Coyote Hills Regional Park

We had been planning to visit Coyote Hills Regional Park as they conduct few science activities for kids. We managed to go there over the weekend. It is located in Fremont and is close to the salt marshes. It has many trails some flat and some over the hills.


What a great beginning of Nature adventure... right under the roof of the visitor center there were 2 nests of the Barn Swallow.

The visitor center has displays of the Ohlone villages, their archeological artifacts, marsh animals and birds. There is a museum store in the visitor center where we bought the Califonia marsh birds, butterfly and flower charts to help us identify the marsh life. It provides the kids a great activity on hikes!





There are various weekend programs at Coyote Hills and the one we attended was Animal Defenses. This is how various animals defend themselves :

Bright colors : Some animals like frogs, butterflies, lady bugs are brightly colored to warn the predator that they don't taste very good.

Teeth : Many animals use their teeth to bite the predator. Venomous snakes use their teeth to kill the predator. The picture beside shows the skulls of cougar and the bear with sharp teeth ------>

Look alike : Snakes like Garter snake is a look alike of Rattle snake.

Hide : Many animals hide to avoid predators, ex Mole. Turtles and tortoises take shelter in their shells to save themselves


Blend with the surroundings : Animals like Arctic fox, Polar bear etc. blend with their surroundings to hide from the predator. A regular fox skin is shown here ---->

Camouflage: Animals like chameleons change their colors to hide.

Antlers/Horns : Sheep, Reindeer etc use their horns or antlers to defend themselves.

Spraying on the predator : Animals like skunk and some fishes spray on the predators to keep them away.

Fool the predator: Squirrel and Lizards leave their tail behind to fool the predators and escape.

The class ended with everyone getting to touch a non-venomous King snake

We then went on a hike on one of the Flat areas. We spotted marsh birds like Egrets, Canada Goose, ducks, marsh wrens and plants such a mustard, fennel, pickleweeds, buckwheat. Kids loved walking on the wooden pathways through the middle of the marsh with overgrowth of grasses on both sides.