Here’s how California’s heat wave is posing a threat to wild animals

Smaller mammals that can't regulate their body temperature and are more dependent on water, like fish, amphibians, and birds, are more susceptible to heat than larger mammals like bears, coyotes, and mountain lions. However, even thick-skinned animals can become more agitated in extremely hot weather and may enter human territory in quest of water and food, according to researchers. Jordan Traverso, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, wrote in an email that "animals are generally lot more adaptable than people give them credit for, and the species that can move about readily will frequently survive better than those that can't." Smaller mammals that can't control their body temperature and are more dependent on water, like fish, amphibians, and birds, are more susceptible to heat than larger mammals like bears, coyotes, and mountain lions. However, even hardier animals can become more agitated in extremely hot weather and may enter the human territory in quest of water and food, according to researchers. Jordan Traverso, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, wrote in an email that "animals are generally lot more adaptable than people give them credit for, and the species that can move about readily will frequently survive better than those that can't." For instance, scores of threatened winter-run chinook salmon and countless numbers of their eggs perished last year when water temperatures in the Sacramento River persisted over the threshold of 53.5 degrees for too long as a result of less water flowing from Shasta Dam due to the drought. Wolf is concerned that it might occur once more this year. Wolf noted that intertidal organisms like mussels and barnacles might perish at low tide when even the generally cold coast is under a heat advisory, as it was on Tuesday. That occurred in the Pacific Northwest last summer when temperatures over 100 degrees claimed the lives of one billion aquatic animals alone along the Vancouver coast, according to scientists. Because they are already residing so close to their temperature thresholds, intertidal organisms are particularly susceptible to heat during low tide, according to Wolf. She explained that many of them "may effectively get roasted to death" since they are immobile. Another creature that depends on mild coastal temperatures is Allen's hummingbird. A smaller variety of hummingbirds, it breeds in Northern California and is currently migrating to the Los Angeles region. It is native to coastal southern California. According to Lisa Tell, professor of avian medicine at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the species has experienced mass mortality during prior heat waves. When it's hot out, the birds require a lot of shade for refuge, water for bathing, and additional food. They spend a lot of time perching and resting, according to Tell. If there are pleasantly shaded locations, they will usually spend more time there.