Ask a Ranger
If you are curious about something in our Parks & Open Space, please ask. We will do our best to answer. You can contact the rangers at
open.space@cityofpaloalto.org.
Which trails in Open Space are accessible?
Revision Date: 9/4/2008
Do you kill and stuff animals to put them on display?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Is there a trail [in Foothills Park] that has the Anna’s Hummingbird?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What is "Ask a ranger"?
Revision Date: 8/4/2008
Are banana slugs native to this [Foothills] park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
A hundred feet or so inside the entrance to Los Trancos Trail in Wildhorse Valley, there is a large tall maple. Is that a big leaf maple?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What is the biggest animal in the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Revision Date: 6/25/2009
What’s the biggest fish in the lake and what type of fish are in the lake?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Ask a Ranger- Black Squirrels
Why are the squirrels here black but in New Jersey they are gray?
Revision Date: 2/3/2009
Why are the squirrels here black but in New Jersey they are gray?
Revision Date: 11/11/2008
Have any bobcats or foxes been spotted recently? When do they have their babies?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
How many bobcats are in the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What time of the year does Foothill Park have the most butterflies?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Are you allowed to camp here?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Do Chamise flowers smell like vanilla?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Do you have a chicken farm and/or a petting zoo?
Revision Date: 8/13/2008
Why don't you clean your potty's more often? :-(
Revision Date: 2/23/2010
When does mom coyote bring her pups out? I have never seen a baby one here.
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
When are coyote pups born?
Revision Date: 2/3/2009
Did Dr. Lee donate land for the park? I remember him from the 1960's. Is that why the grove is so named?
Revision Date: 12/9/2009
Where do I look for Dirca shrubs?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Have any of the animals here ever been domesticated?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Where was Dr Lee's house located? Was it in the meadow? Was the meadow there 50 - 100 years ago or was it forested?
Revision Date: 12/30/2009
What is the name of the black duck with white beaks in the lake?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Which flowers displayed near the fireplace are edible?
Revision Date: 2/9/2010
Are there any endangered animals here?
Revision Date: 7/8/2008
Please make your FANTASTIC wildflower display available to us – either: to take on hikes 1. digital photos on website (we’ll take it from there) 2. or in a book (we’ll pay a lot?)
Revision Date: 6/10/2010
Suggestion: Why don’t you give out field guides that tell you what plants are on what specific trails? It’d spark my interest.
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What type of fish are in the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Why do flies and mosquitoes buzz?
Revision Date: 9/22/2009
Are there fossils in the park? If so, what type?
Revision Date: 8/4/2008
Revision Date: 11/2/2010
Do you have any extra "real" gophers that are dead (taxidermied) so we could take one home to look at and we wouldn’t have to feed it?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
How big is a full grown raccoon?
Revision Date: 6/17/2008
How long do deer live?
Revision Date: 7/17/2008
Revision Date: 6/8/2011
Revision Date: 1/9/2008
Are humans affecting the wildlife ecosystems here? If so, how and why?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Where can you hunt?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What is the largest butterfly in Foothills Park?
Revision Date: 1/24/2010
Great park! Great clubhouse/info center. Why not replace incandescent lights with compact fluorescents?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What types of lizards can you find on the walk?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What’s the loudest noise a squirrel has ever made?
Revision Date: 11/11/2008
Do you find the animals in the case shaped they way they are? Where do you find the animals? Where is the male ruddy duck?
Revision Date: 2/26/2008
How come there isn’t a mountain lion statue up there? [On display in the Foothills Park Interpretive Center]
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Where is the most common place that people have seen mountain lions?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Is Mule Fat (B. douglasi) found in the park? Is that what I see in the drier areas that looks a little like small Toyon bushes?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
How come at day time we never see any of the animals. Are most of them nocturnal?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
How about building a trail from Panorama Trail to the [Foothills] park entrance? It is a short distance that would nicely close the loop.
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Are the park rangers full time employees? How do I go about getting a job as a park ranger?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
How does one become a park ranger or work for the Deaprtment of Forestry?
Revision Date: 8/26/2009
Where do you find rattlesnakes in the park during rattlesnake season?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
When do red foxes have their offspring and do they have big liters?
Revision Date: 12/9/2009
Do you have any red-winged blackbirds and/or orioles here?
Revision Date: 7/17/2008
How old are the redwood trees in the Lee Grove?
Revision Date: 10/22/2009
Are only Palo Alto residents allowed in the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What happened to the scale model of the park? Where is the scale model of the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
When I was here as a boy, 60 years ago, there were more birds. Why are there so few birds now?
Revision Date: 1/12/2010
Do squirrels communicate through making sounds with their claws on the trees?
Revision Date: 9/4/2008
Revision Date: 11/2/2010
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever found in the park? Have any famous people ever come to the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
Are there tarantulas here? I think I saw part of a dead one. How do they mate?
Revision Date: 11/27/2009
What is the best way to spot tarantulas and how late in the fall can they be spotted?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
How long have turkeys been in the park?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007
What are the different types of animals in Foothills Park?
Revision Date: 2/3/2009
Revision Date: 2/11/2008
What is the best time to view hawks and where in the park?
Revision Date: 1/9/2008
Where are the animals in the morning?
Revision Date: 6/10/2010
Revision Date: 4/13/2009
Why is it called Los Trancos?
Revision Date: 1/12/2010
If I found a baby squirrel in our backyard (possibly fallen from the tree) what can I do to help them? Where can I take them to? Can I bring them here?
Revision Date: 12/7/2007