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Altadena Trails
Information about Hiking, Mountain Bike and Equestrian Trails in the Altadena Foothills.
Altadena, CA is at the foot of the San Gabriel range, 15 miles north of Los Angeles.
WILDLIFE
INSECTS
Get effective insect repellent against mosquitoes and ticks, without overdosing on DEET. (Consumer Reports May 2003 - Ratings on Tick and Mosquito Repellent).
RATTLESNAKES
Read about rattlesnakes in California (excerpted from an article in the May 16, 2005 Los Angeles Times, by Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer).
BIRDS
Pasadena Audubon is a good place to start for a description of birding in the Canyons in the Foothills of east Altadena. If you spend much time in these hills, you are bound to see the fellow in the photo, a male California Quail (Callipepla californica).
Photo by R. Staehle
PACKRATS
When walking on our local trails or through wild back yards you may notice rounded piles of brush and branches that seem woven together along with piles of rocks and "stuff," often located under scrub oaks or jammed between boulders. Those are local packrat homes and middens. Read the following packrat information forwarded to me (Lori Paul) by Shirley Stroup at JPL.
BEARS
(Information provided by Lori P.)
For your convenience and review, an updated bear alert is available (download 132 kb PDF).
Bear Alert 2004
Deja VuBear...
There is a large, cinnamon colored bear of undetermined gender in the Chaney Trail neighborhood. It is clearly a different individual from the darker male bear who visited us back in August. That bear was probably the one found dead in a nearby ravine recently. I got a call from Fran Neumann this morning on Jaxine Drive. She told me that the new bear got into her garbage cans last night, which were kept behind a fence. The bear skedaddled back down the cliff behind the Neuman residence after being discovered. The bear probably fled up the creekbed below the house. It is good to know that he or she is skittish and unwilling to confront people at this point. I advised Fran to triple bag their food waste and locked it inside a sturdy structure (like their garage or very solid shed) to discourage future bear incursions. Also, don't put garbage out on the street until the morning of pick up. Black bears are creatures of habit and will take the shortest distance from their stomachs to easy food (or what they perceive as food, which by broader bear definition may include cat kibble, compost scraps, an old tube of toothpaste, or even the greasy crust on a BBQ grill). For the sake of the bear, please lock up all tempting items and make our neighborhood as inhospitable as possible. Please pass this news on to your neighbors who may not have computer access.