Squirrel Days

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Sitting quite upright, a young California Ground Squirrel nibbles on a bit of vegetation.

Looks like the park workers planted lots of squirrel seeds this past winter: suddenly the path just north of Pickleweed Place is aswarm with at least a trillion baby California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi).

Wikipedia tells me that California Ground Squirrels belong to a family of rodents that also includes marmots and prairie dogs. Some are big and some are small. Most can rise up on their hind legs and rest, standing erect. They tend to be more gregarious than other squirrels. Many live in social colonies.

Their enemies include snakes, eagles, raccoons, red foxes, badgers and weasels. On Monday I saw one of our Red-Tailed Hawks fly by carrying a little Ground Squirrel. At this baby stage, they’re easy to spot and catch.

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A Tiny Gopher Snake

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Baby Gopher Snake

Monday morning, workers at Baylands Park made an interesting discovery: a baby gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer).

I’d guess it was newly hatched. But, like all snakes, it was already able to navigate its environment, looking for food and avoiding threats such as monstrous people.

At this stage in its life, it’s not ready to tackle a gopher. Insects are far more likely prey. And big birds are high on its enemies list.

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The Giant Tree Rescue

Sunday, October 7th, 2007
Spaghetti Up a Tree
See more pictures here.

The wind rose on Thursday, from calm at 8 a.m. to 20 m.p.h. at noon, with gusts to 25 m.p.h. At around 10 a.m., Bic Tran is flying his two-day-old Mini Mag around the Great Meadow.

The wind has crept up to about 12 m.p.h., not quite hissing through the trees, but quietly shushing out of the north northwest.

Bic’s first plane was a Slow Stick. He built it carefully and learned to fly it well over the course of three months.

But he was bored with it. He sought more of a challenge. He wanted ailerons.

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What’s Your Gripe, Mike?

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

Mike’s Third Eye

I think of Mike Nadler as mild mannered, a generally cheerful guy who likes a laugh. The plastic eye he put in the crown of his hat to assist him in combat flying, for instance, as shown in the picture.

Mike tells lots of jokes — he has a toastmaster’s collection of quips in his head — and he revels in practical jokes.

  • He furtively adds weight to Gary Morgan’s warbird just before a combat event.
  • He quietly peels the sticky tape from the leading edge of Gary’s wing so it won’t easily snag a streamer.
  • I haven’t noticed him reversing anyone’s propeller, but maybe I’d better double-check my planes.

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