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Bats We have 19 different kinds of Bats. You can see them start to work for the night as dark comes on. Just keep looking skyward. Bats are the good guys. They eat flying bugs. Especially the bitting kinds. Don't touch a bat you find on the ground. They can carry rabies.
Bears: All the bears were hunted out of this area during the Gold Rush. However their tracks have been seen on Volcan Mountain and they have been seen in Pine Hills and North Peak. One home was searched by a bear while the people were on vacation. Don't leave food out at a campsite.
Bobcats(Lynx rufus) Smaller then Mountain Lions with a tail about 2 feet long.
Coyotes: Coyotes are very common in this area. They are not shy of man at all. We have watched them run right up to our house and carry off our cats. In the spring they will run their in heat females to attract dogs then ambush and eat the dogs. They also will eat road kill. Coyotes will eat anything that moves. As night comes on they can be heard making high pitched yepping barks in a pack.
Cougar see Mountain Lion
Deer Southern Mule Deer(Odocoileus hemionus fulginatus). Can be seen mostly in the early mornings or dusk in grassy fields. They have large ears and a white flashing rump. If you seen a deer run in front of you on the road be aware that others may be following the first. Hitting a deer can total a car. Deer can generally be found anywhere in Julian but at the sound of the first gunshot in Fall the deer migrate to areas where hunting is not allowed.
Gopher, California Pocket (Thomomus bottse) The bain of all of us gardeners. Rat-like with light brown color. Holes have a pile of dirt around entrance. Eats plants. Up here in the Mountains it eats plants it is not suppose to eat because anything is better than to try to eat manzanita or oak tree roots. A shorter list is what it doesn't eat. Iris and daffodils. Which is why the town has planted thousands of daffodils. Absolutely loves tulips, garlic, and onions. One gopher can strip out a tulip bed in one day.
Mice and Rats Boy do we have mice and rats. At least twelve different kinds. Come the cold days of Fall they try to move into warm places like your home. That's why most people keep cats. Locally grown and trained hunters. They not only have to know how to hunt but must have learned from mom to run when the bushes rattle. This is because coyotes will hunt cats after the rabbit population goes down in an area. City grown cats don't last a year up here.
Mole, Starnosed Here's a strange little animal.It is rat like and a dark gray color. Around its nose it has little fingers that help it find grubs and worms in the soil. Moles leave mounds were there underground trails are and a plugged hole as opening as opposed to the gopher whose trail you can't see and whose opening has a pile of dirt around it.
Mountain lions(Felis concolor) Mountain Lions are shy animals. Not usually seen by men. They have in recent years attacked a few people in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties. If you are confronted by a lion do not run. Make yourself as big and noisy as possible. Flap a jacket or sweater.
Opossum(Didelphis marsupialis) Possum. Looks like a giant rat. It has a mean disposition and a mean set of teeth. Let it go where it wants. They are a marsupial (like a kangaroo) and have a pouch that they raise young inside. They can have litters of over 23. After reaching a certain size young will cling all over the outside of Mom as she walks along.
Puma see Mountain Lion
Racoons(Procuon lotor) One of the smartest animals out there. They will eat anything they can find. We personally support at least four racoons, two skunks and a possum by feeding our cats outside. The hind foot of the raccoon has a triangular shaped pad that makes it's track easy to identify. Racoons eat a large amount of manzanita berries when they are available so the feces are full of seeds of the manzanita.
Shrew, Ornate and Gray Nasty little rat like burrower. Bites. Lives off worms, grubs, etc in ground. Because of rabies and plague leave any rat or mouse type animal alone.
Skunks, Spotted and Striped (Spilogale putorius and Mephitis mephitis) We are suppose to have both striped and spotted skunks in San Diego but in all my years here I have only seen Striped skunks. When you see a black and white lump at the side of the road you can say in a "know it all" tone, "a striped skunk" or better yet when you smell a skunk take a deep breath and make some professional sounds and say "a striped skunk." People should be very impressed with your knowledge. Skunks have no fear of anything and will only spray if they are cornered. If you find yourself face to face with a skunk just freeze and let him go about his business.Skunks provide an intellengence test for our dogs. The dog of average intelligence will take four times of getting sprayed before he learns to leave skunks alone. I had a dog that got spray over 10 times before she got the idea to leave skunks alone. How to reduce the skunk odor on a dog: The first thing you put on the dog is tomato juice even before water. Lots and Lots of tomato juice. Work it in well and let the dog stand it as long as you can. Then rinse with water. Do not use soap. Soap fixes the smell in the hair shaft and the dog will smell like skunk until he has an entire new coat. You wont get all the tomato juice out and a long haired dog with look like it has been attacked by a insane hair stylist but he will be better to be around sooner. Those commerial things for removing skunk odor don't work as well as lots of tomato juice.
From an article in the San Diego Union in December 2001: "Does anything work better than tomato juice to deodorize a dog sprayed by a skunk? Answer: A formula developed by Paul Krebaum, a materials engineer in Lisle, Ohio, has been hailed by pet lovers as an effective remedy for the tenacious odors left in animal hair by oily sulfur compounds called thiols found in skunk spray. It works by oxidizing, or adding oxygen, to the thiols, the resulting compounds are not volatile and cannot be smelled. Krebaum developed the formula while working on "scrubbing gas streams in the lab so they would not go up the hood and annoy people,"he says. The mixture must be made in a large, open container because it foams so much that it could explode a closed vessel, and it cannot be stored. It contains a quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup of baking soda (dicarbonate of soda) and a teaspoon of liquid soap (Krebaum recommends Soft Soap or Ivory.) Work mixture well into the hair or fur of the victim, avoiding the eyes; while the formula is nontoxic, the salt from the baking soda will sting. Let it sit long enough to work. "Let you nose be your guide." advises Krebaum. Then rinse thoroughly. A longer application, or a second one, may be needed, especially for an old attack that has had time to work its way into the hair shaft. The long-lasting thiol acetates cause the persistent odors and may start working again, especially if the pet gets wet.