Animal dumping in the wilds of Laguna

Alligators in the Laguna Lakes? Well, maybe not, although we did have

a hippopotamus once. African clawed frogs, certainly. And while

alligators have a certain thrill factor, the frogs have arguably had

more impact on the local lake ecology.

Laguna is no stranger to abandoned animals. The network of

interior canyons and our surrounding open space attract a regular

stream of people intent on liberating -- that is, dumping -- unwanted

pets. Most seem to think that urban animals can just take up an

independent lifestyle in the wild with no problems. My own experience

is different.

When I first moved to Laguna Canyon, the neighborhood was alive

with dozens of half-wild cats. They survived by hunting birds and

small mammals -- mice, moles, small rabbits -- throughout the canyon.

House cats are very effective predators. An English study found that

even a well-fed house cat will make more than one kill per week. Our

local cats came around because a neighbor brought home leftovers from

the restaurant where she worked, and they gathered every evening to

wait.

The cats had various ailments, from runny eyes to abscesses from

wounds. They were wild enough to be unapproachable for treatment, yet

not tough enough for their wild life. After a winter storm, I would

sometimes find a dead cat in the yard. Surviving cats are a lucky

few. More commonly, abandoned cats and kittens starve to death in

weeks or become fast food for coyotes and other wildlife. I’ve even

recovered small cat claws from the pellets of undigested fur and

bones that owls regurgitate.

“Liberating” unwanted animals seems to be a common impulse. People

dump the contents of their fish tanks into any nearby body of water.

It’s a constant problem for zoos; among other abandoned fish,

piranhas appear regularly in their fish ponds. The Laguna Lakes share

African clawed frogs with many other park lakes and golf course water

traps. These flat, brown frogs can’t hop, and spend their entire life

in water. The frogs replaced rabbits for pregnancy tests in hospitals

30 years ago, and many were then released into local waters. Now

they’re the scourge of the ponds. They eat native frog eggs,

tadpoles, small fish and anything else they can jam into their

oversized mouths, including pieces ripped from larger animals. When

there’s not enough other prey, they eat each other.

And then there were the geese at Barbara’s Lake. While in a canoe

taking water samples, we were besieged by a pair of large, loud and

very hungry white geese. They didn’t seem to be able to fly and

paddled after us looking for handouts. When we left the water, they

waddled after us and climbed into the boat trailer. They were not

about to let potential meal tickets get away.

I have more anecdotes, but the moral is always the same: There’s a

big difference between wild and urban animals. The animals know this;

I wish more people did.