Recreation
- Details
- Written by: nderson Marsh State Historic Park
The next guided walk will be held on Saturday, Aug. 13, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The August nature walk will be led by Henry Bornstein, a certified California Naturalist and volunteer State Parks docent.
The hike will cover parts of the Cache Creek Nature Trail, the Marsh Trail and the Ridge Trail.
The hike is over mostly level terrain and will cover about 3 miles at a leisurely pace. It should last between one and a half to two hours.
Bring binoculars and meet in the parking lot at 8:15 a.m. for time to experience the early morning wildlife that can be found in the Ranch House and Barn complex yard — the walk will begin at 8:30 a.m.
There is no charge for the guided nature walk and parking is free for those attending.
Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located on Hwy 53, between Lower Lake and Clearlake.
For more information about the guided walk, email
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Red-eared sliders
Q: I see turtles all the time in the creeks that run through my neighborhood and the small lake at the local park. How can I tell which turtles are invasive? Should I remove the invasives from the water or leave them alone?
A: There’s a good chance you’re seeing red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans), which can be common in urban and suburban waterways where people are more likely to release their unwanted pets. Red-eared sliders can thrive in a variety of natural freshwater habitats, including streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, swamps and marshes. They can also be found in artificial habitats such as ditches and canals, and they’re often the only turtle species in urban and suburban park lakes and ponds.
Non-native red-eared sliders can establish self-sustaining populations and reach high densities, and they can compete with native species for habitat and food. For example, in California and the other Pacific states, sliders compete with native western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata and A. pallida) for basking sites. Red-eared sliders are also vectors of disease and can transmit parasites to native animal species, as well as the bacteria Salmonella to humans.
Red-eared sliders can typically be distinguished from native western pond turtles by the thick red stripe behind each of their eyes, although some individuals lose their colorful skin and shell patterns over time and appear dark overall (melanistic). Unlike the smooth-edged shell of the western pond turtle, the marginal (outer carapace) scutes of red-eared sliders are serrated or slightly forked in appearance. Male sliders have elongated front claws, and are substantially smaller than females as adults. Adult red-eared sliders can range from approximately 5 to 11 inches in length and can live up to 20 years in the wild.
Can you remove a red-eared slider and take it home? Yes, you can capture them using authorized methods named in section 5.60 of CDFW’s freshwater sport fishing regulations. There is no bag limit on sliders, so you aren’t limited to just one; however, the purpose for collection dictates which permit is needed to remove them from the wild. If you want to take them home as pets or for food, a fishing license is required for individuals 16 and over. However, if you are asking about removing them as part of an invasive species control project, you’d need to contact CDFW.
And remember, if you remove a red-eared slider from the wild, you can’t ever release it again – and they can live for up to 40 years in captivity, which is quite a commitment! If you don’t have the resources to keep them at home, and you don’t want to kill them, your best bet might be to take a photo and file an invasive species sighting report with CDFW. If your sighting took place in a waterway where red-eared sliders weren’t previously known to exist, this information is especially useful to biologists, who might opt to remove them before they become established.
Tule elk
Q: How many tule elk are there in California?
A: There are currently about 6,000 tule elk persisting in 22 recognized populations scattered throughout the state. California’s other two sub-species of elk are Rocky Mountain and Roosevelt. For more information, please visit CDFW’s elk webpage.
California bears
Q: I live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and a neighbor of mine said she’s seen a grizzly bear in the wild. Is that possible?
A: Black bears are the only wild bears in California. However, they do come in many different colors, from solid black to shades of brown and tan. Some have different patches of color, such as a white blaze on the chest or lighter colored muzzles.
People will sometimes claim to have seen a “brown bear.” Generally, the term “brown bear” refers to Ursus arctos, the grizzly bear. California grizzly bears became extinct by the 1920s and only the one on our state flag remains. There are two subspecies of black bears recognized in California: The northwestern or Olympic black bear (Ursus americana altifrontalis) in the northwest corner of California, and the California black bear (Ursus americana californiensis) throughout the rest of California. They are thought to be geographically distinguished from each other by the crest of the Klamath Mountains.
California’s black bear population is robust and has increased over the past 25 years. Since the extinction of the California grizzly, black bears have been able to expand throughout much of the state as they no longer face direct competition from the larger bear species. For more information, please visit CDFW’s black bear webpage. For resources on co-existing with bears, please see CDFW’s Keep Me Wild webpage and Bear Naked Truth blog.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
The course will take place on Aug. 22, 23, 24 and 27, at 1375 Hoyt Ave. in Lakeport, in the AWP building.
Classes will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Training topics include hunter and firearms safety, ethics and hunter responsibility, basic survival and first aid, wildlife identification and management, hunting techniques and equipment, and wild game care.
This class is required to be eligible to hunt in California.
Students are required to attend all days and hours to receive full credit and must pass the required written and practical tests for certification of completion.
Registration must be completed online by visiting the CDFW website and following the step-by-step instructions.
Class space is limited and on a first come, first served basis. Additional course dates and locations are also located at the website.
For additional information or if your organization would like to host a course, please contact Lt. Mike Pascoe at 707-263-1044 or Roland LeDoux at 707-994-0637.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
CDFW and white sharks
Q: What is CDFW’s role in managing white sharks?
A: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) manages fisheries in California; this includes sharks. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as great white sharks, are protected from all recreational take and most commercial take in California.
One of CDFW’s main roles is tracking landings of white sharks taken incidentally in commercial fisheries, which is allowed only in certain cases. We also track the status of white sharks for management of the species as a whole and for their value as one of California’s natural resources.
CDFW also permits and tracks scientific take of white sharks through its scientific collecting permit process, and maintains an incident database primarily to promote public awareness.
Incidents vs. attacks
Q: Why does CDFW refer to shark “incidents” rather than shark “attacks”? What is a shark incident?
A: As a science-based agency, CDFW wants to be accurate without being sensational. There are multiple reasons why scientists worldwide are moving away from the term “attack” when referring to sharks.
Most shark bites can be attributed to either exploratory bites where a shark is investigating an unknown object in its environment, or incidents in which the shark may have mistaken the person for a natural food source such as a seal or sea lion (in the case of white sharks).
CDFW documents any incident where any species of shark approaches and touches a person in the water or on a board or kayak. We do not track incidents where a sighting occurred without contact.
We also don’t track incidents where a shark was provoked (for example, cases involving fishing or chumming) or incidents where a shark approached or touched larger boats.
Post-incident tracking
Q: Is it possible to track down and identify which specific shark bit a person?
A: It would be nearly impossible to determine which shark was responsible for a bite. One of the primary reasons is that sharks, especially white sharks, are highly mobile. While they may stay in an area for a brief period, white sharks are known to move extreme distances, sometimes migrating thousands of miles. While we can recover DNA from a bite to help determine species, doing the same from a shark after an incident is highly unlikely and we do not have DNA tests for individual sharks.
Another reason is that white sharks are not known to become habituated to people, like some land animals (bears, mountain lions, coyotes, etc.). There is no need to track down a shark after an incident, as another incident is highly unlikely to happen again with the same shark.
Frequency of incidents
Q: Are white shark incidents increasing in California?
A: While the number of non-injury incidents in California appears to be increasing, the number of injuries appears to be very stable and remains low. There are a variety of reasons that may explain the increase in non-injury incidents.
First, the number of people entering the water is increasing, especially in Southern California. Second, our ability to document shark incidents is improving because more people today can record sightings with cameras on their phones.
There has also been a vast increase in the use of personal action cameras such as GoPros, as well as aerial drones. These devices have improved our ability to get our sightline above the ocean, where it is easier to spot sharks.
Also consider that 15 to 20 years ago a shark incident may have gone unreported if a surfer or beachgoer only told friends and family. Today, a similar shark incident may be recorded, posted online and shared on social media, which often leads to even wider coverage by news media.
Risk
Q: What is the likelihood of encountering a shark in the ocean in California?
A: At CDFW we like to reinforce the idea that the ocean is a wilderness. Just as when you go into a forest and may encounter a bear or mountain lion, when you go into the ocean you may encounter a shark. However, the chance of an incident with one is extremely low — as evidenced by the very low number of incidents in California. With tens of thousands of people in the water at California beaches each year, slightly more than 100 shark incidents involving injuries to humans have been documented since 1950.
For comparison purposes, it’s worth noting that by far the most “dangerous” animal in the ocean in terms of number of people injured is the round stingray. Hundreds of people are stung each year by round stingrays.
In fact, in 2019 more than 500 people were stung over the three-day Labor Day weekend in Orange County alone! (Stingrays, like sharks, do not seek out humans; they are simply defending themselves when stepped on. The best way to avoid stingrays is to do the “stingray shuffle” and shuffle your feet in the sand as you enter the water. This will let the stingrays know you are coming so they can swim away.)
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