DROUGHT BRINGING WILDLIFE INTO CITY EXPERTS SAY EFFECTS MAY BE FELT FOR YEARS.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

The season's meager rainfall is expected to bring wildlife down from the hills this summer as mountain creeks run dry, animal experts said Thursday.

Already, some areas are seeing more snakes, bobcats, deer and other critters because the lack of significant rainfall this winter has resulted in fewer succulent plants to dine on and little water.

``It's going to be a heavy year for wildlife,'' said Norm Phillips, superintendent of William S. Hart Park in Newhall. ``They're looking for water. What have we had ... four, five, six inches of rain this year?''

The Los Angeles Civic Center recorded just 4.27 inches of rain this year compared with the average seasonal total of 14.41 inches. In Ventura, rainfall totaled 4.16 inches since July 1, said Bonnie Bartling, a weather information specialist with the National Weather Service. In Santa Clarita, the season rainfall measured 6.4 inches so far, compared with an annual average of 20 inches.

The effects of this drought year are likely to be seen over the next two years, said Sgt. Jerry White of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.

``This year, and probably the next year or the year after, you'll see a decline in the babies,'' White said.

``When it rains like your El Nino, the following year and the year after you see increased food. The more food supply the more babies survive, and then when you start having droughts there are a few years of attrition to bring the numbers down.''

White said raccoons are abundant this year and deer are hitting the areas where residents keep horses. Pastures are dry, so the deer are enjoying the hay, barley and oats brought in for horses.

``There are deer all over the place,'' he said. ``There's still some water back in the hills, but as it gets hotter we expect to see more and more coming down.''

On Thursday, Rorie Skei, acting chief deputy director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, spotted a large male bobcat roaming outside the window of her rustic Malibu office.

But that, she said, is the norm. Like White, Skei anticipates more than the usual number of wild animals - from mountain lions to snakes - foraging for food and water as the days grow longer and warmer.

``Animals in this area are moving now just because of the season in search of food, mates and water,'' Skei said. ``It's spring. This is the time of the year when the female coyotes and larger mammals are out foraging more for their young.''

But come summer, Skei said, animals will move into neighborhoods in search of unnatural sources of water.

``I think we're going to see more of that as summer progresses,'' she said.

At Newhall's Hart Park, which backs up to the San Gabriel Mountains, the rattlesnakes are just starting to come out, a little earlier than usual, Phillips said.

``We have a resident mountain lion who comes here because the deer are here, and the deer are here because there's water here,'' Phillips said. ``And coyotes are heavy this year. They're coming down from the mountains because there's no water. This is the first year we've had a big coyote presence.''

Also driving wild animals into neighborhoods is the declining natural habitat as development continues in hillside areas, White said.

``They're mowing hills down,'' he said. ``The more they bulldoze, the more you're going to see wildlife coming into residential areas.''