Fauna and other natural things

[apl68]

One blossom per day
Now my gardenia harvest
It's enough for now

[ab_grp]

Our neighbors asked permission to let construction vehicles through our property to the back of theirs, and apparently they found a 9 foot snake skin while traversing, so I'm moving.  Neighbor also said he saw one crossing the road one night a couple summers ago that took up both lanes.  I realize that the exciting wildlife around here is probably wasted on me, but after the smaller rattler we had up at our patio a couple years ago, I would rather not know what kind of creatures are living out there. 

To end on a better note, and may their paths never cross, we have seen a couple more bunnies around lately than we have in recent years.

[apl68]

I saw a small turtle crossing the paved trail at the city park this morning as I approached.  A wash along that side of the trail had created a drop of several inches.  To the turtle that must have looked like a small cliff.  It paused at the edge.  Then it dropped over with a plop.  I couldn't help laughing.  The things a turtle has to go through to reach a nearby pond!

[apl68]

Last week I visited my parents and got to see my mother's new primroses.  We watched how they open near dusk.  It's fascinating to see blossoms just pop open like that.  Their neighbor has ridden in on his four-wheel ATV several evenings to watch them open.

[Langue_doc]

Reminded me of the playful otters along the California coast.

She Steals Surfboards by the Seashore. She's a Sea Otter.
California wildlife officials are hoping to apprehend a 5-year-old sea otter, who has a knack for riding the waves after committing longboard larceny.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/12/science/sea-otter-surfboard.html

The first few paragraphs from the above article:

For the past few summers, numerous surfers in Santa Cruz, Calif., have been victims of a crime at sea: boardjacking. The culprit is a female sea otter, who accosts the wave riders, seizing and even damaging their surfboards in the process.

After a weekend in which the otter's behavior seemed to grow more aggressive, wildlife officials in the area said on Monday they have decided to put a stop to these acts of otter larceny.

"Due to the increasing public safety risk, a team from C.D.F.W. and the Monterey Bay Aquarium trained in the capture and handling of sea otters has been deployed to attempt to capture and rehome her," a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.

Local officials call the animal Otter 841. The 5-year-old female is well known, for both her bold behavior and her ability to hang 10. And she has a tragic back story, with officials now forced to take steps that illustrate the ways human desire to get close to wild animals can cost the animals their freedom, or worse, their lives.

[apl68]

Yesterday afternoon I spotted an inch worm in my office.  It was crawling across my desk, right beside my keyboard.  I suppose it must have dropped out of a tree onto me and hitched a ride into the building.  I carefully got it to start crawling on my fingers, and evacuated it to the edge of the woods outside.  It was a tiny thing--not even a whole inch.  They're fascinating to watch.  I hadn't seen one in no telling how long.

[Parasaurolophus]

The landlords (who live upstairs) have set rat traps in the garden this summer (ugh--just let the cats in, seriously). The other day I saw a skunk nosing around one through the fence. I tried to scare it off unsuccessfully. I checked back from a distance later and thought it had trundled off.

Today, it's caught in the trap (and in the fence). I don't know how long it's been there, because I might have missed it yesterday. I should have looked more closely. And, really, I should have tried harder to scare it off, then moved the trap. I'm an idiot, and it's all my fault. The poor little thing.

I'd go let it out myself, but the landlords found it so they've taken over, ixnayed that, and want to wait for advice from the wildlife control people. (I also don't know how the trap mechanism works, so that's a hindrance, but I could figure it out...)

[Parasaurolophus]

The landlords (who live upstairs) have set rat traps in the garden this summer (ugh--just let the cats in, seriously). The other day I saw a skunk nosing around one through the fence. I tried to scare it off unsuccessfully. I checked back from a distance later and thought it had trundled off.

Today, it's caught in the trap (and in the fence). I don't know how long it's been there, because I might have missed it yesterday. I should have looked more closely. And, really, I should have tried harder to scare it off, then moved the trap. I'm an idiot, and it's all my fault. The poor little thing.

I'd go let it out myself, but the landlords found it so they've taken over, ixnayed that, and want to wait for advice from the wildlife control people. (I also don't know how the trap mechanism works, so that's a hindrance, but I could figure it out...)

Overcame my hesitation and freed it. It seems fine.

I didn't get sprayed directly, but it did spray a little nearby. Can't tell how bad I am, though. Will have to await the Maiasaurus's return.

[apl68]

Hope you and your surroundings pass the upcoming smell test, Para.

Early on my morning walk I saw something roughly the size of a cat cross the street in front of me.  It wasn't moving like a cat.  Turned out it was a possum.  It slipped through a hole in a fence and disappeared from sight as I passed by.  Dawn was just breaking, so it was presumably seeking a secure place to spend the day.

[apl68]

Yesterday evening I saw a fox dash across the street big as life less than a block from my house.  I've never seen one around here away from the city park, and that not recently.  Wonder whether that fox has long lived in that patch of woods, or just arrived there recently?

[FishProf]

I am watching a mongoose mother and baby crossing our lanai.

When they move fast, I swear they have six legs.

[apl68]

My brother and his wife have recently begun keeping bees.  I'm already learning some things about apiculture from them.  For example, I had not known that bees are highly vulnerable to mite infestations that can devastate a hive.  It is necessary for beekeepers to check their bees for mites and make sure that they are below a certain threshold.  How does one check one's bees for mites?  The short answer is, very carefully!

[apl68]

While swiping the card reader to get in at the library's staff entrance, I saw a little lizard perched on top of the reader.  I knew that certain staff members might freak out if they saw it there.  So I lured it onto my card and relocated it a few yards away.  It squirmed as I was doing so and fell to the ground.  I think it was small and light enough that it wasn't injured in the fall.

[Langue_doc]

During the tour of the herbarium in our botanic garden, we were shown how specimens were being preserved--the old-fashioned way by pressing them between sheets of newspaper. In addition to specimens from all over the world, there were also newspapers in various languages. There was some concern that newspapers would become extinct in a decade. Later in the tour we were taken to the "reference" area where the collection is stored. There was a fragment of moss from Darwin's collection, and Chiliotrichum amelloides Cass., a sprig from a tree from Tierra Del Fuego, from "The Plants of Captain Cook's First Voyage".

During the bird walk last weekend, we heard cicadas (or crickets) chirping along all the paths we were on. The chirping was continuous and slightly melodious, but we didn't linger as we were constantly being bitten/stung by insects and other critters. The only part of me that escaped bites was my back, which had my backpack covering it. I came home with bumps and welts all over my arms, shoulders, and neck. 

[arcturus]

My town recently passed a "do not feed the (urban) deer" ordinance. I live in a wooded section of town with a fairly large deer herd. A few years ago, I paid for extensive landscaping of my front and side yards. That evening, the deer herd stopped by to sample the smorgasbord of plants I had conveniently put out for their perusal. I wonder if that would be considered "feeding the deer" under our new city ordinance?