Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fidus
), California yerba santa (
Eriodictyon californicum
), poison oak (
Toxicodendron
diversilobum
), and Our Lord's candle (
Yucca whipplei
).
Chaparral carpets the hottest, driest slopes, where summer temperatures can soar
above 100°F. When lightning strikes, fire spreads quickly through mature chaparral
stands. The volatile oils in some chaparral shrubs make this one of the most fire-ad-
apted plant communities in the world. Historically, in the Santa Lucia Range, fire rav-
ages chaparral slopes once every 10 to 40 years. The community provides critical sta-
bilizing cover on steep, rocky slopes. When fire rips through, the slopes are left barren
and unstable, resulting in massive floods and landslides when heavy winter storms
strike.
Resident animal species include:
MAMMALS
Mountain lion, coyote, gray fox, bobcat, mule deer, spotted skunk, ring-
tail, brush rabbit, California ground squirrel, Santa Cruz kangaroo rat, desert woodrat,
California mice, deer mice, brush mice, Merriam's chipmunk, pallid bat, and Brazili-
an free-tailed bat.
BIRDS
Turkey vulture, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, Cooper's hawk, sharp-shinned
hawk, California quail, mountain quail, Anna's hummingbird, wrentit, California
thrasher, rufous-sided and California towhee, blue-gray gnatcatcher, Bewick's wren,
bushtit, black swifts, white-throated swifts, and barn, violet-green, and cliff swallows.
REPTILES
Western fence lizard, sagebrush lizard, western whiptail, coast horned liz-
ard, garter snake, gopher snake, striped racer, western rattlesnake, and common king-
snake.
