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ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : Wildlife Area Extends Far Beyond Sign in ‘Wild’ Irvine : Ecology: We continue to encroach on animals’ habitat. Unlike people, the species have no place else to go.

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<i> Rick Reiken is a biologist, writer and currently a graduate student at UC Irvine</i>

Turn left onto Culver Drive from Campus in Irvine and you will notice what might seem ludicrous at first--a Wildlife Area road sign. Maybe my standards are high, but my initial reaction was to laugh at the suggestion that this piece of land could qualify as nature.

Yet having lived here almost three years now, I’ve come to realize that every square foot of Irvine (including streets, parking lots, condos, cafe terraces, and my porch) is a “wildlife area.”

Recently I was getting cash from an automatic teller machine. I was punching in my card number when I noticed a family of raccoons roughly five feet from my leg. The three youngsters were inquisitive, and I let them sniff at my ankle for about one second before I realized that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. I stamped my feet a few times. But the little varmints kept right at it, advancing fearlessly as Mom watched from beneath a nearby bush.

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As I drove off I saw them, sprinting clumsily across the parking lot. I realized this had been their goal, and that the appearance of my car, illegally parked and running, had dissuaded them from crossing. This upset me.

I’m serious, it upset me. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it has to do with the fact that people, myself included, tend to forget that 30 years ago this city was a fairly pristine expanse of land--yes, Irvine was “wild.” The span of three decades is negligible when considering how many centuries went into evolving the web of ecological niches that exists here. Yet the land is being developed at such a furious rate that it’s no wonder a raccoon family is stuck loitering in a parking lot.

Yes, I know, they were probably there plundering Del Taco’s garbage. Which brings me to the coyotes that appear with regularity in the Verano Place apartment complex parking lots. What are they doing there? They’re hunting. There are more cats wandering the grounds than there are parking spaces. And yes, some beautiful cats have been munched by coyotes. This tends to make people angry, to make some people hate and want to kill coyotes.

The question I raise is this: If you were a coyote and a slew of easy prey suddenly appeared (30 years is “sudden”), wouldn’t you start spending more time in the parking lots?

Likewise, if you were a raccoon, wouldn’t you head straight for Del Taco’s garbage? The paradox is that these animals were here first, and to survive they must adapt to this rapidly changing landscape. Parking lots and garbage cans have become parts of their habitat.

The sad truth is that coyotes, raccoons, raptors, opossums, mountain lions, prairie dogs and all other wildlife that still inhabit Irvine are likely to disappear. I think it’s our duty to be aware of the wildlife that still exists here, to appreciate it while we can instead of accelerating the process of eradication with our disinterest.

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And there is much to see! I go walking every day in the meadow behind Verano Place. I take my binoculars, as there are two resident hawks, a marsh hawk and a Swainson’s hawk that I can usually spot quickly. The distinct hunting style of the marsh hawk is mesmerizing; he will glide until he spots something, then he will hover, orient, and dive. The Swainson’s, by contrast, hunts with low, graceful swoops. I also find the tracks of bulldozers. Every week it seems like more of that meadow is being plowed to make room for new housing.

I will only be in Irvine for another few months, and in some ways I am thankful that I don’t have to witness the progressive destruction of this land, which has been essential to my well-being during the two years I’ve lived as a grad student in Verano Place. Soon this meadow, like most, will be no more than a tiny island amid the buildings and paved roads.

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