Wild Animals of San Jose

While visiting a beautiful patch of farmland in the middle of San Jose, I spied some native San Jose wild animals. 

First, a wise looking squirrel, the watcher of the lands. He perches and he nibbles of treat morsels and surveys his domain.

I also saw a squirrel family. Its hard to see in this picture, but there are three squirrels, a mama and her two babes. 

While in San Jose, I also saw squirrels while on the San Jose State University campus, but they looked different then the farm squirrels, oranger and less lean. Seattle squirrels look different then both types of San Jose squirrels. Squirrels are everywhere, but everywhere they are they are slightly different. I have a memory that I am not sure is even real, but I was visiting at an old persons community when I was a kid and all the squirrels there were albino white squirrels. I have also been at a spot where all the squirrels were blackish. The squirrels at San Jose State University were super friendly. They come over to say 'Hi.' The one I met wanted a treat morsel and my empty hands were quite the betrayal to him. We have friendly squirrels like this in San Jose too. They live at the Ballard Locks and they scamper right up to picnickers and demand lunch handouts. 

I also saw lots of vultures. It seems like whenever I looked up at the sky, I'd see those noble scavengers soaring above, scanning the ground for carcasses they could help clean up. Vultures really get unfairly antagonized. They really do us a service. If they didn't eat up all the creatures that die natural deaths, then they'd be left there to be wasted and rotted. They are sweet birds. They don't want to kill, but they want to be nourished by meat. It is a much kinder lifestyle then seeking out live creatures to brutally attack and kill. 

While at the little farmland where I spotted the vulture and the squirrels, I also saw a bunch of swallow. They were so beautiful to watch. They swish and swirl and dart and dash so quickly in the air. So quickly in fact that I could not even capture them with my camera. They are little wonders though. It's like they are doing as dashing dance.

Apparently, there are also snakes that live in the farmland we visited, but I did not see any. I haven't really seen very many snakes in the wild. I remember the first wild snake I ever saw was a big black and white one while camping with my family. Another time I was hiking and one swished and slithered right in front of me on the trail. Even though I don't have a fear of snakes (beyond what could be considered normal- like if I encountered a rattlesnake in the wild- I'd be freaked out!), the way the snake moved caused me to have an instinctual feeling of scared recoil. I think I let out a cry of 'Ahhh!' and jumped back. It definitely felt like my ancient genes kicked in to effect my reaction to the snake. The instinctual part of my brain knew it was a good idea to move away from the snake, because when you see a snake- you don't know right away which ones are poisonous and which ones aren't. Therefore, you need to just react in a way of self preservation.

There are lots of other animals native to San Jose I didn't encounter- like coyotes and deer- but I am appreciative of the animal encounters I had. It is always fun to learn about animals from different places.