Chances are, you have seen a brown widow spider a few times a week, or maybe a day, or (shudder), maybe every hour. These invasive pests, originally from southern Africa, were first observed here in SoCal about eight years ago — and they can not only creep you out, but make life painful. University of California […]
Learn about the big mammals of Griffith Park, snorkle with sharks and admire native butterflies this month.
“Respect the claw” is the current motto at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium where a mutant Dungeness crab is showing off more than just its regular two pincers. For whatever reason, this X-Man Wannabe crustacean has grown a third claw that sticks out from the back of its right claw. While an impressive appendage, this claw doesn’t function normal. It’s stiff with the pincers frozen in a V-shape at the top. However, having an extra claw could come in handy when a good swing around could knock out your enemy.
Quick: at first blush, who do you think is the turtle’s closest kin in the big critter-pot of life? Birds? Crocodiles? Lizards? Fluffy kittens?
The results of the 41st Annual Anza-Borrego Desert State Park bighorn sheep count are in and the news is good: 329 Peninsular bighorns were tallied, up from 255 last year…
Officials in Pasadena recently decided to push back dirt removal in Devil’s Gate Dam area in order for common Western toadlets to, in the words of Joan Rivers, “Grow up!”
When she arrived in Los Angeles from Texas more than five years ago, Laurel Klein didn’t know that much about bobcats – what she really wanted to study was the large and lanky mountain lion, the iconic image of a big cat predator. But her internship with the National Park Service put her to work tracking, observing and studying bobcats, those seldom-seen urban carnivores that dot the Southern California landscape.
When you check out Santa Cruz Island this summer, you might see a bald eagle soaring overhead or a Channel Island fox darting in the sagebrush. But if you see a whirling cloud of dust, look closer; it’s probably the L.A. Conservation Corps, hard at work restoring the island to its native habitat. The project […]
The clock is ticking, and our new Volunteer Opps section will be launching soon. Check back shortly and be surprised at the things that you can do!
Renters, no more! The Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute has, since 2004, cared for hundreds of sick, injured or stranded seals, sea lion and other marine mammals found along the Ventura County coastline. Operating out of the old Vista Del Mar Union School on the Gaviota coast, about 25 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, […]
It’s not for a lack of trying, but officials at L.A.’s ports have spent more than $350,000 to make all the right moves for a breeding colony of endangered California least terns – but the birds aren’t picking up the re-population groove.
Small fish in the Northern Pacific Ocean are snacking on a whole mess of empty calories, namely in the form of confetti-sized flecks of tossed plastic garbage. According to a study published by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, small fish – such as lanternfish — are ingesting as much […]