre Ave., just two houses west of Glendora Ave.,
in 2005? The bear was rummaging through their garbage cans
A bear was seen by Marty Ingebretson at
614? N. Vermont Ave. in Nov, 2006.
Scott Longstreth of 5--N. Vermont Ave.
unintentionally bumped into a bear around 1:00 a.m. on Oct. 7?, 2006.
Scot opened his kitchen door, took a few steps and bumped into
something. He named it the “Really Big Bear”. It
apparently scared both of them to death. The bear ran across the
street and sat down on the grass. Scott went back into the house to
get a flashlight and check out his new aquaintance. A bear had been
seen twice during 2005 in the alley just north of Scott’s
house. Both the alley and Longstreth house have easily available
avocados.
July 4, 2007 - early evening
1 bear observed at 0.9 mi. NE of GMR
on BDC Rd. by Bill Nichols
July 14, 2007 - 1:10 am
Upon returning from a trip to Peru with
my grandson Cody Clarke, we encountered a small-medium sized bear
wandering up the 600 block of N. Vermont Ave. which eventually left
the street and turned up the alley toward Glendora Ave. Scott
Longstreth & Joel Appel had seen it also and were following it up
the street.
Late July, 2007, morning
1 adult(brown) observed by Tim Foster &
Bonnie Nalick at 1.0 mi. W of GMR on Glendora Ridge Mtwy.
Aug. 4, 2007 -1:15 am
1large adult (brown) observed by Joel
Appel, Mike Sanders & Scott Lonstreth at 557 N. Vermont Ave. at
1:15 am
Aug. 4, 2007 - 3:40 am
1large adult (brown) observed by author
in trash cans in 600 block of N. Glendora Ave. in the alley, most
likely same bear as one seen at 1:15 am. The locations were within
100 yds. of each other.
Aug. 15, 2007 - 1:00 am
1large adult (brown) observed by Mike
Sanders at 557 N. Vermont Ave.
Aug. 19, 2007 - 4:00 pm
1 young observed by Mrs. Sweeney at
0.4 mi. E. of GMR at BDC Rd., bear had apparently been in the stream
as it was soaking wet.
Sep. 5, 2007 - 3:00 am
1 observed at 112 W. Sierra Madre Ave.
by the residents.
Sep. 8, 2007 - 1:00 am
1medium sized(brown), observed by Joel
Appel, Scott Longstreth & Mike Sanders at 557 N. Vermont Ave.,
this bear of similar appearance as one seen on July 14, 2007
Sep. 22, 2007 - 9:00 pm
1(large, brown) observed at 557 N.
Vermont Ave. by Bev & Scott Longstreth, Joel Appel. They could
see the bear out the window. The bear left their property and
continued south down the alley of the 500 block of N. Vermont.
Nov. 26?, 2007 - evening
1 large bear, startled by John Cullen’s
dog at his home on Cullen Ave., jumped into their pool with the pool
cover on. The cover slipped away and the bear went swimming. John
said it was amasing how fast the large bear was able to climb out of
the pool.
Mar. 20, 2008
1 bear cup observed by Bill Nichols
near Big Dalton Canyon Campground.
Mar. 29, 2008 - evening
1 bear at 614 N. Vermont Ave.
Oct., 2008
Bill Nichols reported occurence of a
bow hunter killing a black bear in Little Dalton Canyon.
June 17, 2010
Received the following communication
from John Cullen:
Hi Dick , I was just driving down Big
Dalton (10:00 am) after running the dog up to the gate, when I
spotted a bear and her two tiny cubs. I stopped and the cubs
scurried up the nearest Coulter Pine. Mama came around in fromt of
the tree for protection, but then started to retreat up the trail as
I drove on. I would hate to surprise her on foot down in the shrubs?
It might get Ugly? Anyway, the artests painting down the street saw
her too and were quite excited.
South Hills: No records
available
Pioneer study of the Urban Black
Bear
The California Department of Fish and
Game, Wildlife Management Division conducted a study which included
the Glendora area. Signs were posted in Big Dalton Wilderness Park
which asked the public to call a hot line number if a bear wearing a
transmitter was sighted.
The following information was included
in their information handout:
A small number of black bears in this
area have been fitted with radio collars in an effort to study their
movements, use of the habitat and, among other things, feeding
habits. These bears are wearing a White Plastic Collar (about 2”
in width) with a Color-coded Radio Transmitter. If you observe one
of these bears, please note the date, time and location of the bear
together with the color of the transmitter, if possible.Then, please
call 626 287-5060.
Local Bear Research
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, March 22,
1998, Victoria Molner, Correspondent
Kim Bosell, a park specialist for
Monrovia Canyon Park, studied the movement of black bears across 400
miles of the San Gabriel Valley. The 26-year-old bear specialist
from Covina is a volunteer in a five-year study sponsored by the
Department of Fish and Game on the movement of bears among 400 miles
of rough terrain stretching across the San Gabriel Valley. Bosell
began the study in June of 1998. The study plots the movement of the
bears to differentiate the times they travel down into the
communities. O the the five collared bears she tracked, two were in
the hills above Monrovia, one in Duarte, one in Glendora and one in
Altadena. After recording the data on paper, Greg VanStralen, a
biology graduate student at Cal State Northridge, types the
i;information into a computer which determines where the bear is.
Bosell said she received as many as three calls per day from
residents reporting a bear near their home or in the neighborhood.
People were asked to call Bosell at 818 258-3503 to report a
sighting.
Family Procyonidae - Raccoons and
Ringtails
Bassariscus astutus Ringtail
North Area: Rare
1 seen by Ida Meacham on several
occasions at Henry Moody’s cabin at MG in the early 1940’s.
(cabin removed)
Henry Moody kept a captive specimen at
his home in BDC in the 1940’s. Animal was caught in the cnyn.
1 seen in Sept. or Oct. of 1998 at 851
E. Palm Drive by Susie Richards. She has heard the animal several
times since. Richards observed one on N. BenLomand , Glendora in
Jan. 1998 at the home of a friend. (Mike Peralez?)
Dick Strahan, Caretaker of BDD saw one
Ring-tailed Cat at water tank at 0.95 mi. E. of GMR at BDC Rd. during
the first week of Oct., 1995.
1 in building at BDD on Oct. 12, 1996
by Dick Strahan; John Cullen, John Cullen residence on N. Banna,
Glendora, May 24, 2011, 11:00 p.m.; 1 at jct. of Dunn Cyn. & Big
Dalton Cyn., Sep. 10, 2011, Bill Nichols & Mary Grave; 1 observed
by John Cullen at his residence on N. Banna, Glendora, Oct. ? 2011
South Hills: No record
Procyon lotor Raccoon
North area: Common throughout
1 collected dead on the road at 500
block N. Pennsylvania Ave. on 1/16/97, specimen mounted and retained
in personal collection.
South Hills:
Family Mustelidae - Weasels, Marten,
and Allies
Mephitis mephitis Striped Skunk
North area: Common in
residential areas, Uncommon in wilderness areas
1 collected at 220 yds. W. of Glendora
Mt. Rd. on Sierra Madre Ave. on 1/18/98, specimen mounted and
retained in personal collection.
1 seen by Kevin Sweeney in BDC at
Middle Gate, specimen was entirely black
South Area: FC
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, July 9,
1997, staff reporter:
A young skunk found with four arrows in
it was euthanized Tuesday by animal control officers in Glendora
Someone found the injured skunk in the 200 block of South San Jose
Drive at about noon Tuesday, said Glendora Lt. John Doan. “It
was almost dead when we picked it up,: said Animal Control Officer
Meg Breit. The animal wasn’t full-grown and measured about a
foot from tip to tail, she said. It had three arrows in the torso
and one through the foot, Doan said. Doan said cruelty to animals is
punishable by a $20,00 fine, a year in jail or both. Anyone with
information on the incident can call 626 914-8250.
Mustela frenata Long-tailed
Weasel
North area: Rare
1 dead on the road at 0.6 mi. E. of GMR
at BDC Rd. by the author in 1979, specimen preserved and identified
by author, specimen later lost.
1 in 1980 by Jerry Greeran at 1.0 mi.
N.E. of GMR at BDC Rd. at entrance of Dunn Cnyn. Tr., site of former
cabin, weasel trying to get into the chicken coop.
South Hills: No record
Taxidea taxus Badger
North area: Rare
1 by Sue Brazina on GMR
1 on Glendora Mt. Rd. at _____mi. W. of
jnct. of GRR & GMR, summer, ____, 1 adult, 3(?) young, by Bill
Nichols
South Hills: No record
Family Felidae - Cats
Felis concolor Mountain Lion
North area: Rare
The following three records came from
the notes of Paul Keiser, Caretaker of the BDD in 1945. He collected
all kinds of information on the canyon’s natural and local
history.
1 adult lion seen in the road by
headlights at 12:30 am. on July 1, 1945 at Station 9000 by Elmer
Potter.
2 half-grown lions seen stalking a deer
on ridge across the BDD from the dam gate entrance by Elmer A. Potter
on July 10, on 1945.
1 lion seen on Sept. 6, 1945 at 2:00
pm. by the Keiser’s, stalking a deer.
1 seen by Ida Meacham in BDDB, year
uncertain
1 seen by the Umbaugh’s &
others in LDDB in June of 1994.
2 seen by Caretaker of Cotta Miller
Estate (Cotta Villa) in Easly Cnyn on 3/15/95 between 4:00 & 5:00
am.
During Dec. of 1996, the Glendora
Police Dept. received 3 reports 1 seen in a residential area in the
N.E. area: 900 block of E. Ada Ave at 5:45 am, Dec 18, Approx. 5
min. later, a lion was reported in the 200 block of S Wabash Ave., a
third sighting was in the 1000 block of E. Leadora Ave. on Dec. 26 at
3:24 am. The Glendora Police Officer responding to the call
witnessed the lion cross the street into the flood control channel.
The Animal Control Division believes these reports were all of a
single mountain lion.
1 adult female and 2 cubs seen by Jerry
Greeran on April 20, 1996 at the MLSNC at MG, evening;
1 seen on 24 Apr. 1996 in BDC by Jerry
Greeran.
1 at N. terminus of N. Grand Ave. by
Egan_____ on 2/22/97
1 adolescent at Bonnie Cove and SH Tr.
at end of March, 1997 by Kris Silverman
1 in the S.E. area S. of High Country
Dr. in late April 1997 by Kris Silverman
1 in the S. Central area near highest
point (1200 ft.) on SH Tr. (Mtwy) by Kris Silverman on May 22, 1997
1 at 851 E. Palm Dr. in spring of 1987?
by Suzanne K. Safavi, it was stalking a Raccoon
1 on Lower Monroe Truck Trail on Dec.
1,1996 by Jerry Greeran
1 seen in the SH, N.W. area from July
93 through Jan. 94, this report given to the Glendora Community
Services Dept.
Candace Frank and other girl scout
leaders saw a lion at 0.7 mi. N.E. of GMR on BDC Rd. on Aug 5, 1996
while driving up to the scout center.
1 seen at the home of Suzie Richards on
several occasions during the fall of 1998 at 851 E. Palm Drive.
1 cub seen by Kevin Sweeney at the
bridge , 1.6 mi. NE of GMR at BDC Rd., in early June, 2007.
1 large adult seen by Katelan Sweeney
in mid March, 2008 in Big Dalton Canyon near entrance gate, close to
her car at night.
Observation by John Cullen, Apr. 22,
2008, N. Cullen Ave.
All my time in the hills but my crisis
came in my own yard, Sunday evening. I’ve known this would
happen with all the deer hanging out in my yard! Sunday at 5:30 pm.,
I went out front and saw the hind end of a Mountain Lion walking out
my drive toward the street. I ran back to my house and armed myself
with my pistol 454 cassul (a bear defence round) and went out front.
I didn’t see a thing but my neighbor up in her back yard. I
told her I saw a cougar and she ran inside. I checked around and saw
nothing and later let my dog Jack out to smell. So about an hour
later, I went with Jack out back beyond my pool into the canyon where
I’m building a trail up and around to above my house. Being
wary, I took my pistola and sure enough, there it was, laying on the
trail switch back about 15 feet above me. It didn’t run, but
crouched down with onhly its head exposed. I pointed my pistol and
cocked it, at its head and had it in the sites. Meanwhile, Jack
hadn’t a clue , cause he couldn’t see or smell it. I
grabbed his collar and he new I was upset, so he didn’t resist.
We had a standoff, me pointing the gun and it staring at me for
several minutes. I screamed and yelled, hoping it would run, but to
no avail. Finally, I said to Jack: go back to the house. I let go,
and he went back to the house. As he left, the cougar saw him and
started to raise up to look at Jack. He didn’t jump , and set
back down.
I decided Jack was safe, so time to get
things over. With my pistol still pointed, I reached down and with
my left hand lobbed a rock at it. It bolted to the west and was over
the neighbor’s 6 foot fence in an instant. It looked to be a
long and lean young cougar. Maybe one-hundred pounds or so, probably
hungry , looking for deer? Anyway, I had it in my sight but didn’t
shoot. I would of, if it would have attacked me or Jack.
July 2008
One Mountain Lion was sighted by
campers and leaders of the Camp Cahuilla Day Camp Program in Big
Dalton Canyon at the archery range area.
July 2008
One Mountain Lion was sighted by 6
campers and their councelor at the Camp Cahuilla Day Camp Program in
the Big Dalton Canyon Wilderness Park. The sighting took place while
______ was leading his/her group on a hike in Pavil Canyon,
approximately 1/4 mile N.E. of the Camp facility.
July 2008
The above incidences were reported to
the City of Glendora Community Services Department and then to the
appropriate channels.
July 2008
Greg Lammers was told that the Glendora
City Animal Control Department located and tranquilized a Mt. Lion
and removed it from the area and released it in an uninhabited area.
August , 2008
Electronic warning sign was placed at
the intersection of Sierra Madre Ave. & Grand Ave.
The message read: Warning:
Mountain Lion has been sighted.
August , 2008
One electronic warning sign was placed
at the intersection of Sierra Madre Ave. & Live Oak Ave. The
message read: Warning: Mountain Lion has been sighted.
August , 2008
1 deer killed at Silvia Barton’s
house on Conifer Ave. by a Mountain Lion.
August , 2008
1 deer killed at Silvia Barton’s
house on Conifer Ave. by a Mountain Lion.
August 22, 2008
Greg Lammers of Glendora winessed a
Mountain Lion take down a fawn and completely drag it out of sight
all within just 8 to 10 seconds at 3:30 pm. near the Mary Lou Salyer
Girl Scout Facility in Big Dalton Canyon. Greg was watching five
Mule Deer when the incident occured. He was within 20 yards of the
Mountain Lion. Greg reported the incident to the Glendora Community
Services Department within a few days after the event.
August 28, 2008
An electronic sign has been placed on
GMR near the Glendora Equestrian Center that reads: Warning: A
Mountain Lion has been sighted.
August 25, 2008
The following article appeared in the
San Gabriel Valley Tribune on 8/29/08:
The state Department of Fish and
Game on Thursday issued a warning about a mountain lion prowling near
Glendora Mountain Road.
On Monday, a bicyclist traveling
southbound on Glendora Mountain Road near mile marker 930 was nearly
attacked by a big cat who charged down an embankment, officials said.
“The mountain lion is still at
large,” a press release from the DFG warns. “DFG cannot
determine the location nor identify the specific lion.”
Authorities used dogs to hunt the
cat but were unsuccessful. Residents are warned to avoid hiking or
jogging at dawn, dusk and at night.
August 29, 2008
An announcement was made on KFWB radio
that a mountain lion attack on a bicyclist had taken place at
Glendora Mountain Road in Glendora.
October 30, 2008
See description of a “near”
attack on a bicyclist on Glendora Mt. Rd. below uner Attacks
August 23 (?), 2009
7:45 am:
117 Sierra Madre Ave.
L. Cooper was notified by a passer-by,
that there is a dead dear in his front yard. One shoulder and leg
were removed and most of the internal organs were missing. Lou
called the Glendora Animal Control. A staff member appeared shortly
after 8:00 am. She said that a City of Glendora employee had called
in earlier. She stated that by the size of the teeth marks, she was
sure that the kill was from a Mountain Lion. No one actually saw the
Lion. Lou stated that there was a disturbed area with blood on the
north side of the street. On Aug. 27, a swath of blood was still
visable on Sierra Madre Ave. across the entire road. Most likely,
the deer was killed on the n. side of the road and drug south across
Sierra Madre Ave. into Cooper’s frontyard, near the east side
of N. Vermont Ave.
South Hills: Rare
July 2, 2011 about 9:30 am
Report by Janette Short, July 12, 2011
9:01 am
My friend and I entered the park at the
Bonnie Cove entrance, walked up the paved fire road, when we got to
the top where the trails branach off, I believe it is where the “West
Bonnie Cove” trail comes out at the top, (I really did not look
at the head sign). But we were standing at the trail head in the
shade taking a break, when we saw the mountain lion about 20 yards
down that trail, the lion walked right across the trtail and
disappeared into the brush. The lion was walking away from us, I
believe she heard us coming up the fire road and was heading away
from us, the fire road makes a big curve up at the top and we
probably cut her off/caught up with her.
Early Sep. 2011
1 Mt. Lion observed by Mikael &
Sharon Star east of Hunters Trail in the South Hills.
Attacks
A Labrador retriever was attacked and
killed by a mountain lion in BDC at 11 pm. on 3/13 /91 at the Greeran
residence. The cat jumped over the fence with the dog in its mouth.
The State fish and game Dept. shot a
140 pound mountain lion believed to have killed three dogs in the
N.Glendora Foothill area, Aug 12, 1991 “The lions are becoming
bolder and are really being forced into more contact with humans.:
said Fish and Game Warden Ken Walton. In response to negative
criticism by the public for killing the animal, Curt Taucher,
spokesman for the state Dept. of Fish and Game, said the puma had
become “too familiar” with residential neighborhoods and
would return to them.
1 dog killed by a lion at a N. Easly
Cnyn Rd. home in April of 1991 according to city’s animal
control officer
A lion killed a large black Labrador
Retriever at 11:00 pm. in BDC on the steps of Nancy Burns House. The
cat drug the dog off across BDC Rd. to the south. Nancy was within
10 yards of the lion when it attacked her dog on 3/13/91.
On Aug. 15, 1991, a lion killed a
Doberman Pincher ?
Aug. 25, 2008 From an article in the
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - Aug. 29, 2008
A mountain lion nearly attacked a man
on a bicycle riding south on Glendora Mt. Rd. See the story above
for August 29, 2008 in the observation section.
Oct. 30, 2008 From an article in the
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - Nov. 1, 2008, by Tania Chatila, staff
writer.
Mike schaub reported seein a mountain
lion about 25 feet from his front door. “I looked at him. He
was on the bluff. He looked at me and that was pretty much it,”
said Schaub, whose fron door abuts the Angeles National Forest. “He
wasn’t scared of me at all. He looked like he was ready to
come down the mountain.”
Oct. 30, 2008 From an article in the
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - Nov. 1, 2008, by Tania Chatila, staff
writer.
A mountain lion attacked 2 dogs on
Thursday enening in the backyard of Ruhl’s BenLomond Avenue
home. Liiy, a 9-year-old golden retriever, was badly injured but
survived, Pumpkin died very quickly. Ruhl’s 16-year-old
ldaughter saw a mountain lion carry off Pumpkin up the hillside.The
California Department of Fish and Game was called immediately.
When Ruhl got home, he went up the
hillside with a flashlight and a pistol. He found the mountain lion
and Pumpkin at the edge of his one-acre property, about 40 to 50 feet
above his backyard. “The cat was hunkered down still on top of
him. It actually growled atm,j” Ruhl asid. He shot off three
rounds from his gun, causing the mountain lion to jump a fence and
run off. Ruhl was able to retrieve Pumpkin, who was already dead.
Three Game wardens scoured the property
and the mountainside later that night searching for the mountain
lion. They returned to the property Friday, where bits of furn were
still strewn about Ruhl’s backyard. They were unable to find
the cat.
Lynx rufus Bobcat
North Area: Uncommon
The following was taken from interview
by the author with Ida Meacham Jan. 26, 1997 at her home in BDC:
“A famous singer used to come to
the Canyon with hounds to hunt. Oh what a noise they made. One
night, a hound was left all night and howled all night. Residents
were annoyed. The animal eventually quit howling. The dog just
stayed in one placed and howled. The radio singer lived in Los
Angeles. I never talked with the man. He came up once each month
for a long time in the 1940’s. He got a big bob cat. I
remember the bob cat just laying there”.
Early 1960’s
1 was observed by the author, at the
LDC Camp Ground while camping with his father, early in the morning.
1994 - 1996
Glendora Animal Control reported 1 at
Amelia & Hwy 66. They estimated that 90 % of all calls regarding
Bobcat sightings are bogus.
Feb. 11, 2002
1 at 0.9 mi. N.E. of GMR at BDC Rd. by
author, afternoon.
Date Unknown
1 young Bob Cat seen at top of L.A. Co.
Flood Control mud-fill area at 1.5 mi. N.E. of Glendora Mt. Rd. by
Kevin Sweeney at approx. 3:00 pm.
Late Nov., 2006
1 on the Dunn Cnyn. Tr. in early
morning by Jerry Greeran
1999?
2 at W side of Big Dalton Dam, by Joel
Appel
Mid June, 2007
1 in BDC near BDCC by a resident of
Virginia Ave., early morning.
April 26, 2008
1large Bobcat at the FCT in BDC by John
Cisneros
August __, 2008
1 observed by residents at 630 N.
Pennsylvania Ave.
September 17,2008
1 observed by Ellen Moon in alley just
south of 617 N. Vermont Ave. at 7:00 am. A Peahen had just emiited
alarm calls and had flown on top of the rooftop of the adjacent
house. This Bobcat may be responsible for the deaths of 2 six-month
old Peafowl living in the neighborhood. Both had been killed within
the past 2 weeks within 3 houses of this sighting. Both Peafowl
deaths apparently took place early in the morning.
May, ? 2008
1 Bobcat observed by Dorothy Hilliard
in the ____ block of Leadora Ave. near her home
June, 2008
1 Bobcat at n.e. corner of Whitcomb &
Pasadena Ave’s, the Delazzaro’s were awoken at midnight
by noise outside, they observed a squirrel running down a tree
chattering and immediately running up another, within 15 feet of them
was a Bobcat standing in the street, lighted by car headlights
September 2008
1 Bobcat observed by neighbors of the
Delazzaro’s at the n.e. corner of Whitcomb & Pasadena Ave’s
October 2008
1 Bobcat observed by the Delazzaro’s
at 10:00 pm. at the rock wall at the Glendora Country Club
South Hills: Rare
1 observed by Glendora Police Officer
at his Mobile home at Centennial Heritage Park in the South Hills.
The bobcat was on top of his outside bird cage, early Sep. 1997,
early morning;
1 adult seen in July of 1997 by Ken
Mosley at Los Cerritos Rd.;
1 young observed in April of 1997 by
Ken Mosley at 629 Los Cerritos Rd.
1 on Bonnie Cove Trail in approx. 2002
by Erica Landmann-Johnsey
3 in BDDB on Jan. 13, 2008 by Bill
Nichols
1 in BDC in mid March, 2008 by Bill
Nichols
Order Artiodactyla - Herbivores
Family - Cervidae - Deer
Odocoileus hemionus Black-tailed
Deer, Mule Deer
North area: Fairly Common
Unusual observations:
___,2007
1 observed at 6__ N. Pennsylvania Ave.
by John Wiltsey
May 19, 2008
One deer killed by a Mt. Lion at the
Cullen Home at N. Cullen Ave. For the story, see the first page of
this article.
August ___, 2008
1 deer killed by Mt. Lion at Silvia
Barton’s House on Conifer Ave.
August ___, 2008
1 deer killed by Mt. Lion at Silvia
Barton’s House on Conifer Ave.
August 22, 2008
3:30 pm. Greg Lammers observed 1 Mt.
Lion kill and completely remove a fawn from sight within 7-10 seconds
at the Mary Lou Salyer Girl Scout Facility in the Big Dalton Canyon
Wilderness Park. Greg had been watching 5 Mule Deer when the event
occured. He was within 20 yards of the event.
August 24, 2008
3:00 pm. 3 observed walking north in
the 600 block of N. Vermont Ave. from Virginia Ave.
The deer crossed Sierra Madre Ave. and
spent time brousing on the north side of the street. The observation
was made by Joel Appel.
South Hills: Rare
The number of deer present here has not
yet been determined. The likelihood of the present population being
reinforced by deer from the north foothills becomes less and less
likely as development of the area continues. The present population
is dependent on reproduction within the existing herd.
1 in yard of Kris Silverman on Puma
Lane, spring 1997
Heritage Park members have only seen
deer on their property on 1 occasion
Order Rodentia - Rodents
Family Sciuridae - Squirrels
Spermophilus beecheyi California
Ground Squirrel
Common to Abundant
1 collected dead on the road at 0.4 mi.
E. of GMR on BDC Rd. on 7/29/93, specimen mounted and retained in
author’s personal collection.
Sciurus griseus Western Gray
Squirrel
North area: Uncommon, mostly in oak
woodlands and california walnut.
1 collected dead on the road at 0.3 mi.
N. of BDC Rd. on Glendora Mt. Rd., 4/10/99, specimen mounted and
retained in personal collection.
South Hills: Uncommon, mostly in areas
of dense California Walnut or oak woodlands
Sciurus niger Fox Squirrel
North area: None observed in
native plant communities, confined to urban areas
1 dead specimen collected at jnct. of
Glendora Ave. & Sierra Madre Ave. on 5/11/02, specimen mounted
and retained in personal collection.
First observed this species in approx.
1997 in the 200 block of W. Leadora Ave. Observed them 1 to 3 times
a year for the next 2 years. Their numbers slowly increased until
2001 when they were observed almost every week somewhere in the
central and western portion of town. A dead specimen from Sierra
Madre Ave. & Glendora Ave. on May 11, 2002, was mounted for
author’s collection. Several observed in N. Ben Lomand Ave.
and interacting with California Gray Squirrels. One fight between
the two species noted by Mike Peralez.
A graduate student from the Department
of Biological Sciences at California State University Los Angeles,
Julie King, undertook the mapping of the distribution of the fox
squirrel in the Los Angeles area. Her project began in 2002.
The fox squirrel was introduced into
this area from Mississippi Valley in 1904 at the Sautel Veterans
Hospital.
South Hills: No record
Tamias obscurus California
Chipmunk
North area: Rare
2 observed on Paul Keiser Nature Trail
in Big Dalton Cnyn. on 8/27/77, 4:30 pm.;
1 observed on Big Dalton Cnyn Rd. at
0.2 mi. E. of Glendora Mt. Rd. from 3/93 through 12/94.
1 male found dead on the Coulter Pine
trail in BDC on 5/6/95 at 0.3 mi. S. of Wilderness Cabin, mounted and
retained in author’s personal collection. Bone nodules at the
base of the male reproductive structure preserved. Necessary for
identification of this species.
1 observed by author and his wife
Jackie on May 4, 2002 on the Coulter Pine Trail at 0.4 mi. S. of BDC
Rd.; several observed at N. Ben Lomend Ave. from 200 _ - 2007, by
Mike Peralez.
South Hills: No record
Family Geomyidae - Pocket Gophers
Thomomys bottae Botta’s
Pocket Gopher
North area: Abundant in native
plant communities and disturbed, vacant areas; occasional in urban
areas that abut wild or undeveloped areas.
1 collected on 12/4/96 in the Coulter
Pine Grove at 0.9 mi. N. E. of Glendora Mt. Rd. at BDC Rd., mounted
and retained in personal collection.
South Hills: Abundant
Family Heteromyidae - Kangaroo Rats,
Kangaroo Mice, and Pocket Mice
Dipodomys agilis Pacific
Kangaroo Rat
North area: No record since
1966
In an interview with Ida Meacham at her
canyon home on 1/26/97, Ida mentioned that she remembered seeing lots
of Kangaroo Rats at night in the early years (1930’s &
40’s) while visiting the outhouse at night.
1 at ½ mi.
below jct. of Glendora Mt. Rd. & Big Dalton Cyn. Rd., by Rick
Astin, Mar 3, 1965, male (mature), retained in authors collection; 1
at Azusa, mouth of Azusa Cyn, by Dick Swinney, May 16, 1966, male,
retained in author’s collection
South Hills area:
Members of the Glendora Preservation
Society recalled the days the land was cleared for the Heritage Park
in the South Hills adjacent to the SHCP. Kangaroo Rats were hopping
all over the place they said. I have made several attempts to locate
Kangaroo rat colonies near the Heritage Park by setting live traps in
prime territory but have not been successful. No known kangaroo rat
populations exist at this time within the Glendora City Limits. The
SH population may have been the last.
Perognathus longimembris ?
Little Pocket Mouse
1 collected in spring of 1981? on the
Paul Keiser Trail in BDC Identified and preserved. Specimen lost.
South Hills: No record since
19--?
Family Cricetidae - Deer Mice, Wood
Rats, and Allies
Neotoma fuscipes Dusky-footed
Wood Rat
Notes on the nesting activities of the
following two woodrat species are given here because that of the
Dusky-footed is so large and obvious whereas the nests of the Desert
Wood Rats may be underground or completely hidden in dense thickets
of cactus.
Nests of the Dusky-footed are
collections of course sticks, man-made objects and who knows what,
often up to five feet high. Often constructed around the base of a
tree or shrub. Nests often shared with California Mice which have
separate chambers from the rats. In addition, many species of
arthropods are often closely associated with these nests. The
Kissing Bug Triatoma protracta (the carrier of Schaugus
disease further south in Mexico) is abundant in our area and mostly
confined to these nests. In the many nests that I have disassembled,
the following are usually present:
One to 3 species of Aphodine scarab
beetles, 1 species of pseudoscorpian, several spider species, 1 to 3
centipede species, 1 species of millipede, several mite species and
an assortment of other arthropods which happen to drop in but are not
dependent upon the nests. Some of these are largely confined to the
actual nest(s) chamber(s) themselves, whereas others may be found
throughout the nesting material. Many generations of wood rats may
occupy a nest and continue to add on and repair.
North area: Common in chaparral
and oak woodland, uncommon in coastal sage-scrub
Most rats in residential communities
would be in areas adjacent to wilderness.
South Hills: Abundant in
chaparral and oak woodland, uncommon in coastal sage-scrub and non
existent in pure stands of cactus, mostly on the north-facing slopes.
Neotoma lepida Desert Wood Rat
Nests are constructed inside thickets
of cactus either in burrows or in the plants. Nests are a loose
array of sticks and cactus spines. The rats not only depend on the
cactus for protection and nest building, but a major portion of their
diet comes from the cactus pulp and fruits.
North area: No record, if
present, would be confined to areas of dense coast prickly pear
cactus
South Hills: Common on the S. facing
slopes where cactus is dominant. In the SH, it’s mostly the
Dusky-footed Woodrat on the north-facing slopes, and the Desert Wood
Rat on the south-facing slopes, primarily due to the differences in
the plant communities.
several collected on S. facing slope in
dense growth of Coast Prickly Pear Cactus - Opuntia littoralis, at
1200 ft. elev., 0.5 mi.S.E. of the N. terminus of Bonnie Cove,
12/1/96, one specimen mounted and retained in author’s personal
collection.
Peromyscus maniculatus Deer
Mouse
North area: Fairly Common in chaparral
and southern oak woodland plant communities,
1 at Big Dalton Cyn., by Dick Swinney,
May 14, 1966, retained in author’s personal collection.
South Hills: Uncertain
Peromyscus boylii Brush Mouse
North area: Common
1 collected at WC at MG on 8/1/90,
specimen mounted and retained in author’s personal collection.
1 collected at WC, BDC on 7/17/89,
specimen mounted and retained in author’s personal collection.
South Hills:
Peromyscus californicus
California Mouse
North area: Uncommon
May be found in proximity to
Dusky-footed Woodrats as they often share the same nest. This is our
largest mouse species.
1 collected at 0.3 mi. E. of GMR near
BDC Rd. in garage of cnyn. resident on 12/5/96, specimen mounted and
retained in personal collection.
South Hills:
Family Arvicolidae - Voles and
Allies
Microtus californicus California
Meadow Vole
North area: population densities
vary greatly depending on the availability of grasses. The years
following fires normally have an abundance of grasses, annuals,
germinating perennials and resprouting perennials from root-crowns.
This normally affords the voles with a plenteous food supply and more
desirable low vegetation for creating their runway tunnels above
ground. During this time, the vole populations often increase
greatly. Their numbers decrease in the succeeding years as their
food supply and tunnel-covering vegetation decreases.
Abundant in 2004 and 2005 in much of
the northern foothills due to the growth of grasses and herbaceous
growth following the Williams Fire of 2002.
1 found dead at FCT in April of 1992.
South Hills: 1 found dead on
upper Toyon Trail in the SH, 7/11/95, specimen mounted, retained in
personal collection;
Family Muridae - Old World Rats and
Mice
Mus musculus House Mouse
Common in residential areas, uncommon
in wilderness areas
1 collected in Big Dalton Debris Basin,
released
Rattus norvegicus Brown or
Norway Rat
Common in residential areas, Rare in
wilderness areas
Order Logomorpha - Rabbits, Hares
and Allies
Family Leporidae - Rabbits and
Hares
Lepus californicus Black-tailed
Jackrabbit
Extirpated Most likely common at one
time. The date of the last sighting is unknown. There is still a
population in the San Gabriel Valley at the Whittier Narrows Nature
Center. Paul Keiser had it on his tentative list of mammals in BDC
but there were no records or notes accompaning it.
Sylvilagus audubonii Audubon’s
or Desert Cottontail
North area: Uncommon in the
higher elevations, most likely to be seen in gently sloping land of
native vegetation bordering residential areas with grass and
herbacious greenery. More likely to be seen out in the open, some
distance from brush cover, then the more seclusive Bush Rabbit.
Often seen at dawn and dusk at grassy
area on west side of Walmart parking lot adjacent to Lone Hill Ave.;
1 at WM grassy area on 19 March 2007.
South Hills: Common
1 found dead on 12/18/06 on Glendora
Ave. just N. of Lemon Ave. near RR tracks. S. side of street is a
vacant lot adjacent to the RR tracks. Closer to the South Hills than
the N. area. Perhaps lived along secluded RR tracks which run
through the far E. end of the SH; 1 on LMM at 2.5 mi. SE of jnct.
with LDC on 3/31/07.
3 at WM near landscape cover at lawn,
4/11/2007?; 2 in NE SH on 5/19/07, near open field and ornamental
brush cover at residence.
Sylvilagus bachmani Brush
Rabbit
North area: Uncommon Favors
dense brush and seldom strays far from it.
South Hills: Uncertain
Species ?
2 Sylvilagus at BDDB, July 8. 1989
1 Sylvilagus at LDDB on 3/20/74
1 at RR tracks at S.E. South Hills
Permission is freely granted to
reproduce any or all of this material as long as full credit is given
to the author at www.glendoranaturalhistory.com
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