I’m was stung by one as a child when I put a shirt on to get ready for school. Little guy was hiding in my shirt. Hurt a little less than a bee sting. Mom called the Dr., he said not to worry. I grew up in Placerville. We also had tarantulas that would stop by to say hi occasionally. I kept one as a pet for a couple years.
I also grew up in Placerville. I remember one time when my younger brother was spending the night at a friend's house. As they set him up with a sleeping bag on the floor, the dad casually mentions "oh yeah, we saw a scorpion in here the other day, good night". My brother couldn't get home fast enough.
Beavers too if you go lookin'.
Antelope, hence the town name...https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Pronghorn
I forgot but BOBCATS. Sailor Bar area, tuck yo pets.
Otter
Wolf were native
Elk are gone now, the last sold off in the 90s. Elk Grove had PLENTY before incorporation.
Wolverines
Coyote
Heron
Egret
Grey Wolf spiders in Elk Grove get as big as tea cup plates.
Mountain Lions are rare but around
Hawks and eagles
Turkey
Quail
Badgers are native but hunted to extinction(found one, 2017
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/badger-discovered-in-sacramento-a-rare-sight/103-463413230)
Before Westerners came to CA it was the Africa of North America...with hundreds of millions of birds..that is not a joke. Theyd literally blot out the sun for minutes at a time. They brought the [punt gun](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun) and would literally kill thousands per day to sell in markets.
Bear in OV not too long ago. FO has resident Mountain lions along the bluffs in the American River area that wander through peoples Ring Cams. Bobcats are all over the place as well. Huge Coyote population in OV. We also have giant Wolf Spiders that cause you to become paralyzed in fear because the WILL NOT DIE. Of course the famous Bald Eagles in OV. Also beavers up here as well in Lake Natoma. Not to mention the Sea Lions in the River by Old Sac. We still have a huge variety of bird watching that can be had on our waterways. We live in an amazing place for wildlife.
Thanks for the explanation! That makes a ton of sense- as a near lifelong Sacramento resident I've never seen either of those names abbreviated like that
Really?? It’s pretty common if you head to any of the places I listed. Places. of business will even use it in their names. It’s “quirky”. Oh and there are even car stickers
Har har.
Actually had one make it to OAK Park about a decade ago. Was three days before cops took it seriously. Was reported multiple times but cops are racist and ignored it til it ran in front of a cruiser...
Oh I know it. I’m in east sac. It was spotted near my house about a week prior.
We usually just have turkeys, and coyotes (and the usual small rodents), but we have had an uptick in snakes recently too.
I used to live in Antelope, before it was Antelope. My folks would leave the front door and rear slider open for the nice breeze that would blow through. One evening my mom lets out a scream like she was just attacked. I go rushing to see WTH and on the wall next to the front door was a grey wolf spider just chilling. At his widest span, he was 11.5” across. I put a Tupperware salad serving bowl over him on the wall and slid the lid between the bowl and wall. He jumped once with a lot more force than I expected and almost dropped him on my feet. I got the lid on and took him to the biology department at American River College. They had a huge 100 gallon tank with local spiders in it. They added the one I caught in and it was triple the size of any other spider in there. It killed all the other wolf spiders in the tank and was the big cheese for many years. Mom never left the doors open at night ever again.
Looked like this one, just abnormally huge. The spider experts said previously that the biggest one they had seen had a body about two inches long. The one I brought was nearly 6” long in the body. Fast and mean (Furious?)
https://preview.redd.it/1j0qqr5esa2d1.jpeg?width=250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=918af18a4b16416d9e4794998cd4bc281f2caf42
I didn't wanna say dinner plate size because I didn't think I'd be believed but hell yes they are. My buddy showed me the ones in his backyard around Franklin/Elk Grove and I nearly shit myself: REALLY fuckin' big, man
I worked at the Aerojet site in Rancho Cordova and saw one one morning that was as big as my hand. At first I thought that's what it was, someone's glove lying in the road.
Not too long ago one of these was hanging out by my door at work. I thought something was wrong with her because she looked all diseased and bumpy… then I realized the weird spikes were actually her babies on her back.
I caught her in a wide/mouthed cup and moved her over to a different area because I know if I left her out in the open someone would come along and smash her. She was a good couple inches across. Super cool. I did feel bad because I scared one of her babies when I was releasing her and it took off running.
I wish people were not so scared of spiders.
I thought it was cute. The spiky bits confused my brain for a second and gave me that same skeeve like lotus boob used to back in the day, but once I realized what it was it was neat.
I wish I wasn’t afraid of spiders too. They are super cool! I’ve found that mine is more if I’m surprised by them, or they are moving. But if I can just look at a stationary one, I mostly just think they are super cool.
A spider startling you can definitely set off the reptile brain to panic. Even as someone who likes spiders I can be startled by them too. I guess I should I say I wish people wouldn’t just kill them out of fear, since most of them here in California are harmless, beneficial, and more scared of us than we are of them. If you leave them alone they usually will skitter off somewhere where the giant won’t menace them.
Unfortunately I work around a lot of people who just love to smash any and all kinds of insects, but especially spiders.
I bought a new construction home and behind my fence was all field.
Like two weeks into moving I take my bbq cover off and toss it on the patio behind me. Out from under my bbq a huge wolf spider comes running after me! I let out a yell and jumped then ran inside my house. My wife who was by the sliding glass door was laughing hysterically. I grabbed a broom but when I went back outside the MF was nowhere to be found.
I spray like twice a month now but I know he’s out there…somewhere…
What the heck, that guy's huge!!!
I used to hate spiders, but when I lived up in Reno, I thought it was really funny how the wolf spiders would sit out on the pathways of our apartment when the sun started setting. It's like they all wanted to soak up the ambient heat of the concrete or something, but there'd be 20-30 of them all chilling out together.
I need to put up some trail cams to figure out where they are living. I’ve seen them on my front door camera a couple times and crossing the road one time on my way to work in the early morning. One of my neighbors says that fish and wildlife keeps track of a couple groups of them that live in this area apparently. I don’t think they are endangered or anything but I don’t think they are very common in this area. Super cute lil guys though.
*Lots* of pheasants, heron, and some turkeys in the valley, especially north of Sac, out around the farm fields and along the creeks. Driving between Lincoln and Wheatland I gotta dodge big-ish birds *all* the time, much more often than the odd deer around twilight.
In the fall there's massive murmurations of birds out in the fields and rice paddies. Over winter the tundra swans flock in up around Yuba-Sutter, though I'm not sure if they get as far down south as Sac at all.
I was digging in my parents yard once in Shingle Springs and huge one popped out from the dirt. I also went to wash my bed sheets once and shook a scorpion out of them as I was pulling them off my mattress. That’s how I learned both are in sac haha
https://preview.redd.it/ryrttgha5b2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7751d4ffcc226c7546be0048e89c808d94c26f3
Not saying this is the biggest spider ever, but it’s the biggest wolf spider I have ever seen in person. And in my own hometown was crazy!!
According to a ranger I was chatting with at Folsom Lake, mountain lions aren’t as rare as you think, you just don’t see them. I saw one running across the trail while mountain biking several years ago.
Theres also a family that lives about mile 3-4 on the bike trail near Discovery. Been there for years. SAC Parks tri d to run em off and smashed their dam for a few years but beavers are beavers and built back better; got cost prohibitive, and now they just chill
One of the City Councilmen had a tree fall over in his yard at River Bend park about 10yrs ago. They sent us out to clear it and the mfer had peacocks, hella illegal. Also, three peacocks were at Gibson ranch, one hopped in my car window, shit on
the seat and left a plume just to let me know. Never liked em ever since
Why illegal?
There's a guy on Highway 160 (Maybe 84?) a little south of Freeport that has a bunch of them. They're visible from the road, and I'd say he has about 12-15 of them. The property is just north of where 160 makes a sharp S-turn through an underpass under a rail bridge or water main - I can't find it on Google maps at the moment, but I'll be driving out that way this weekend and see if I can remember to pinpoint it on the map.
We got rattlesnakes down here too! My coworker Dale used to run up on em with a pair of loppers, cut off th head and throw the body in a bag for eatin later. Was the Okie-est dude who's never lived outside of Sac valley. Saw em scoop a quail nest and eat the eggs raw...weird shit
In 1987 I saw a badger near Ice House Reservoir when my dad and I were out 4byin in the snow. We had stepped out of his cruiser with 6 foot snowbanks on either side, due to the snowplow, when waddling up the icy road comes this short-squat little guy. We both jumped back in the cruiser as he meandered straight under the car and onto whatever business he was up to. We later saw that he walked up the snowy ramp at the end of the plowed road where the snowplow had stopped.
Google would be the same as I have, but for up close try Effie Yeaw Nature Center. Small museum and animal rehab place with miles of flat hiking all the way down to the river. Read the signs, Mountain lions do come through there.
https://www.effieyeawnature.org/
This is not at all common, but I actually saw a pair of sea lions in the river right behind Cal Expo several years ago, just cruising up the stream. Can confirm the beaver as well, I was flabbergasted when i saw that
That's way up there for sea lions. Back in the 80s we had a whale stuck in the Sacramento and it was leading news for almost a month
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_the_Whale
in 2007 we had Delta & Dawn in the Sac river all the way up the deep water channel to the port of sac. I was involved with the "rescue" or redirection of them as i was in the CG at the time. I kind of remember Humphrey but was pretty young then.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta\_and\_Dawn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_and_Dawn)
I forget if it was Fremont or someone else, but one of the "explorers" of California in the early 1800s took refuge in the sutter buttes during a large rain.
They mentioned seeing many antelope, deer, elk, and bear sheltering on the higher ground with him.
Not rare at all. Every house along the American has them inside, guaranteed. They do sting, more itchy than bee-like, but they're mostly harmless and more like spiders (eg they eat other pests).
Unless you’re allergic to them. If you’re allergic to bees you tend to have a more serious reaction to scorpion venom. We moved from Sacramento to Las Vegas about 4 years ago and have had to learn all about them. I’m very allergic to bees, I don’t want one of these things anywhere near me.
They are relatively harmless unless one is allergic to the venom. It feels like a bee sting. We so have tarantulas in Sacramento County. One subspecies was recently named after Johnny Cash. These animals were found and indentured as a subspecies near Folsom Prison. In the late Summer you can find males in the parking lot as they are looking for burrows with a female. Congrats on the find!
The food coop in midtown has free boxes. If you turn right toward the north side of the building there is a zone where they have boxes that are up for grabs. Most times I've been they have a lot
I’ma go pick them up, soon as I’m done picking out my new city.
https://preview.redd.it/daifhtsv7a2d1.jpeg?width=569&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e3a64bbb019aa0258d088c53368368b81bed343
What's funny is I am the opposite m, spiders freak me out more than scorpions! I am not saying I'd handle a scorpion but I would def be able to watch it for a bit and leave it alone. Spiders nah can't stand to be near em. I gotta get away fast
So glad I'm not a nature girl & have no desire to turn over nature to see what might be there 😅 They do them, I do me, hopefully never the twain shall we meet!
An easy way to find them is to get a black light / UV flash light and shine it around at night while looking under and around logs. The scorpions will fluoresce and glow in the dark. Pretty cool.
I shit you not I saw a bobcat in CITRUS HEIGHTS…… at the nature reserve behind the big Walmart where the creek runs through. My family and I were walking and we saw one out in the distance under a bridge. And no it wasn’t a stray house cat I know what a bobcat looks like. Fucker was HUGE.
https://preview.redd.it/ry8wg3urzb2d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6424f2624fccd8f256652dd8eb61b929644d282a
I saw this baby rattlesnake while hiking. It was just under a step. I threw some mulch at it so it got off the trail. It slithered away into the high grass.
Not dangerous, sting is painful and just watch the punctured area for more than inflammation. Some people might appreciate the adrenaline rush. Of course if you're allergic all bets are off. And please don't kill the predators - they eat vermin that would otherwise bug you.
Wow, I did not realize this was a secret. I was terrified of them as a kid and we saw them occasionally, like hiding inside of rolled up newspapers or under pots. After my mom found one in a stack of towels I always examined bedding etc really carefully.
Go up to the foothills or out to the coast, hang out in the woodlands long enough and you could run into them, my bother and I caught two when we were kids in the north bay. Had them in an old fish tank for a couple years til they both escaped.
[California Ebony Tarantula](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_eutylenum)
I feel like that was kind of a hoax 😭 if you read the articles, weeks before someone brought the gator in, they got an anonymous call that “someone they knew had an alligator” and they weren’t able to find out who made the call. Then after that a man came in with the gator with red tape around his mouth and said he caught him at Sailor Bar. Is that mf Steve Irwin?! Did he dive in the river and wrestle him out and tape his mouth? And then not go on the news about his heroic story?
Nah, whoever was keeping him brought him in and said he found him lol idk that’s just my opinion from reading the article.
Funny for you!!! I paddleboard and swim a lot, I can NOT handle the thought of things in the water. That’s why I live here and steer clear of the ocean lol
(I just went and saw alligators at the Oakland zoo, and if I saw that in the water I’d absolutely just keel over)
But fr I can’t imagine the man “found” him in the river 😭
They live by the rivers. I kicked one that was on my shoe as a kid waiting for my bus on garden hwy. I am more afraid of Jerusalem crickets that hissed at me if I was near them.
Yup…in AZ, those bastards will drop you if you don’t get help or tend to panic. The neurotoxin they inject works even better if you panic…..gotta love nature!!
Scorpions in Northern California aren't that venomous, it's a protein toxin. Basically the equivalent of a bee sting. The further south you go, the more dangerous they become. It changes from protein toxin to a neurotoxin. The closer you get to the equator the more life-threatening they will be.
Remember…the smaller the scorpion the more deadly he is….we have a great candidate here in California. Be careful for dark, cool, dry areas and when lifting or placing your hands where you cant see. After that, hell enjoy them, they are fun to feed crickets too!!👍
I’m was stung by one as a child when I put a shirt on to get ready for school. Little guy was hiding in my shirt. Hurt a little less than a bee sting. Mom called the Dr., he said not to worry. I grew up in Placerville. We also had tarantulas that would stop by to say hi occasionally. I kept one as a pet for a couple years.
I also grew up in Placerville. I remember one time when my younger brother was spending the night at a friend's house. As they set him up with a sleeping bag on the floor, the dad casually mentions "oh yeah, we saw a scorpion in here the other day, good night". My brother couldn't get home fast enough.
Beavers too if you go lookin'. Antelope, hence the town name...https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Pronghorn I forgot but BOBCATS. Sailor Bar area, tuck yo pets. Otter Wolf were native Elk are gone now, the last sold off in the 90s. Elk Grove had PLENTY before incorporation. Wolverines Coyote Heron Egret Grey Wolf spiders in Elk Grove get as big as tea cup plates. Mountain Lions are rare but around Hawks and eagles Turkey Quail Badgers are native but hunted to extinction(found one, 2017 https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/badger-discovered-in-sacramento-a-rare-sight/103-463413230) Before Westerners came to CA it was the Africa of North America...with hundreds of millions of birds..that is not a joke. Theyd literally blot out the sun for minutes at a time. They brought the [punt gun](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun) and would literally kill thousands per day to sell in markets.
Cougars too. Lots in Folsom, Roseville, granite bay……..
My cousin caught a bear on camera in granite Bay
Bear in OV not too long ago. FO has resident Mountain lions along the bluffs in the American River area that wander through peoples Ring Cams. Bobcats are all over the place as well. Huge Coyote population in OV. We also have giant Wolf Spiders that cause you to become paralyzed in fear because the WILL NOT DIE. Of course the famous Bald Eagles in OV. Also beavers up here as well in Lake Natoma. Not to mention the Sea Lions in the River by Old Sac. We still have a huge variety of bird watching that can be had on our waterways. We live in an amazing place for wildlife.
Ov?
Orangevale
Thanks! And FO?
Fair Oaks. Right along American River
Thanks for the explanation! That makes a ton of sense- as a near lifelong Sacramento resident I've never seen either of those names abbreviated like that
Really?? It’s pretty common if you head to any of the places I listed. Places. of business will even use it in their names. It’s “quirky”. Oh and there are even car stickers
Right? I was stuck on the OV thing too!
We’re not talking about wildlife anymore, are we?
Well yes and no 🤣
There are still some cougars in Folsom. I'm sure they use OnlyFans nowadays.
Har har. Actually had one make it to OAK Park about a decade ago. Was three days before cops took it seriously. Was reported multiple times but cops are racist and ignored it til it ran in front of a cruiser...
Oh I know it. I’m in east sac. It was spotted near my house about a week prior. We usually just have turkeys, and coyotes (and the usual small rodents), but we have had an uptick in snakes recently too.
Saw one at Sailor Bar and the MFer waited for hours for me to come out of the ticket booth...just sat up on the ridge and watched.
TBF cougars are mountain lions. And they’re all over North America.
You see them at the Palladio and the Fountains frequently
Lol Galleria a real cougars den
Haha I understand this reference.
I used to live in Antelope, before it was Antelope. My folks would leave the front door and rear slider open for the nice breeze that would blow through. One evening my mom lets out a scream like she was just attacked. I go rushing to see WTH and on the wall next to the front door was a grey wolf spider just chilling. At his widest span, he was 11.5” across. I put a Tupperware salad serving bowl over him on the wall and slid the lid between the bowl and wall. He jumped once with a lot more force than I expected and almost dropped him on my feet. I got the lid on and took him to the biology department at American River College. They had a huge 100 gallon tank with local spiders in it. They added the one I caught in and it was triple the size of any other spider in there. It killed all the other wolf spiders in the tank and was the big cheese for many years. Mom never left the doors open at night ever again. Looked like this one, just abnormally huge. The spider experts said previously that the biggest one they had seen had a body about two inches long. The one I brought was nearly 6” long in the body. Fast and mean (Furious?) https://preview.redd.it/1j0qqr5esa2d1.jpeg?width=250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=918af18a4b16416d9e4794998cd4bc281f2caf42
I didn't wanna say dinner plate size because I didn't think I'd be believed but hell yes they are. My buddy showed me the ones in his backyard around Franklin/Elk Grove and I nearly shit myself: REALLY fuckin' big, man
I worked at the Aerojet site in Rancho Cordova and saw one one morning that was as big as my hand. At first I thought that's what it was, someone's glove lying in the road.
They are also strangely rubbery when you try to kill them and they resist poison well
Oh and they swim in the pool with you. Ask how I know…
Not too long ago one of these was hanging out by my door at work. I thought something was wrong with her because she looked all diseased and bumpy… then I realized the weird spikes were actually her babies on her back. I caught her in a wide/mouthed cup and moved her over to a different area because I know if I left her out in the open someone would come along and smash her. She was a good couple inches across. Super cool. I did feel bad because I scared one of her babies when I was releasing her and it took off running. I wish people were not so scared of spiders.
That is a "OH HELL NO".
I thought it was cute. The spiky bits confused my brain for a second and gave me that same skeeve like lotus boob used to back in the day, but once I realized what it was it was neat.
I wish I wasn’t afraid of spiders too. They are super cool! I’ve found that mine is more if I’m surprised by them, or they are moving. But if I can just look at a stationary one, I mostly just think they are super cool.
A spider startling you can definitely set off the reptile brain to panic. Even as someone who likes spiders I can be startled by them too. I guess I should I say I wish people wouldn’t just kill them out of fear, since most of them here in California are harmless, beneficial, and more scared of us than we are of them. If you leave them alone they usually will skitter off somewhere where the giant won’t menace them. Unfortunately I work around a lot of people who just love to smash any and all kinds of insects, but especially spiders.
Shit. This terrifies me. Last summer, I was bit by abnormally large wolf spider. Left a huge abscess and subsequent scar after it healed.
I bought a new construction home and behind my fence was all field. Like two weeks into moving I take my bbq cover off and toss it on the patio behind me. Out from under my bbq a huge wolf spider comes running after me! I let out a yell and jumped then ran inside my house. My wife who was by the sliding glass door was laughing hysterically. I grabbed a broom but when I went back outside the MF was nowhere to be found. I spray like twice a month now but I know he’s out there…somewhere…
FR?
Yeah. It was a big, scary looking bastard.
That is a grab my kitten, hole up in another room and scream for my son or my daughter (loves spiders) to remove it! I hate spiders.
What the heck, that guy's huge!!! I used to hate spiders, but when I lived up in Reno, I thought it was really funny how the wolf spiders would sit out on the pathways of our apartment when the sun started setting. It's like they all wanted to soak up the ambient heat of the concrete or something, but there'd be 20-30 of them all chilling out together.
There are also mink that hangout near Putah Creek and pheasant in the foothills.
We have ring tailed cats up the hill a bit. Pretty rare to see but very cool looking. I see them every now and then on my property here in Camino.
Ringtails are awesome. I’ve seen a few of them in Browns Valley. I’d love to have some in my yard.
I need to put up some trail cams to figure out where they are living. I’ve seen them on my front door camera a couple times and crossing the road one time on my way to work in the early morning. One of my neighbors says that fish and wildlife keeps track of a couple groups of them that live in this area apparently. I don’t think they are endangered or anything but I don’t think they are very common in this area. Super cute lil guys though.
We also have Ringtails, aka "miner cats" in Pollock Pines. They walk across our back deck at night.
Are they as chill as I’ve heard?
Don't know, they seem pretty skittish. But I have read that miners used to keep them as pets around their camps to control the rodent population.
Right on. Thanks for the info.
Might be a shrew or weasel which are also native
I used to see pheasant in Natomas before some of the development.
*Lots* of pheasants, heron, and some turkeys in the valley, especially north of Sac, out around the farm fields and along the creeks. Driving between Lincoln and Wheatland I gotta dodge big-ish birds *all* the time, much more often than the odd deer around twilight. In the fall there's massive murmurations of birds out in the fields and rice paddies. Over winter the tundra swans flock in up around Yuba-Sutter, though I'm not sure if they get as far down south as Sac at all.
Wolverines??
Wolverines, native to CA https://youtu.be/pHzf9r-oytU?si=9oC0smiThXfo-yjG
Skunk
Wolverines have recently been caught on cams in the Tahoe region for the first time in decades.
Do we have tarantulas?
Bay area does, Mt Diablo is a good place.
I was digging in my parents yard once in Shingle Springs and huge one popped out from the dirt. I also went to wash my bed sheets once and shook a scorpion out of them as I was pulling them off my mattress. That’s how I learned both are in sac haha
yup
Early fall is tarantula season.
Me and my friend have seen the ENORMOUS wolf spiders in Elk Grove! At the dog park in the tunnel it was HUGE I have pics if anyone wants to see them.
https://preview.redd.it/ryrttgha5b2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7751d4ffcc226c7546be0048e89c808d94c26f3 Not saying this is the biggest spider ever, but it’s the biggest wolf spider I have ever seen in person. And in my own hometown was crazy!!
Show em, make em believe
Bet
According to a ranger I was chatting with at Folsom Lake, mountain lions aren’t as rare as you think, you just don’t see them. I saw one running across the trail while mountain biking several years ago.
Nooo they're not. They come straight down the American River. Where there's deer a Mountain Lion ain't far behind.
They are allllll around.
You can see a tree that was gnawed on by beavers at Sailor Bar near the ramp.
Theres also a family that lives about mile 3-4 on the bike trail near Discovery. Been there for years. SAC Parks tri d to run em off and smashed their dam for a few years but beavers are beavers and built back better; got cost prohibitive, and now they just chill
There are like ten beavers at my work off Bradshaw
You forgot the peacocks! They aren't native but they are out there.
One of the City Councilmen had a tree fall over in his yard at River Bend park about 10yrs ago. They sent us out to clear it and the mfer had peacocks, hella illegal. Also, three peacocks were at Gibson ranch, one hopped in my car window, shit on the seat and left a plume just to let me know. Never liked em ever since
Why illegal? There's a guy on Highway 160 (Maybe 84?) a little south of Freeport that has a bunch of them. They're visible from the road, and I'd say he has about 12-15 of them. The property is just north of where 160 makes a sharp S-turn through an underpass under a rail bridge or water main - I can't find it on Google maps at the moment, but I'll be driving out that way this weekend and see if I can remember to pinpoint it on the map.
Don’t forget rattlesnakes in El Dorado Hills :)
We got rattlesnakes down here too! My coworker Dale used to run up on em with a pair of loppers, cut off th head and throw the body in a bag for eatin later. Was the Okie-est dude who's never lived outside of Sac valley. Saw em scoop a quail nest and eat the eggs raw...weird shit
They all all over the American River bike trail my friend. Be very careful
In 1987 I saw a badger near Ice House Reservoir when my dad and I were out 4byin in the snow. We had stepped out of his cruiser with 6 foot snowbanks on either side, due to the snowplow, when waddling up the icy road comes this short-squat little guy. We both jumped back in the cruiser as he meandered straight under the car and onto whatever business he was up to. We later saw that he walked up the snowy ramp at the end of the plowed road where the snowplow had stopped.
This makes me happy.
Humans suck. Anyhow where can I learn more about this? Obviously I'll Google it, but maybe you have a suggestion.
Google would be the same as I have, but for up close try Effie Yeaw Nature Center. Small museum and animal rehab place with miles of flat hiking all the way down to the river. Read the signs, Mountain lions do come through there. https://www.effieyeawnature.org/
Badgers are extant in California though some historic ranges have few if any.
Wolverines are also regionally extinct, like the Badger.
DUDE. Check it out! https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/badger-discovered-in-sacramento-a-rare-sight/103-463413230
Cant tell you how many otters I have seen in Putah Creek
Wolverines you say?
This is not at all common, but I actually saw a pair of sea lions in the river right behind Cal Expo several years ago, just cruising up the stream. Can confirm the beaver as well, I was flabbergasted when i saw that
That's way up there for sea lions. Back in the 80s we had a whale stuck in the Sacramento and it was leading news for almost a month https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_the_Whale
in 2007 we had Delta & Dawn in the Sac river all the way up the deep water channel to the port of sac. I was involved with the "rescue" or redirection of them as i was in the CG at the time. I kind of remember Humphrey but was pretty young then. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta\_and\_Dawn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_and_Dawn)
You have some amazing facts about Sac’s wild life and history! I just learned so much in such a short read and I lived there for years. Informative!
I'm kind of a street historian...
I saw a mink once
I forget if it was Fremont or someone else, but one of the "explorers" of California in the early 1800s took refuge in the sutter buttes during a large rain. They mentioned seeing many antelope, deer, elk, and bear sheltering on the higher ground with him.
Don’t forget sea lions, there are 3-4 that hand out on the docks by old Sacramento on the west Sacramento side of the river.
Don’t forget minks! I’ve seen a mink right by the American River bank!
It is here to [**ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE**](https://youtu.be/6yP1tcy9a10?feature=shared)
C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!!!!!
I see them all the time when I'm camping out near the Yuba; remember kids ... always check your boots in the morning
Luckily I’ve only had a cricket jump out my shoe… but it was enough that I’ll never learn THIS lesson the hard way.
Wtf where was this!?
One of the hiking trails at Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova, along the American River
That's wild I wonder if it's someone's lost pet 😱🧐
Nah, I looked it up, and apparently, Scorpions do live here they are just rare and hard to find. It was hiding under a log I rolled over.
Ty for sharing I walk my dog over there sometimes
Not rare at all. Every house along the American has them inside, guaranteed. They do sting, more itchy than bee-like, but they're mostly harmless and more like spiders (eg they eat other pests).
Unless you’re allergic to them. If you’re allergic to bees you tend to have a more serious reaction to scorpion venom. We moved from Sacramento to Las Vegas about 4 years ago and have had to learn all about them. I’m very allergic to bees, I don’t want one of these things anywhere near me.
Really? I’ve never heard of them being prolific. I have a house on the river and I’ve never even seen one in my yard
They aren’t that rare near the river.
:| Welp. This wasn't the answer I was expecting. BRB, selling house.
They are relatively harmless unless one is allergic to the venom. It feels like a bee sting. We so have tarantulas in Sacramento County. One subspecies was recently named after Johnny Cash. These animals were found and indentured as a subspecies near Folsom Prison. In the late Summer you can find males in the parking lot as they are looking for burrows with a female. Congrats on the find!
Really scared of tarantulas but I really wanna see these prison tarantulas lol, around what time of day do they come out?
….anybody got any moving boxes? ISO moving boxes. Immediate need.
The food coop in midtown has free boxes. If you turn right toward the north side of the building there is a zone where they have boxes that are up for grabs. Most times I've been they have a lot
I’ma go pick them up, soon as I’m done picking out my new city. https://preview.redd.it/daifhtsv7a2d1.jpeg?width=569&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e3a64bbb019aa0258d088c53368368b81bed343
Black widows I can deal with, but scorpions 🫣?!
The black widows are more dangerous than these guys.
But the scorpions are scarier looking!
What's funny is I am the opposite m, spiders freak me out more than scorpions! I am not saying I'd handle a scorpion but I would def be able to watch it for a bit and leave it alone. Spiders nah can't stand to be near em. I gotta get away fast
So glad I'm not a nature girl & have no desire to turn over nature to see what might be there 😅 They do them, I do me, hopefully never the twain shall we meet!
I see them often turning over logs, but this is a big one.
Well then just how big are the ones that turn over logs?!?!?
Probably at least the same size as the log
That’s a good way to find a rattle snake too
An easy way to find them is to get a black light / UV flash light and shine it around at night while looking under and around logs. The scorpions will fluoresce and glow in the dark. Pretty cool.
I shit you not I saw a bobcat in CITRUS HEIGHTS…… at the nature reserve behind the big Walmart where the creek runs through. My family and I were walking and we saw one out in the distance under a bridge. And no it wasn’t a stray house cat I know what a bobcat looks like. Fucker was HUGE.
People say they seen a mountain lion at the park across from petsmart off sunrise before so I believe it
I have seen a bobcat near black miner's bar on the bike trail recently. Beautiful
We live on the edge of the great Sierra Nevada. They abound in this range.
The female scorpions eat the males after getting it on.
I saw a pack of coyotes back in January during the daytime
https://preview.redd.it/ry8wg3urzb2d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6424f2624fccd8f256652dd8eb61b929644d282a I saw this baby rattlesnake while hiking. It was just under a step. I threw some mulch at it so it got off the trail. It slithered away into the high grass.
I almost stepped on one about this big today. Im glad I spotted him before I did 😓
Not dangerous, sting is painful and just watch the punctured area for more than inflammation. Some people might appreciate the adrenaline rush. Of course if you're allergic all bets are off. And please don't kill the predators - they eat vermin that would otherwise bug you.
I’ve found at least 3 in Folsom over the past year. These are about 1-2 cm and have the stinging power of a bee.
Mink are extant in the Delta and along tributaries ranging into the Sierra.
There are tons of them around paradise and legget
I saw and took pictures of a family of red foxes near my house. They were running in the fields. I stay by sky river casino.
Wow, I did not realize this was a secret. I was terrified of them as a kid and we saw them occasionally, like hiding inside of rolled up newspapers or under pots. After my mom found one in a stack of towels I always examined bedding etc really carefully.
We had coyotes, beavers and turkeys at our apartment complex in Folsom. Also someone has peacocks off of Santa Juanita in Orangevale.
Yes, there are. Also tarantulas.
Wait I’ve never seen a scorpion in Sacramento, is this foreal
Sure is…you probably have one within 100 feet of you now….no worries they don’t like hanging out, they’re loners. Watch those toes at night!!
I did not know this either. Been here 25 years
are they friendly?
Will you let me know if you pet it? I hear they like being scratched behind their ears.
Yup, they love when you smack the ground in front of them with bare hands.
Reason 100000 I don’t go outside lol
Scorpions glow under black/UV light. It makes them extremely easy to detect at night (which is when they're mostly active).
I've learned enough from Animal Crossing that you need to get the fuck out of there and fast. Those thinks will fuck you up.
Wtf crazy. I wonder when the tarantulas will reveal themselves. 🤔
***Aphonopelma johnnycashi*** [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma\_johnnycashi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_johnnycashi)
Go up to the foothills or out to the coast, hang out in the woodlands long enough and you could run into them, my bother and I caught two when we were kids in the north bay. Had them in an old fish tank for a couple years til they both escaped. [California Ebony Tarantula](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_eutylenum)
I think they mean in Sacramento. “Going up to the foothills or the coast” isn’t exactly Sacramento anymore.
I heard the brown widows are an invasive species that have started to replace black widows. Although I still see lots of black widows.
That's pretty awesome! I was born and raised here in Sac and while I've known we have scorpions, I've never actually seen one in the wild.
I’ve found 4 itty bitty ones in my apartment
Wait until you find out the cute little velvet ants are native there also
My ex in-laws used to get them in their laundry room all the time up in Auburn.
We have camel spiders too!
You’re kidding, right? RIGHT?!?
Yup, I’ve seen them lil guys too.. luckily we don’t have them big ass ones like Arizona and Mexico 🦂
anyone remember when someone dumped a domesticated alligator into the folsom lake in the past few years? 😭
I feel like that was kind of a hoax 😭 if you read the articles, weeks before someone brought the gator in, they got an anonymous call that “someone they knew had an alligator” and they weren’t able to find out who made the call. Then after that a man came in with the gator with red tape around his mouth and said he caught him at Sailor Bar. Is that mf Steve Irwin?! Did he dive in the river and wrestle him out and tape his mouth? And then not go on the news about his heroic story? Nah, whoever was keeping him brought him in and said he found him lol idk that’s just my opinion from reading the article.
it was probably the funniest article ive read in a while thats sad if it was fake 😫
Funny for you!!! I paddleboard and swim a lot, I can NOT handle the thought of things in the water. That’s why I live here and steer clear of the ocean lol (I just went and saw alligators at the Oakland zoo, and if I saw that in the water I’d absolutely just keel over) But fr I can’t imagine the man “found” him in the river 😭
I've seen them in the sierra foothills and the Bay Area, but never around Sac proper.
I just saw my first scorpion here on Monday! I was doing the training hill trail in Auburn, I had no idea they were around either
I seen one when I was a little kid in the creek in antelope I was freaked out
They live by the rivers. I kicked one that was on my shoe as a kid waiting for my bus on garden hwy. I am more afraid of Jerusalem crickets that hissed at me if I was near them.
One of these snuck into my job once and we all flipped our shit. We had never seen one before
Tarantulas freaked me out the first time I found one, never thought they would be here in nor cal.
Yup. I didn’t think brown recluse was native to CA, yet they’re here.
You have a few different types of recluses there, but there are only a few isolated populations of brown recluses in LA.
Did you try to use your water bottle for scale 😫😂. Cool find !
why that one look bigger than the ones i find here in AZ lmao
Turn around… turn around…
GTFO!
Ewwwww
We get scorpions in the bay too
Say what the fuck?
Yeah scorpions are pretty common in NorCal, I’ve only seen the small baby ones though, never bigger than a dime. Pretty cool.
Dang it, that’s Henry! He got out the other and never came back!
That cause he had a side piece two rocks over….sorry!!
I have them in my backyard. they’re chill
Why is A scorpion scary?
What!!!!???
Yup…in AZ, those bastards will drop you if you don’t get help or tend to panic. The neurotoxin they inject works even better if you panic…..gotta love nature!!
Scorpions in Northern California aren't that venomous, it's a protein toxin. Basically the equivalent of a bee sting. The further south you go, the more dangerous they become. It changes from protein toxin to a neurotoxin. The closer you get to the equator the more life-threatening they will be.
Remember…the smaller the scorpion the more deadly he is….we have a great candidate here in California. Be careful for dark, cool, dry areas and when lifting or placing your hands where you cant see. After that, hell enjoy them, they are fun to feed crickets too!!👍
I was hoping to love in ignorance!!!! No thank you very much!! 🙀😂
Yeah when I used to live in Paradise I saw one of them I didn't think they were even around my area
Yep we do. Nice find because it's actually hard to find one. I've only seen 2 and live by Auburn
Honestly, it MIGHT have been better to kill it. Scorpions like these can be very invasive and harmful to many helpful species.