The new growth will attract animals that before could not find food in the canyon dense with dead chaparral. Along the edge of the fire line, deer and other animals will be hidden from predators by unburned growth as they eat the sprouts. Within a day or two after a fire, deer can be seen licking the ashes for nutrients. Some roll in the warm ashes, perhaps to kill ticks in their hides. Very few animals are found dead as a result of a fire, said Richard Minnich, a University of California at Riverside earth sciences professor who also toured the fire area.
Birds can fly away.
Animals can outrun it or burrow into the ground. Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. R Y Ecologists say that naturally occurring fires can help forests by clearing out undergrowth and sparking new life.