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

[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).