Clear Lake (California) - Wildlife

Wildlife

The Clear Lake basin attracts large quantities of waterfowl, including mallards, Western grebe, coots, various species of geese, ospreys, plovers, mergansers and many others. Wild turkeys, Blacktail deer, gray squirrels, ground squirrels, skunks, river otter, raccoon, mink, and muskrat. There have been occasional sightings of mountain lion and ringtail. Opossums, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and other species are also common. The endangered northern spotted owl is seen occasionally. Common reptiles and amphibians include the northwestern pond turtle, California king snake, Pacific gopher snake, garter snakes, northern pacific rattlesnake, common bullfrog and the rare giant salamander among many others. Much of the shoreline is developed, but parks, reserves, miles of open water and private land also exist allowing many opportunities for observing and enjoying nature. The county also hosts a growing population of the rare Tule elk, recently reintroduced after being locally hunted to extinction one hundred years before. A large colony of bald eagles is found in the Cache Creek canyon.

In addition to the native Clear Lake hitch Lavinia exilicauda (called chi by the native Pomo), the lake hosts Channel catfish, White catfish, Brown bullhead, crappie (both black and white species), and other native fish species, as well as Florida strain largemouth bass and carp placed by the Department of Fish and Game for sporting purposes. Along the shoreline and creeks there are aquatic growths of tule, cattail, willow, cottonwood, box elder, and many other types of riparian plant life, as well as the massive cyanobacteria blooms that peak in late summer.

The streams feeding Clear lake contain Sacramento pike minnow, California roach, and rainbow trout. Pacific brook lamprey are present in at least one stream, Kelsey Creek. Prior to the construction of a dam on the outlet of Clear Lake, both steelhead and Pacific lamprey ascended Cache creek to spawn in Clear lakes tributaries.

The rugged coastal mountains surrounding Clear Lake are covered with thick stands of oak-madrone forest, manzanita, sage shrubs, chaparral, grasses etc. Most common trees include blue oak, valley oak, interior live oak, pacific madrone, California scrub oak, plus very occasional coast redwoods and tanoak. Large stands of Western White Pine may be seen in the higher elevations. The heavy forestation and ruggedness of this part of California has helped prevent wholesale real estate development or farming. On the northeast slope of Mount Konocti is a heavily forested area known locally as the "Black Forest", because it never gets direct sunshine. This area has some Douglas fir in very heavy stands.

Clear Lake is well-known among entomologists for the Clear Lake gnat (Chaoborus astictopus) and historical control efforts. This species of "phantom midge" (so called because the larvae are transparent and very difficult to see) measures less than 1/4" long and resembles a tiny mosquito, but is non-biting. Clear Lake gnat hatches start anytime from March through June, depending on weather. Before pesticide use began in the 1940s (Refer to Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, chapter 4), the gnat was so abundant around the lake in the summer that large piles of dead gnats appeared beneath streetlights, looking like dirty snow. The gnat swarms were so thick that people driving along the edge of the lake reported stopping every 1/4 mile to clean off the gnats off the windshields and headlights of their cars so they could see, and pedestrians tied kerchiefs over their faces to avoid inhaling the gnats. In 1949, as part of an effort to boost tourism and improve the local economy, DDD (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane) was applied to the lake in heavy doses to eradicate the gnats that were driving summer tourists away from the lake. The treatment succeeded in controlling the gnats that year and for the following year, however in 1953 the gnat population rebounded, prompting another application in 1954. The final application of DDD to Clear Lake was made in 1957 (Cook 1963). Numbers of Western grebe were found dead, their tissues containing high concentrations of DDD. The effects were devastating to the local ecology. From 1962 to 1975 carefully planned applications of methyl parathion were made for Clear Lake gnat control. The gnat still occurs in Clear Lake, but at much lower numbers than in the 1940s-1970s. The Clear Lake gnat's population is believed to be kept in check now by two introduced fish species (the Threadfin Shad (Dorosoma petenense) and the Inland Silverside (Menidia beryllina)) that compete with the Clear Lake gnat for its preferred zooplankton for food.