Column: This Altadena cemetery is also a ‘sanctuary’ for the living

On a chilly morning in January, Lauren Hamlett, our director of Wildlife Education and Services, greeted fellow nature enthusiasts at Mountain View Cemetery & Mortuary in Altadena. The sun was just coming up as the group headed out to look for signs of wildlife.

Over the next hour and a half, Lauren led a slow-paced walk through the cemetery. The group looped through the grounds, listening and watching for movement.

She helped the participants identify urban wildlife, pointing out birds, mammals and other animals that live in and move through this space.

Along the way, the group paused often to observe and talk about how wildlife uses the cemetery. Lauren also shared a bit of the cemetery’s history, pointing out a few locally well-known grave markers.

This walk was part of a monthly series that Pasadena Humane offers at the cemetery. These tours invite people to see the cemetery as a sanctuary: a verdant green space that offers quiet and refuge for both people and wildlife within a dense urban environment.

“Some people think cemeteries are for the dead,” Mountain View Cemetery staffer Cyndee shared with us. “[But] when someone walks around, there is a lot of life, and the wildlife tours introduce the community to seeing that.”

Over the past year, that sanctuary has been tested. The Eaton fire burned dangerously close to the cemetery. While the main buildings and grounds survived, the fire damaged fencing around the property and the pump house.

Strong winds that night left the grounds in rough shape, and trees were lost to fire and wind. Cleaning up the 55-acre property took about two-and-a-half months. Water and electricity weren’t fully restored until this past September, eight months after the fire.

In the days immediately following the fire, cemetery staff noticed that wildlife on the property had fled. The eight coyotes Cyndee and her teammates regularly saw in the northern part of the cemetery were nowhere to be found.

After the fire, our wildlife team set up a trail camera to track which species were coming back. Soon, the camera picked up coyotes, squirrels, skunks and birds. It was a clear sign that wildlife was returning.

They’re not as abundant as before the fire, but many have returned over the past year. During her wildlife walks, Lauren often sees plenty of bird activity and a wide range of species — including coyotes, which she now sees on nearly every walk.

On these tours, Lauren likes to highlight just how resilient urban wildlife can be when they have access to a reliable water source, a safe habitat and less disturbance from people. Even after a major disturbance like the Eaton fire, animals are often ready to return as soon as conditions allow.

Now that water is fully restored, cemetery staff are hopeful that wildlife will continue to increase and eventually reach pre-fire levels. Lauren also notes that the cemetery team is planning for wildlife recovery in the long term including planting climate-appropriate trees and partnering with community organizations such as Pasadena Humane and Pasadena Audubon.

Our walks are offered monthly. In winter, we meet at sunrise for morning walks. As daylight extends in spring and summer, we move to evening walks.

Different species move through at different times of year, so each season brings new sightings. During evening walks, we focus more on bats and their role in the ecosystem.

If you’ve never looked at a cemetery this way, this is a great chance to see it up close.

Our next Cemetery Wildlife Walk is Feb. 15 at 6:30 a.m. at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena. Register at pasadenahumane.org/events.

Chris Ramon is president and CEO of Pasadena Humane. pasadenahumane.org.