by  Milo Olavson

Wildlife In Our Neighborhood

Ever since I was young, I have loved the animals in our neighborhood. Even before I could walk, I was always mesmerized by the donkeys that live by Bol Park. As I got older, I discovered Matadero Creek. I’d go down into the creek and play, whether it was with my friends or by myself, I would love it. And now, in that same creek, I put up wildlife cameras and observe all of the many animals that live there. At first, I found opossums and raccoons, and then eventually skunks, egrets and coyotes. And after a while, I started moving the cameras around. I caught rats, ducks, bunnies, other birds and many more. But my most exciting discovery is the gray fox that I named “Barron.”

I am part of the Urban Wildlife Research Project, led by Bill Leikam, also known as “the Fox Guy.” He’s been tracking wildlife at the Palo Alto Baylands for over fourteen years, observing and documenting the gray foxes, but last year they all died out from canine distemper. This is what makes my gray fox discovery so exciting.

Bill thinks that Barron the gray fox might be “dispersing” right now. That means it’s left its parents in search of new territory and a mate. I hope that Barron decides to stay here in our neighborhood. If you’ve ever seen the fields behind Gunn High School, there are plenty of squirrels and meals for a fox family! Gray foxes are a keystone species, which means they hold the ecosystem in balance and keep the rodent population under control. 

We are so lucky to live in Barron Park, where Matadero Creek is still a natural creek and supports a diversity of wildlife. But from El Camino to the Baylands, Matadero Creek was turned into a concrete channel in the 1980s. This destroyed a major wildlife corridor between the Santa Cruz mountains and the Bay. Our goal is to remove the concrete and renaturalize Matadero Creek so animals like Barron can continue to thrive in our neighborhoods. If you would like to support the Urban Wildlife Research Project, you can donate or volunteer here: https://urbanwildliferesearchproject.org 

Fun Facts about Gray Foxes

  • They can climb trees! Sometimes they sleep in trees, to keep away from coyotes.
  • You can identify a Gray Fox by the black stripe down their tail.
  • They are elusive and hard to spot because they are shy and mostly nocturnal.