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Wildlife At Lake Tahoe
As you can see, there are bears, coyotes, raccoons, squirrels, bald eagles, Kokanee salmon, Stellar Jays, and much more.
Our bears are normally noctural and only seen occasionally. That said, we have an abundance of bears and they can be a problem at times. Most homes have bear boxes to provide a container to keep the bears out of the trash. Be sure to use them! To keep the bears alive, please do not feed them!!! In the spring, mother bear will be out scavaging for food along with her brood.
Coyotes are plentiful and hungry. These are the most seen large wild animal here in the Tahoe-Truckee area. You’ll hear them at night after a kill howling and barking to celebrate their meal. If you have small dogs, be sure to keep them close or on a lease at all times so their celebration isn’t your loss!
Deer are fairly numerous but rarely seen, unless you are near a golf course. The forest and thickets are abundant so most deer aren’t seen except when they are spooked. By golf courses, they have a protected environment so they’ll show themselves more often. Our deer are summer visitors and migrate down the hill to Verdi or Auburn in the winter.
Squirrels are numerous and fun to watch. Gray squirrels with long bushy tails are commonplace along with chipmunks, ground squirrels and even flying squirrels.
Birds abound especially in the summer months. Year round residents include bald eagles, redtailed hawks, stellar jays, wood peckers, Canadian geese, ducks, chickadees, mountain quail, ravens and flickers. Summer visitors include white pelicans, robins, nutcrackers, finches and ospreys. The bald eagle pictured above was seen on July 4th party on the lake near Flick Point. This eagle was perched on the tree above a large party for over 15 minutes while being buzzed by Stellar jays.
Fish population varies as to the lakes and streams. At Taylor Creek in near Camp Richardson, the fish hatchery has a kokanee salmon run each fall that is spectacular. Lake Tahoe also has large lake trout (mackinaw), brown trout and rainbow trout. Lakes above Lake Tahoe have brook trout, Lahontan cutthroat trout, rainbow and brown trout and high up golden trout. Large mackinaws, rainbows and browns can be found in Stampede, Prosser, Donner, and neighboring lakes. Call me for a list of great guides for fishing, from mackinaw to fly fishing.
Snakes are pretty limited to racers. They are usually around water and have yellow strips that run their length. We have no rattlesnakes!