Creatures
Rowr
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Too many bugs in Silver Lake.
I’m very concerned about the skunks I’ve seen all over Silver Lake the last two nights. I’m sure it’s because of the heat; think how they must feel in their heavy fur jackets. Please consider putting out pans of water for animals or birds; make a new friend. Even though I live in an apartment, I did just that, in case my skunk visitor comes back. I just added a plugin to make the blog load faster. If you see any problems, however, please let me know. Also, I have about 10 mosquito bites, more than I’ve ever had since I lived here. I know I got a couple from…
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They call me Nancy Drew, sometimes.
Who’s that knocking at my door? What creature of the night came THISclose to my place the other night? Mysterious animal tracks in the snow not-snow. I think the curved lines on the left bottom might be a tail. Or claws… I was so excited when I saw these paw prints on the floor of my carport! Our complex is gated, so we don’t see many animals in here. I knew it wasn’t a cat, didn’t think it was a dog, and hoped it was something interesting, like a raccoon. (The tracks are about twice the size of cat paws.) One of the things I loved best when it snowed…
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A bat dies alone.
Ooh, it makes my blood boil. You know how I feel about bats. When the Times published this article in April, I couldn’t write about it for a while. Too upset. Perhaps you’re thinking, what, is she going to blame DWP for a rabid bat, too? Why yes, I am. Griffith Park visitors found a bat which the rangers turned in, killed and then tested for rabies. (This is how they test animals for rabies. Kill first, ask questions later.) This was an informative article, thanks, but not great. What would have been more helpful would have been linking this quote from Mr. Tuttle: Many bats can’t drink unless they…
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Rare bat seeks blood in Griffith Park; type O not good enough.
See, like I promised, Bioblitz did find some rare animals including a bat!!!! LAist reports an interesting story on how expert bat biologist Stephanie Remington taught volunteer bat hunters how to find bats with Anabat devices, to amplify sounds for human ears. Remington concluded that there were four bat species in the park including tiny western pipistrelle bats (Parastrellus Hesperus) which weigh only slightly more than a single penny; Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis Mexicana) which exist in such huge numbers that they are essential for the control of insect populations worldwide; hoary bats (Lasiuris cinereus) which are huge, very visible bats with an 18-inch wingspan; and surprisingly, western red…
