Friday, Sep. 05, 2008

At one time, pigs and squirrels roamed streets of Modesto

Early Modestans lived amid assorted wildlife, both kinds.

Not only was the town permeated with the "wild life" being pursued by the shady characters of the period, but there was an abundance of nonhuman wildlife also present.

The Central Valley was teeming with huge numbers of species of birds and wild mammals. In fact, if someone ventured into a local field at the wrong time, he or she could have been trampled by a herd of elk or pronghorn antelope.

Many local historians listed the fauna found in the area. One of the first was L.C. Branch, in his 1881 "History of Stanislaus County." His list began with the grizzly bear, which was present "in great numbers," and included great "bands of elk" plus gray wolves, bobcats, kangaroo rats and San Joaquin kit foxes; the entire valley was "thick with coyotes."

George Tinkham, in his "Stanislaus History," wrote that "thousands of wild horses" roamed the plains, and "immense herds of deer, elk and antelope were seen upon the high land and the river-bottom lands."

Sol Elias mentioned abundant owls and "squirrels on the ground in every direction" in his book, "Stories of Stanislaus."

A comprehensive listing was given by Bee reporter Thorne Gray in his book "Stanislaus Indian Wars." He wrote that "before railroads and roads, canals and dams, power lines and telephone lines, before land leveling and drainage -- before plows, pumps and agriculture," the valley swarmed with wildlife. His inventory had all of the above plus hawks, egrets, eagles, herons, cranes, vultures and condors. He added minks, weasels, raccoons, fox, beaver, badgers, skunks, rabbits and mountain lions -- noting that the rivers were literally "crowded with salmon."

Wild hogs wandered through the streets and alleys of young Modesto, and in 1910 "bands of cattle" were reported racing across lawns, cavorting around Graceada Park, breaking down trees and trampling young plants and shrubbery.

Some of the animals got into trouble, especially squirrels and jackrabbits. During the dryland wheat-growing period in the 1870s and '80s, California ground squirrels feasted on grains and dug burrows that caused horses to stumble and break their legs. In the early 1900s, squirrels undermined the new irrigation canals.

For a while, the city paid 2 cents for each squirrel tail turned into the city clerk's office; some months, this amounted to 6,000 or more tails.

The problem led to newspaper advertisements by local druggists, printed in bold letters: "Deadshot squirrel poison: Every bottle guaranteed" and "Kill your squirrels: Improved squirrel poison."

Jackrabbits, which were said to outnumber humans 10-to-1, fed on the crops, leading to "rabbit raids." The first one was in 1875, when farmers used shotguns to kill the rabbits. Later raids involved driving the animals into enclosed pens and killing them with clubs, which prevented people from shooting each other -- but not from accidental clubbing.

Today, Doug Critchfield, manager of Modesto's Park Planning and Development, is studying the wildlife in the 500-acre Tuolumne River Regional Park. He has found ground squirrels, brush rabbits, pocket mice, garter snakes and lizards. He also has identified killdeer and other songbirds, egrets, blue herons, bluebirds, Swainson and Coopers hawks, and a a nesting pair of red-tail hawks.

In addition, several species of fish, including catfish, steelhead trout and salmon, are in the Tuolumne River.

Bare is author of several books about area history and is on the board of directors of the McHenry Mansion Foundation. E-mail her at columns@modbee.com.