BBHSP Biology Section 1: Animals

Please contact us if you find any corrections or if you have questions about this page.  All photos here are from the Big Bend Hot Springs Project lands and waters in Cascadia Bioregion of Shasta County, Northern California, USA, and were captured by BBHSP staff and friends.  The growing species list found at BBHSP is on this page (down at the bottom) was collected by Jennifer Berry. Enjoy!

*Also, for information about Fish in the River Ahjoomah (AKA Pit River), please see this page:
http://www.bigbendhotsprings.org/?page_id=504

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Mammals:

Amphibians and Reptiles:

LIZARDS, TICKS, AND LYME DISEASE

UC Berkeley entomologist Robert Lane has discovered that a substance found in the blood of the common Western Fence Lizard kills Lyme disease bacteria in the gut of juvenile ticks that feed on it. It may help explain why there is far less Lyme disease in California than in the eastern United States, where the lizard does not live. In Big Bend, we have a large population of western fence lizards and no known cases of tick-borne illness! The Western Fence Lizard- a commonly found species (sometimes called the Blue Belly Lizard)- can carry an average of 30 juvenile Black Legged Ticks, which are about the size of a poppy seed. Larval Ticks pass through three stages of development. During each stage they eat one “blood meal.” Larval ticks become infected with Lyme disease when they feed on rodents.

Nymphal ticks (tiny tick nymphs) can transmit Lyme disease by biting a human. When they first feed on the very common Western Fence Lizard, however, something in the reptile’s blood appears to kill the bacteria! Thank you, Sceloporus occidentalis!!

Adult Black-Legged Ticks move off the forest floor and onto plants and grasses. Those who feasted on lizards as nymphs are apparently prevented from transmitting Lyme disease to humans.

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Insects:

The Grasshopper Nematode, a roundworm of the phylum Nematoda (Mermis nigrescens), develops as an internal parasite of grasshoppers (and perhaps earwigs). It is extremely large, 5 to 20 cm.

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Butterfly Section:

Moth Section:

Beetle Section:

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Arachnids
(Spiders, Ticks, Mites, & Scorpions)

The Female Deer Tick (AKA Black-Legged Tick) is the most dangerous tick in California, but in Big Bend and this region of Shasta County, they do not seem to transmit Lyme or other tick-borne diseases (see Western Fence Lizard section on this web page- above, for explanation).

There are many different kinds of ticks in California, but the female western black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus) seems to be the main one that can transmit Lyme and other diseases (in some parts of California). Both the poppy seed-sized nymph stage and the larger adult female stage can carry and transmit the bacteria and viruses that can lead to serious diseases in humans such as Lyme, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis.

More Information About Local Ticks

(American Dog (Wood) Tick & Blacklegged (Deer Tick):

Bird Section:

Partial List of Animal Species Found on BBHS Site: