It’s not an easy life for the mountain lions and other animals that make their home in the Santa Monica Mountains. Because they’re so isolated, Los Angeles mountain lions are almost 100 percent likely to become extinct in 50 years due to inbreeding, which can cause health problems and unusual behavior. Leaving their territory is […]
Tag: squirrel
Serengeti Cheetah and Giraffe Interaction
Still in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti and after a relatively unsuccessful previous day waiting for our “flat cats” to raise themselves and start moving and playing, we were up and on our way by 6h30 the next morning full of expectation that a fresh start would reveal something quite unexpected. Our guide, Yona, […]
Florida Bobcat: Lynx rufus
I did a post of Florida’s Bobcats (Lynx rufus) some time back, but it just disappeared from the blog. I am reposting these photos as I love watching these cats. We live in a large subdivision bordered by an even larger preserve, so these bobcats thrive on rabbits, squirrels, and, I suppose the occasional loose […]
Video: Squirrels Mask Scent with Rattlesnake Skin
In the popular TV series “The Walking Dead” humans can hide from zombies by covering themselves in zombie guts, masking their scent. The California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) uses a similar tactic to hide from a major predator, the rattlesnake, which relies on smell to track down its prey.
Local knowledge sheds light on some of the world’s strangest mammals
One of the difficulties of studying rare and endangered species is that they are, by definition, hard to find. Scientists attempting to understand their distributions and the threats to their survival can spend hundreds of hours in the field while collecting little data, simply because sightings are so few and far between. To find out […]
Egypt’s ‘spying’ stork and other incidents of animal espionage
A swan has been detained in Egypt on suspicion of being a spy. Except it looks – in pictures released by the Egyptian authorities, who kept referring to it as a “swan” – like a stork. Perhaps it was wearing a disguise. The bird, allegedly working for the French government, was captured in a heroic […]
Summer Scenes of Critters at the Pond
A couple of weeks ago I kept hearing a simple, three pitched call from the yard. I went out to investigate and it was the Black-headed Grosbeak fledgling calling to be fed. Click on photos for full sized images. It was a familiar song but I hadn’t heard it since last year and it is […]
Goodness knows
Kindergarteners swarmed around the khaki-clad naturalist, squealing with excitement, shouting out questions and jockeying for a better view.The adult volunteers on this field trip were a tougher audience. “I’m glad they’re having fun but I don’t see why anyone should care about some bug,” one 30-something mom confided to another, adding, “What good is it, […]