Cool Nature Los Angeles!

[furtech]

...well, Chatsworth and Valencia, but close enough.

On a couple of recent hikes I have seen creatures (or creature-spoor) that I had not realized lived in this area or have only seen once before.

First up: Ring-tail cat track
martes and I were walking in one of the dry washes in Valencia when she spotted an odd track: her guess was a ring-tail cat and subsequent Googling seems to prove her right. I have never seen one of these creatures, but they are -very- elusive and nocturnal.



Next up, on the same hike: horned toad!
I have seen one of these before, but not one that was so lightly colored-- almost an ivory hue. He patiently let me take several pictures and then proceeded to burrow into the sand.



Last up: Long-tailed weasel!
I did not even consider that we had native weasels in this area. Escaped ferrets, maybe, but not a weasel! On the way to visit a friend in Chatsworth for a (hot) hike, I drove past what I initially thought was a dead ground squirrel. But something in my mind threw a flag out: the color was wrong. On an impulse I went back and checked more closely. I was glad I did: that wasn't a ground squirrel-- it was a small weasel! A bit of research tells me it was a long-tailed weasel, which apparently -can- be found in this area. I've certainly never seen them in the wild.

Not long after, on my way home, nature's garbageman was hard at work: a turkey vulture was making a meal of the unfortunate weasel.

Weasel pics under links: while the first isn't that graphic (small image), it -is- deceased.

weasel-deceased, small-image

Larger pics of weasel, somewhat more graphic

All in all an interesting week of wildlife!

Comments

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

I want to see the weasel, but it says server bandwidth exceeded.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Arghh! And the reason I uploaded those images to my domain was because I didn't want my friends/contacts tp be treated to GIANT IMAGES of a dead weasel when they go to their Flickr home page.

I'll see what's up with the site...

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

Yay they're working now!

The horned toad is really cute! I didn't know they are around in CA. and it's exciting to think you have ringtails in the area, too.

Poor little weasel.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I was both very excited (to realize it was a weasel) and very sad that it got hit. I had ferrets long enough to know mustelid-mannerisms, so I was even more sad when I realized it had probably been doing its weasel dance in the pre-dawn street when it got hit.

The horned toad is the second we've seen-- the other was in the same Santa Clara River wash, but further downstream.

[martes.livejournal.com]

Beyond the tracks, the only evidence for a ringtail I've ever seen in the area was a dead one in the middle of Malibu Canyon Road.

I'd be willing to bet cars are the #1 human-based cause of animal mortality in the country.

[vulpesrex.livejournal.com]

Just think! Out of the entire population of Los Angeles County, you are most likely the ONLY person to have seen a weasel this week, if not this entire YEAR!

...At least - outside of a City Council/Board of Supervisors Chambers...

[dustmeat.livejournal.com]

Neat finds! Hope to see you guys at Califur!

[shoka.livejournal.com]

Cool about all of the wildlife. Bummer the weasel was dead. I didn't realize we had them in the area until we accidently live trapped one in our yard (we were after ground squirrels). We've had several sitings over the years and hope they hang out and eat our gophers.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

That is -very- cool! I would -love- to have a population of weasels taking care of all the ground squirrels and rabbits on the hillside. At the moment, though, I have to settle for re-locating gopher snakes I find on hikes.

[shoka.livejournal.com]

You are too optimistic! We have the weasels around, coyotes+pups who've denned between our yard & the neighbors for years, plus gopher snakes, hawks, a thriving crow colony and the owl on occasion. But we we still have heaps of gophers, rabbits and ground squirrels. Think they just breed too quickly.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to seeing a lizard like that for the first time!... Just saw a wildcat for the first time ever this year too!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I've actually seen bobcats on several occasions and in very different areas. They are neat to see-- very cat-like in that they will sit in the open, staring at you...and only at the last moment disappear if you pay them too much attention.

Now that I know they are in the area, I'll be more attentive when I hear brush moving on walks. Usually I assume it's just a quail or lizard or squirrel and don't pay it much attention.

[henriekeg.livejournal.com]

A shame he's dead, but it's cool to know you have long-tailed weasels in your area!
Spotting wildlife here is a lot more rare than in the US, in the few times I've been there I've seen more wildlife (mammals) than in my whole life here.
Two years ago, while I was walking the dog in the rain, I spotted an ermine though! That made my whole week, it's the only time I've ever seen a wild mustelid.
That photo of the pawprints reminded me I took a photo of pawprints at the San Diego beach earlier this year, and still have to look up what it was!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

One good thing we have in the US is wide open spaces and wild areas. In a big, ugly city like Los Angeles, those areas are godsends. A lot of the trails-- in the middle of the city-- are such that you can almost forget there are millions of people around you.

Very cool to have seen an ermine!!

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Good grief - a wild cacomistle! Now there's a species I'd love to actually observe in the wild, though with their nocturnal inclinations, trying to photograph them would be quite a challenge.. I'd expect I'd have to find a spot where they'll return, if possible, and either use a camera trap, or a similar trigger for a full setup, likely watching the video feed from further away.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Hi, Pors! I think I re-found your journal via (I think) c_eagle's journal. Love your link-posts!

The pawprints are a good idea of where they might return...but the trouble with Los Angeles is that you leave any equipment alone for even a few minutes and you are likely to have it walked off with. If you are close enough to stop someone doing that, you're probably going to scare away the critter. (There are a bunch of hobos in the area where the prints were seen).