After the wildfire in California, the animals return to the parks

When the glass fire burned through parts of Hood Mountain Regional Park in Sonoma County in September, it left little behind: once stately pines and oaks stood strong amid burnt chaparral, and the ubiquitous chatter of chirping birds was replaced by an eerie silence.

According to Sonoma County Regional Parks spokeswoman Meda Freeman, the fire burned more than 80% of the 2,000-acre park and countless animals died or fled.

“They don’t always make it,” said Freeman. “Some go underground, others can run in front of it, but deer have been sightings to die in the fire.”

Now, two months after the devastating fire in the area, life is beginning to resurface.

“Our employees are pleased to report that they have seen signs of wildlife returning to many areas,” Sonoma County Regional Park said in an update on its Facebook page along with a video showing a rabbit walking Hopping on a fire ravaged Hood Mountain Trail.

The park’s wildlife cameras also recorded deer, bobcats, and a skunk returning to the charred trail. (Birds chirping can also be heard at increased volume.)

“It’s always good for the public to see these pictures,” Freeman said, “and to make sure the wildlife will move around the park after the fire.”

Similar sightings took place at nearby Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, which was also burning in the glass fire. Trail cameras focused on a stream in the park captured birds, deer, and mountain lions that appeared for a drink of water in the weeks following the fire.

Caitlin Cornwall, senior project manager at the Sonoma Ecology Center, said animals are often smart when it comes to fighting forest fires. Some run far from the flames, while others seek shelter in hollow stumps, build caves out of fallen trees, or dig underground.

“An amazing thing after wildfire is to see how many holes there are in the ground,” Cornwall said, adding that rabbits, foxes, raccoons, small rodents, spiders and lizards have been known to go underground, to avoid flames. “I have these mental images of all these different creatures huddled in someone’s cave.”

Although fire is common in fatalities, one of the toughest times for wildlife is the time between the flames and the first rain, Cornwall said when there is very little food on the ground.

But nature is resilient. Perennial grasses grow back within two weeks of a fire, and chaparral in four, according to Cornwall. Often new sprouts grow quickly on trees – not on higher branches, but deeper where animals can reach them.

“Much of the regrowth is abundant and quick and easy to come by if you are a herbivore,” she said, noting that almost all California plant and animal communities evolved with fire.

Even so, the flames are taking their toll. The California wildfires burned a record 4.2 million acres in 2020, and rescue teams have reported a wide variety of animals injured, including a young bobcat burned in the El Dorado fire and a Barn owl that lost most of its feathers in the Silverado Fire.

The fire at the North Complex in Butte County burned a bear’s paws so badly that they had to be sewn with tilapia skin.

Like much of Sonoma County, the parks have been badly hit by forest fires in recent years: About half of Hood Mountain was burned by the nun fire in 2017, Freeman said, as was 80% of Sugar Loaf’s.

And while it’s not entirely unexpected for wildlife to return after a fire, park officials said their presence was a welcome sight.

“We all undoubtedly sense disaster fatigue in some way,” wrote Bert Whitaker, director of regional parks in Sonoma County, in one Glass fire update.

“Our natural landscapes will restore in time,” he said. “Seeds will sprout, wildlife will return.”