The Bugman has a list of top SoCal bugs that he wants to see one of these days: the long-horned California prionus beetle, the luxurious ceanothus silk moth and the lovely Pacific green sphinx moth. He’s also itching to see the rain beetle in action. “The males are the only ones that fly and the females are 8-10 feet underground,” he says. “They mate only during the winter rains in the early morning or late twilight hours.”
Rock star status? Nope? Cuddly and colorful? Nope. Slippery when wet? You bet.
The nearly extinct mountain yellow-legged frog is not your typical poster-animal for endangered species. Sure it’s not a sexy beast (well, maybe in a Mick Jagger sort of way…) but this little hopper is gaining attention and getting a frog’s leg-up from local organizations that want to see the rivers and ponds of SoCal once again filled with extended froggy families.
We couldn’t have been more pleased when last year, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) sought to protect about 1.6 million acres of desert lands which resulted in drafting of the California Desert Protection Act of 2011 — and we’re anxiously waiting for it to be the real deal soon.
There’s an abundance of news circulating about sea lions coming ashore to local beaches suffering from seizures brought about by domoic acid poisoning. It’s not a pretty sight when large sea lions flail about helplessly on the sand foaming at the mouth. Heartbreaking, to be sure.
Living in Southern California can be problematic with crowded conditions, urban sprawl and nightmarish traffic. These challenges present a double and triple whammy to urban wildlife that must navigate, circumvent and survive in a landscapethat wasn’t here 50 years ago.
We like it when semi-retired folk often do strange things that they wouldn’t have dreamed of earlier in their lives – and we don’t mean changing their dinner time to 5 p.m.
La Jolla’s Will Sooter is a fine example of someone who discovered how fate, nature and a morning jog can transform a life.
Smaller than a house cat, the Santa Cruz Island fox is king of the roost on his very own island; not every critter can lay claim to such a captive empire. And these little beasts are flourishing back on their native soil, years after their numbers precariously dwindled.
This is the season when the historic cliff swallows wing their way back toward the most famous mission in California, San Juan Capistrano.