CREATURES RETURN TO RAVAGED FORESTS DAY FIRE SURVIVORS STAKE OUT TERRITORY, FIND FOOD.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- As animals return to the Angeles and Los Padres forests eight months after fleeing the massive Day Fire, officials are warning hikers and residents to use caution.

The fire scorched more than 160,000 acres and sent animals scurrying. Now, food and prime living space are up for grabs, and the competition's heating up.

Birds, in particular, are exhibiting aggressive behaviors as they re-establish nesting zones.

"They'll work the perimeter, actively flying to the edge of the territory. They'll fight with other males, calling out, 'This is my territory!'" said Kevin Cooper, a forest wildlife biologist in Los Padres.

Returning animals are finding an abundance of nutritious grasses, flowers and herbs triggered to bloom by heat or water percolating through the ash.

Ashes cover about 163,000 acres in the two forests, which abut for several miles. The Angeles encompasses roughly 650,000 acres; the Los Padres, about 1.76 million acres.

While 10 percent of the woods burned completely, about 50 percent burned only moderately and 40 percent burned only slightly.

Still, on the heels of the fire, animals including deer and fox fled to other habitats, often within a 10-mile radius. Mountain lions and bears may have had an easier time, as their range can span hundreds of miles.

Cooper said it's not known how many animals perished in the blaze.

"We don't find that many carcasses out there; they get eaten pretty quickly by scavengers," he said.

Those include condors, whose Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge on the edge of the Los Padres burned in the Piru Fire in 2003 but was unscathed in last year's blazes.

"They're pretty much nature's recycling program, going in and cleaning up dead animals from the landscape and helping these vulture species to survive," said Chris Barr, deputy project leader for the refuge, which is part of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Golden eagles can also be found feeding on carrion."

The Forest Service has recently reopened many areas of the forests, but officials said dry brush and other hazards remain. The fire danger in the Angeles forest was raised from high to very high Wednesday.

Despite the charred regions, Cooper noted the positive side of wildfire.

"The fires themselves are not something we consider devastating," he said. "It's a natural process, and having that variation in habitat increases biodiversity."

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Kevin Cooper, above, a biologist for the Los Padres National Forest, surveys an area ravaged by last year's massive Day Fire. Springtime is drawing wild animals back to burned areas, where they are staking out space and finding food in renewed grasses, which flourish on ash-enriched soil. At left, a garter snake has found itself a home where the fire once burned.