The Cons of Freedom

One of the best things today was looking for a turtle. A red-eared slider turtle to be exact. They're natives to the east coast and the pet turtle: the poster image of pet turtles, the one you always imagine, you get the picture.
Well, someone had released their pet into Thousand Palms spring. People release pets all the time out here, actually. When they don't want it any more or can't take care of it, they just set it loose on the preserve. There are many cats and dogs that are abandoned here, (that's how my aunt got her adorable dog) and people have released other things over the years. Recently they found an Australian water dragon, and of course there are aquarium fish, crayfish and snails.
When people release their pets, most of the time they want the animals to be free and happy, but in reality domesticated animals aren't accustomed to living in the wild. After surviving their whole life being fed every day and protected from all predators, they're almost always not going to make it. So really people should just think a little more about what they're doing when releasing pets. When the habitat change isn't a death sentence, it can turn out to be the total opposite, as we've seen in the pond. The red-eared slider itself is competing with the native desert tortoise. It's always best to simply find a new home for your pet and not mess with the natural order of things. For those who want to use them, there are animal rescue or adoption programs, or one can ask around to find someone who wants to take a pet in.
In the case of the turtle, a tour guide had called and reported the sighting of the turtle, but no one had seen it in a few weeks. We went to look, and she was sitting near the beginning of the trail like she was waiting for us!
So we caught her and brought her in the car. Sliders don't bite, but they can scratch, so we put a towel over her to calm her down. We weren't being cruel. Turtles feel more relaxed when their heads are covered. She got a name- Tabitha- and for now she's living in the bathtub. If I didn't live in another state or have parents who would be really upset if I brought home a turtle, I would keep her. Since both of those restrictions apply, we're giving her to turtle rescue to find a new home for her. Oh well. :)
Also, just for my sister, I'm including an aquarium update.
So far there have been three molts: two little and one big. One small one and the big one appeared on the same day and both nearly gave me a heart attack. At first glance, I thought the large one was dead, and the smaller shell was torn apart and being eaten, so I thought they'd eaten a little one. I was so sad and disgusted until I realized my mistake. I'm so glad they're still alive!
The baby fish that are only a few days old are already twice the size of the older ones! It's a mystery, to be sure. I have no idea. The Lobster of Doom's as crazy as ever, and I got a new little crayfish that acts a lot bigger than he really is.
Tomorrow's my final exam in crayfish trapping! I'm preparing. To pass I have to fall in the water.

The Top of the World

Yesterday we went for a hike to the top of mount San Jacinto. A revolving Swiss tram takes you up the sheer cliffs fronting the mountain, and then hiking trails vein out to diverse destinations. The hike to the peak was an 11 mile round trip. The mountains are astoundingly beautiful. They're studded with huge granite boulders, blindingly white. The mountainside is forested, giving way near the top to low, purplish bushes covered in bright green leaves. The mountain is at least 10 or 15 degrees cooler than the valley floor. Going up was really refreshing and cool. The elevation was also closer to what I'm used to, so it was pretty nice.
The valley floor is about 300 feet in elevation, the top of the tram is 8,500 ft. From there the hike goes up to 11,503 ft, so from the valley the elevation jump in altitude is 11,200 ft.
The tallest peak in the United States is Mount McKinley, Alaska, is 9,486 feet taller than San Jacinto, and Gorgonio, the tallest peak in southern CA is 669 feet taller.
The way up the mountain was mostly uphill. As we got higher up, the views were spectacular. It felt like we could see almost the whole world. Of course, as we got close to the top, we were so tired we could barely stand. To get to the very top you have to climb up a huge summit of boulders, but being up there is completely worth it. From the top one can see for miles and miles around. The day was pretty hazy, so the view was very veiled, but it was still staggering. It's extremely gorgeous up there, just completely amazing.
Of course, I couldn't even bear to think about going back down the entire thing. We were both so tired. But we made it. It took us at least 6 or 7 hours to go there and back, and our legs and feet were in serious pain, but it was so worth it, the hike is beautiful the whole way. Everything's absolutely silent except for the occasional melodic bird call, and the sky up there is the bluest I've ever seen. If you're ever around this area, even in San Diego or LA, I would wholeheartedly recommend coming up here. You don't have to go all the way to the top either- there are shorter hiking trails and campgrounds you can go to. It' really amazing.

Infestation

Today we went out onto the dunes to check out developments of the invasive species of plants that inhabit them. On the sand dunes behind McCallum pond we saw a lot of Russian thistle, a type of tumbleweed. Russian thistles are low and bushy, growing from 1/2 foot to three feet tall. When they have leaves they are green and fleecy, and the bush has purple stems. The stems and leaves have fine, painful prickers on them. When the plants mature, they become dry and brittle with yellow coloring. After this, during a windstorm, they will break off and roll across the landscape, dispersing seeds and creating a more widespread outbreak of the weed's population. Natives of Russia, the plants now live also in many Middle Eastern countries and arid parts of the western United States.
Russian thistle is a problem on the sand dunes where we were looking. The best way to remove the bushes is by poisoning or pulling them up. My aunt is coming up with a plan to eliminate the presence of these weeds from the dunes.
We also went to another set of dunes- the ones with the fringe-toed lizards- which had a different set of problems. The predominant weed there is called Sahara mustard, and it's really taken over. A large portion of the dunes and the sand fields around them are completely coated with the mustard. The plants prevent the dunes from moving and shifting like they're supposed to, and also drives the fringe-toed lizards to a smaller portion of habitat, as the lizards will only live in places with some open sand.
Saharan mustard is originally from Africa and the Middle East. It grows up to three and a half feet tall, and blooms yellow, although less vibrant than other mustards. It prefers to grow on sand dunes or loose, disturbed ground. When it gets wet, the seeds stick to passerby and spread to new regions. On the dunes here in the Coachella Valley it's extremely difficult to remove. It can't be burned because it doesn't burn well and would harm the native plant and animal life. Fires also can be very dangerous in climates this dry and would require incredibly careful supervision and control. It would also be dangerous to mow the weed because it could be a danger to the animals, and poisoning would have the same effect. Mowing would also only spread the seeds and enlarge the already massive seedbank in the ground. The most careful method to remove it would be hand pulling in spring when the plants are young and not yet seeding. The only problem with this is the massive amount of territory the mustard's taken over. There's so much, it would take a hundred people several weeks of very long, industrious days to pull it all. Probably longer. But that's what the plan in the works is. If there are enough volunteers, then it'll get done sometimes. It will also take years of weeding diligently every year to remove the seed bank, but eventually it should hopefully be recovered.

Cooper's Hawk

Today while crayfish trapping I saw a cooper's hawk, so that's what I'm going to write about.
Cooper's hawks have blue-gray backs and "caps" with black bars on the tail, a white belly and chest, and scarlet eyes. The underparts also have many reddish brown bars. They have a predatory sharp beak and claws. They live in North America from Central America to southern Canada.
Cooper's hawks eat smaller birds and live in places with trees. They hunt and fly in the trees and under the foliage. They have very sharp eyes to allow them to hunt easily. They live up to 12 years in the wild.

A Convenient Coincidence

Today was a really fantastic day! A piece of a movie called The Big Year, a movie about birding, was filmed on the preserve today. Jack Black is in it, and he was there. My aunt and I headed out early in the morning to be there. My aunt was making sure that they were keeping to trails and not damaging the habitat at all. A bunch of gigantic trucks and trailers came in and started setting up. There was a trailer with makeup rooms and catering cars, and a dining car with a huge lunchroom, and trucks kept filing in and perfectly parallel parking.

Since I was with the park manager (aka my aunt) they asked me if I wanted to be an extra. I said yes and was so excited! Now I have to tell you the ending because I didn't actually get to be in it. The camera malfunctioned before there were any extras needed, so the crew moved on to the Joshua Tree preserve, and I didn't go. But! there's more to the story.
It was astounding seeing the set up. It seemed a huge affair with people running around and all the trucks, and the set organizer said it wasn't even a big production for Hollywood! And after a few hours of the trucks and people just coming in, they finally started getting ready to film. While they set up, my aunt and I met Jack Black and got pictures with him. He was nice and really funny (though I guess you could predict that). And then they filmed some scenes with him. They filmed lots of little clips for a montage, and then after a while the camera malfunction came and they left.
And while that was happening I met the extras and many people in different jobs around, and I really saw how much work goes into just five minutes of a movie. Between shots people were standing around Jack Black holding an umbrella over him and fixing his hair and talking about his costume.
Lots of people spend most of the time just waiting around. The extras and people who set up especially have a lot of waiting time. It was really fascinating talking to everybody and seeing how something like that is run. One of the extras I met said that the way you get places in Hollywood is just being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people, and the site scout told us how some jobs work in film production and how they're made.
I can't believe they happened to come through to the preserve I'm interning at while I'm here! I'm so so glad I got to see it. I wasn't an extra after all, but I don't really care. I feel so lucky!

Invasion of the Title snatchers!

Yesterday we went to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. A companion to the San Diego Zoo, it's not only dedicated to conserving animals, but also the native California habitat. A large portion of the 1800 acres containing the park are undeveloped native hills and fauna.
I think that out of all the zoos I've ever been to, this was my favorite (tied with an Australian zoo). The animals have tons of space to live in, with real plants and few fences. The animals could behave more naturally and live more like their wild counterparts.
We started out our exploration of the park by taking the conservation tour. We were actually the only two people taking it that day, so we had a very good tour. The first thing we got to do was visit the laboratories and research building. We saw a room dedicated to the conservation of the yellow legged frog, a native of California. There were tanks of tadpoles and others of adult frogs.
Our guide told us the three Rs of conservation: research, reproduction, and release. She told us about the steps the park is taking to preserve endangered species. The wild animal park has a very successful breeding program for everything from California condors to endangered iguanas. We learned that zoos exchange animals periodically to keep the gene pool clear.
One thing that really interested me in the research building was the "frozen zoo." They had tissue samples and reproductive material of endangered animals. It's a sort of backup program for animals: if they go extinct, someone can clone from the genetic samples. This made me think really hard. I'm not sure of my opinions on the ethics of it. It's good to try to keep critically endangered species alive, but is cloning any better than genetic engineering? Should we be trying to play all powerful like this, or let it go? It's our fault that the animals are going extinct, so is it ok if we save them or not? See? It's confusing!
Besides the research laboratory, we drove out into the conserved open space. CRAZY BIRD AUNTS DON'T READ THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH OR YOU WILL GO MORE CRAZY. Deep in the depths of the protected land is the bird facility. It contains endangered birds from all over the world that they have for breeding. They introduce some of the chicks back into the wild, so we couldn't get very near. Because the birds are supposed to have minimal contact with humans we watched from afar. It made my crazy bird aunt extremely sad that we couldn't see them closer.
After that we were taken to the home of some extra warthogs that aren't on exhibit at the moment. They are odd looking animals.
Then we got to feed the przewalski's wild horses. They're the only horses on earth that are still considered wild. Amazing. They don't completely look like domestic horses either. Wild horses have upright manes, and these were smaller and stockier than domestic ones. These guys also bit, so we threw carrots in instead of feeding them outright.
Next we went to an enormous enclosure containing four types of endangered African ungulates. One kind was called the slender horned gazelle, and another I think was called an addre, but I can't remember the other names. Some, though, had spiraled horns, and another large brown kind was in something called an alert circle. Each faces a different direction so the animals can see danger coming from anywhere. We got to feed all of them.
We also saw a Northern white rhino. There are only 7 left in the entire world, and the wild animal park has two of them. Sadly, both are beyond breeding age, so neither can help bring the species away from the brink of extinction. It's a grim picture, looking at the future of that species. It's very sad.
But that's where our tour left us, and we started wandering the park. We didn't get lost this time because the maps weren't confusing, so we looked all around. There are so many animals there with so much space, it's amazing! There were tons of bird and aviaries, we saw tiny baby elephants and so many animals. I can't list them all. Or even remember them all. But I did decide that I'd love love love to work there.

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(That's how you say hippopotamus in blehe. But we didn't see any of those.)

The Curious Incident of the Toad in the Nighttime

All credit for the rip off title goes to Mark Haddon.
Last night we went looking for owls. We arrived at McCallum pond as the sun was setting. We played the calls of great horned owls and barn owls from my aunt's ipod. We got some responses from a barn owl and saw it fly a little bit. We walked a little around the pond and saw two barn owls perching in a palm tree. They were a little obscured by palm fronds, but we got some really good glimpses of them! There were bats fluttering over our heads and nighthawks swooping down to the pond to drink. We got really good light from the moon. It's getting close to full.
On our way back to the car, we saw a western toad! It was sitting stunned by our flashlights under a bush. It had gold eyes with horizontal slit pupils, milky green skin, and lumpy skin.
Most western toads also have light stripes down their backs, which I probably didn't see by the flashlight. They have pale bellies with dark blotches. The bumps on their backs are reddish with rings of black around them.
Western toads live in western North America. They love moisture, and live in ponds and springs, burrowing in hot, dry weather. They lay eggs in standing water, and eat mostly insects and water-dwelling invertebrates. Birds and mammals eat the toads.
It was really cool to see one.
On a random note, on the preserve and even near my aunt's house, there are lots of stars visible. It's so beautiful. Since there are so many houses, I was shocked at first by the amount. They're more spread out, and there are large open spaces, so I'm guessing that's why it's so different from the city sky.

Composting Toilets

Just what you all wanted to know about!
Composting toilets are an eco-friendly style of toilet. In many countries they are used as conventional toilets, but in the United States they're mostly used as alternatives to pit latrines at campgrounds and hiking areas.
The benefits of composting toilets are environmental and financial. They obviously compost the waste in them, killing the harmful bacteria through decomposition, so, if managed right, once it's finished it can be used as normal compost. If it's done correctly, it's completely sanitary. Unlike pit latrines, they don't have to be pumped out, and, unlike normal toilets, they don't need any water to flush. With them, there's no need for sewage service, and it saves energy used for purifying and processing. Also, if they're used right, they won't stink at all.
Some homes and businesses have them.

Goats Gone Ballistic!

Yesterday we went to the Riverside County museum, which had a lot of taxidermied animals from all over North America. There were a lot of mammals and reptiles, including bears, lots of deer, moose, coyotes, beavers, bobcat, leopard, wolves, and tons of ungulates.
Native to the West Coast, from Alaska to the Rocky Mountains, mountain goats live on mountains with steep, rocky slopes with steep surfaces and impenetrable cliffs. They have specially adapted hoofs, cloven with grippy soles to make walking on steep rocks easier. They can perch on little ledges and leap 12 feet!
Their white fur is thick and shaggy to keep them warm in the harsh mountain winter, and in the summer they shed some to keep cooler. They have pointed, backwards-facing horns that are dark brown in color and used in conflicts. Males and females have horns in this species, and all have small beards.
Mountain goats aren't actually even goats. They're really "goat-antelopes."
They are herbivores, and live in herds. Males live alone. They live 12-15 years.
Wolves and cougars eat them when they can get at the goats, and eagles will eat the babies.
They are really awesome animals!

Ethical Shopping

Another book I've been reading is The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience. It's just what the title implies. It contains all sorts of advice about "ethical shopping," and identifies and explains the pros and cons of types of ways to make a difference through your shopping habits. It's about protecting humans, animals, and the earth through awareness of what you're buying and careful consideration. It's really really interesting. I've learned a ton of things.
There's a long chapter on fair trade and working concerns and arguments about outsourcing to developing countries. It is cheaper to have manufacturing done elsewhere, but working conditions can be very bad. Companies also try to cover up the work being done for them in sweatshops or establishments with tiny wages and child labor. Some companies have gotten better after much public outcry.
In making deals with rich countries, farmers get the bad end of a deal, making very little profit off of their wares. Fair Trade has a series of regulations to ensure that both parties have a satisfactory profit, and requires certain working conditions and minimum wages for farm workers. When a company wants its product to be certified as Fair Trade, it has to have yearly inspections to make sure the requirements are being held up. Fair Trade mostly deals with agriculture, but it's expanding to other products.
To encourage this good system, you can buy Fair Trade items. These have stickers so you can tell they're genuine. It's really a good thing!
Another scary issue the book deals with is Genetic Engineering of food. Scientists have modified crops like soybeans and corn to be herbicide and pest resistant.There are a lot of arguments about it. Some people believe it's dangerous and crazy, and others think it's an amazing breakthrough and will make the future. But it seems that most people in the U.S. want to at least know if what they're buying is genetically engineered. In a poll, 93% of the people in the US said they wanted GE food to have a label. In the European Union it's already a requirement, but here, the legislation has been repeatedly knocked away.
A huge amount of the GE food grown here is used to feed animals for the meat industry, but it also can cross-pollinate with normal crops and contaminate the fields. It's really hard for any food to remain uncontaminated.
If you want to avoid GM food, you can buy organic. One of the requirements for organic food is that it isn't genetically altered, so at least for now it's "clean."

Vegetarian!

Besides working on the preserve and researching animals, I have also been exploring vegetarian cooking with the guidance of my aunt. I also have been reading a book about vegetarianism that has been really enlightening. I'm going to discuss some of the things I learned from the book, called Vegetarian Beginner's Guide, and some things I've learned from my aunt. I hope you find it interesting!
When I stopped eating red meat, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be getting some nutrients or vitamins, especially iron. The book said that actually, vegetarians don't lack iron more than anyone else, as iron comes from leafy green vegetables. Protein, also, doesn't only come from meat. Anyone can get it from a variety of sources, like tofu, beans, tempeh (a food with similar uses to tofu), nuts, whole grains, and more.
It also said that being a vegetarian is actually healthier than eating a meat-filled diet. A vegetarian diet gives you all the nutrients you need, and is low in cholesterol and saturated fat.
Vegetarian diets aren't always good for you. If you survive off of macaroni and cheese and kool-aid, obviously that's no better than a meat-eating diet. But if you eat a variety of foods, then the nutrients you get will be well balanced. Even without looking at labels, my aunt told me that getting a variety of colors can show you that you have different minerals and vitamins.
And being a vegetarian doesn't mean eating lettuce and zucchini all the time. There are many different grains and fruits and leafy things to choose from, not to mention all of the imitation meat out there. Some can be gross, but if you find the right kinds, they can be good. For example, we had some vegetarian tacos with soy ground "beef." They tasted great! We also tried Tofurkey lunch meat, which was also really good. You just have to find the right brands.

People have many reasons for going vegetarian. Some people do it to protest the treatment of animals. Others do it for health, and still others for environmental reasons. Even though I'm not completely vegetarian, (yet) my reason for not eating red meat was the horrible ecological impacts of raising animals. I believe cows are the worst, because massive tracts of rainforest are cleared for space to raise these animals, and the amount of waste from the farms is enormous! They also graze and trample tons of land pretty much to death. The raising of other meat isn't good either. According to Vegetarian Beginner's Guide, two thirds of the agricultural land in the United States is used to feed animals raised for meat. Many animals are also treated cruelly and given horrible living conditions.I won't go into that here. You can see many sites about that online, or finds books on it.
Free-range meat is better, but the animals still use up a lot of feed and space. The transport of meat also burns a huge amount of fossil fuel. It's true that crop transport also uses a lot, but fossil fuel is needed to supply the animals with feed, bring them to the slaughterhouse, process the meat, refrigerate it, and ship it to the destined location. The combination of the water each animal drinks, and the amount required to grow the feed, adds up to a lot more than is used for just growing food.
A large section of the book is donated to health. many studies have been done that show that vegetarians are less at risk to contract cancer, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

If you'd like to learn more about vegetarianism, even if you don't want to be a vegetarian, you really should read the book. It's in a reader-friendly style, and isn't boring! (Some informative books can be)
Also a warning to my parents: This end of this trip will bring me and my newly vegetarianed mind back home. And I'm coming armed with cookbooks and knowledge. :)
(And another P.S.: There are a few new pictures on older posts if you want to see them!)

Bobcats (Bonus issue: Aquarium Update included!)

The bobcat is a North American feline, mostly ranging the United States, but also living in upper Mexico and southern Canada. They are very successful animals, and live in a wide range of habitats, from mountains to brushland to desert. They are small for wildcats, and a little larger than most domestic cats. They have a grayish or tan coat with dark brown spots and a white underbelly. Like other lynxes, they have tufts on the tops of their ears, making them appear long and tapered. The bobcat gets its name from its tail, which is short and tipped in black.
They eat hares and rabbits, but also sometimes eat other small mammals. Bobcats are solitary animals and highly territorial, and move about in the dusky hours. They are not endangered, and are highly hunted.
Bobcats are also sold as pets, but I am NOT advising you to buy one by saying that. Many wild animals that are kept as pets become more wild or vicious as they become adults. I'm not trying to tell you whether it's right or wrong, so have one if you want, but I am trying to say that I'm not offering approval or disapproval. :)
So, the picture is one of a bobcat that was lying under a tree at Thousand Palms oasis.
AQUARIUM UPDATE:
You may not want to hear it, but I must talk about my aquarium. Today I picked out some crayfish to live here. When I turned my back the larger crayfish completely devoured a smaller one. I picked out a new one, but scolded the larger ones. They, of course, are pains, although cute. I planted a sample from McCallun, and within a minute of entering the tank, the crayfish ripped it up. I also planted bulbs of onion and waterlily in there, and they pulled those out every time I replanted and munched them. I've been reprimanding them, but of course they don't listen. They pinch me. But I still love them.
Even though I spotted 25 adorable tiny baby fish in the tank yesterday, I brought another platy home because she's huge! I just couldn't bear the thought of her being frozen. I named her Voldemort. Of course, Sauron's mad because she isn't the biggest fish any more. The crayfish are voracious eaters, so I have to keep a sharp eye out for more baby fish.

Burrowing Owls

The reason for the topic animal is that we tried to band burrowing owls yesterday. We were checking to see if a pair had chicks, but no owls came into the traps, so we left without banding anything.
Despite that, I have seen one here out in an open space. He flew out of his burrow onto a post. They really are fascinating. Burrowing owls are one of the smallest owls in North America. They're around 9-10 inches tall, colored brown with white spots. They have lighter bellies and eyebrows and yellow eyes.
The burrowing owl is named so because it nests in burrows. They normally choose burrows on flat land with low, scrubby bushes and plants. Kind of typical desert habitat. They range over North and South America. They eat mostly insects, but also eat rodents, amphibians, small birds, and reptiles. Burrowing owls are eaten by larger owls and birds of prey, coyotes, badgers, and dogs.
The burrowing owls are endangered in some places in their range, in others listed as a species of special concern. The reason for this is habitat loss from development of their homes, and pesticides poisoning them.

Today we went looking for lizards in the morning. We actually caught two zebra-tailed lizards, a male and a female, and a desert iguana. The male zebra-tailed lizard was beautifully colored. His tail, like all zebra-tails was striped with black, but his sides were yellow and orange, and the sides of his belly were blue and green. The desert iguana was really strong, and it was very, very cool.

The Deceit of Baby Crayfish

The tasks for today have been really fun! The main initiative was to move the crayfish tank to the new office, and we started by cleaning out the main tank. Yesterday we went over and the smaller tank had filled with dead bees, and the water was brown and reeked of death. The pump had stopped working, so a lot of crayfish were also dead.
A weird thing- when the small ones are alive, they're brown. When they're dead, they turn really red.
When we started pouring the water out and vacuuming the bottom, we also found some bones that probably belonged to a mouse. There was a lot of disgusting stuff in there. But there were actually a number of live crayfish, which we spirited away to the larger tank.
So to start out today I moved the fish and crayfish of the living tank into a bucket to move. I think I caught rocks more often than I caught the fish, but I did get them all and we moved everything to the new building.
I pulled the rocks out and cleaned them, and was looking in the empty tank when I saw a little tiny thing move in the water. I immediately thought that it was a puny baby crayfish, and got really excited. My aunt helped me catch it, because it was barely longer than the main part of this i. I became really crazed and searched frantically until I pulled out 2 more. Then when we dumped the rest of the tank out I knelt in the little puddle with my face 4 inches from the surface, scrambling around in the mud to make sure I hadn't missed any. I did find another and we put them all in a little container. I was really happy the whole time we got the tank running, and afterward.
We also looked for lizards and saw a lot of Zebra-tailed lizards and Desert Iguanas.
When our work was done we drove back. I was really worried because the babies weren't moving. At all. The water had gotten really hot, and I was afraid they had died. I was right, and was bitterly disappointed. Later, though my aunt looked at them under a microscope and said that they weren't baby crayfish. They're unidentified shrimp-like things!
Besides that, our work wasn't done. We had saved some fish and brought the small aquarium home so we could set up a crayfish tank for me to observe a little every day. I cleaned that out and set up the filter. I accidentally broke one of the bubbler stones, but we had an extra. Even if it doesn't work quite as well as the one that came with the filter. Oops...
When we went to Petsmart to get things to outfit the tank with, we also got a little African Dwarf Frog to go in the tank. It's incredibly cute! On Sunday when we trap crayfish we'll add them to the collection, but even now it's very cool and exciting!

Coachella Valley Fringe- toed Lizard

One important reason for this preserve is to protect the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard. The lizards live here exclusively on the sand dunes. Today we went out looking for some of them on those dunes, just checking out the habitat and seeing if we could find any. There were lots of tracks on the dunes, and not only those of the lizards. There were also sidewinder, pocket mouse, rabbit, and other lizard tracks. It took a while for us to see any, but after a bit we saw some running away, and then got to see one up close.
There is more than one kind of fringe-toed lizard. The name comes from the fan of scales on their toes. The lizard uses these scales to help it burrow. It's well designed for burrowing, a trick which keeps it out of the sun. In the intense heat here, the surface sand can get up to 150 degrees, so it's safer to escape beneath the sand to where it's moist and relatively cool. Besides the toes, the lizard has a few more adaptations that helps it to burrow effectively. It has an overbite to make sure no sand gets in its mouth, and nasal passages that work like a grease trap in a sink, making sure it doesn't breathe in any sand.
In the winter the lizards hibernate, and in the summer they don't even come out of their burrows until it's around 90 degrees, although that happens pretty early here. By noon they all retreat back into the sand, avoiding the worst heat of the day.
The fringe-toed lizard is whitish gray with leopard-like black markings on the back and the tail. The body and tail are wide and flat. Bright orange encircles the eyes and thinly stripes the sides.
The Coachella Valley lizard became endangered because developers leveled and paved what was once dunes for housing. The unique ecosystem they so love has disappeared 75% since the 1970s, going from around 270 square miles to only 50.
They may not have all the space they were used to, but there's at least some protected space for them to live, away from humans. Progress still continues in securing surrounding sand fields and the hills that are the origin of the sand that feeds the dunes, so things are happening. Yay!

The Secret Life of the Royal Antelope

It doesn't quite act royal, but it's so cute! Measuring 16-20 inches, the Royal Antelope is one of the smallest antelopes in the world. These adorable ungulates are the color of an old apple with small horns and white underbellies. They live in the rainforests of western Africa, up in the Guinea area, are often hunted, but aren't endangered.
Their long, thin legs allow them to quickly bolt from predators, but their skittish nature also makes it hard for us to learn a lot about them. Royal Antelopes eat plant material, and are eaten by large birds and other predators that can get them.

Mystery at the San Diego Zoo

Yesterday I got to visit the San Diego Zoo. It's gigantic! The Australia section was one we explored in depth. The San Diego Zoo has the largest group of koalas outside of Australia.
We also took a behind the scenes tour of the zoo, which allowed us to feed the camels, okapi and giraffes and look at the back of some exhibits. I was immensely happy to be licked by the giraffe. Out of all the animal kingdom, their tongues are my favorite. Camels have prehensile lips, and giraffes have prehensile tongues. Also, a random fact, if you watch a giraffe swallow, you can see the food go all the way down.
After that we got lost trying to find the arctic section. Neither my aunt or I are very good at directions, and the map was kind of messy, so we went in circles and around to random hidden places. We saw some cool things we wouldn't have otherwise seen, though. There was a secret aviary with quiet, colorful birds from all over. The pigeons were especially pretty, surprisingly. Some forest pigeons are green or blue, and one, the blue-crowned pigeon, was a foot and a half tall and had a lacy crest of feathers on its head. We did finally find the arctic. The polar bears were sleeping near the window, huge and impressive. Some polar bears can stand at heights of up to ten feet on their hind legs!
We tried to go back a fancy way by trying to go through the forest section. It's a cool walk. The San Diego Zoo also has an enormous variety of plants from all corners of the earth. They grow all around the path, obscuring all noise and views from other sections. It feels like walking in the middle of a jungle, far away from all civilization. That's all well and good, but it was getting dark, and the signs were confusing and unclear. We still didn't understand the map so we wandered where we thought was the right direction. We went deeper and deeper into the jungle, losing sight of all human signs. We found more weird aviaries and side paths, and found ourselves climbing. Then we were stuck way up in the air, wandering around lost like crazy people. Finally we found people and made it back through sheer luck. I think the zoo managers should probably check to make sure there's no Narnia-like land back there with strange sprites rearranging signs. I think I may have to believe that.
Anyways, I also have some information on the Sunburst Diving Beetle, which was at the zoo. This beetle is about 1/2 an inch long. It has a black body with bright yellow spots on the wing case. The Sunburst beetle primarily lives in water, but can also fly to find another water source. Like the other beetles in its family, it has large, strong back legs for swimming.
Since the beetle still breathes air, it holds a small bubble at the end of its body to use as a sort of scuba tank.
The Sunburst Diving Beetle lives in ponds in the southwest United States. Its diet consists mostly other bugs and larvae it finds in the water.

Attack of the Desert Jellyfish!

Yesterday I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It had a really nice jellyfish display, and that is the justification I have for writing about jellyfish on a desert-themed blog.
Jellyfish are really strange and fascinating creatures. They have been alive since the time before the dinosaurs and still survive today. They have managed this because of their extreme adaptability and capability to live in many habitats that other fish and animals have trouble surviving in. Especially in the beginnings of climate change, the jellyfish are thriving. They love warmer water, so as the oceans heat up, their range of habitat is spreading. Fishing also removes their natural predators, giving them the opportunity for a population boom. Jellyfish can also live in dead zones- areas with little to no oxygen. They are pretty much the only animals able to survive in those areas. One very astounding species-Turritopsis nutricula- is essentially immortal. Its common name is, predictably, the Immortal Jellyfish. The Immortal Jellyfish return to the polyp stage after reproduction, eternally growing old and becoming young again. It is really incredible.
Jellyfish are very diverse in their appearance. They take many different forms and colors, but all are very eerily beautiful and serene. Some even glow, a property called bioluminescence.
Unlike the other creatures most closely related to them (coral, anemones), jellyfish have some control over their movement. They can't move side to side, and mostly drift with the current. They don't have brains or hearts.
In some places, jellyfish have a place in cuisine, but other times they are a bother to some fishermen, clogging nets and blocking ships in places where they are thick.
Everything before this is pretty much solid fact, but now I am going to lapse into a bit of opinion. One thing they are doing with jellyfish is taking some of the genes and splicing it into crops to try to create healthier foods. I know food producers think this is a good idea, but I personally think that things are a certain way for a reason, and it usually ends badly when we try to change that. And in countries where they are not required to label GM foods, we have no idea what we're eating! It's taking away our right to choose what we want to support and consume. People are fighting for this law in the U.S., but progress is slow, and there is fierce opposition.
Anyways, sorry about that little rant space! You're entitled to disagree if you want.
So, jellyfish are pretty cool! I hope I taught you something in here, and if you want to see more interesting facts and get more in depth about jellyfish, you can go to Jellyfish Facts, web address
http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/

Crayfish Salutations

Today our main assignment was to do a survey of crayfish in McCallun pond. So we headed over there with a few buckets, a supply of plastic bags, and the preferred bait- dog food. There are many types of crayfish, but the ones that live in the pond are Louisiana Red Swamp Crayfish. The traps used to catch them are the same ones used for the capture of pupfish, but, since the crayfish are far from endangered, the traps are only checked once a week.
We waded in the pond to get to the traps. The day was hot and humid, so the water felt really nice. We squelched through the sticky mud, sloshing through schools of mosquitofish, and pulled up the traps, two at a time.
Back at the buckets, we sorted the crayfish inside into three approximate size groups. They goggled their eyes at us and waved their claws, acting stubborn and slow like they usually do. Some of the traps had a few fish, and I learned to identify a new kind of fish; the platy. They also are a big problem to the Desert Pupfish. They are beautiful aquarium type fish, with an opal-like sheen, and some of the males even had orange top fins.
After the traps were empty we refilled the slimy bait bags. To get to the food, the crayfish will chew right through the bag, so the ziplocks were riddled with holes and coated with black and green slime.
After checking all of the traps, we drove our haul back to the office. There we made sure there were no crayfish in the wrong groups, and created two subgroups in each size class. A few of the really big crayfish, who had been tussling with each other the whole time, defended themselves fiercely, scuttling around with their huge claws in the air. Each size group was counted and tossed in a bucket. A few of the littlest crayfish got to go in the crayfish tanks, but most were destined for the freezer. Freezing is really the most humane way to kill them.
Also, they are not native to California, and they need to be removed from McCallun because it is being prepared for the reintroduction of pupfish. It may be sad, but it's necessary.
I have gathered some information about the Louisiana Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus Clarkii). They are native to Louisiana and parts of Mexico, but have spread to many other countries including Europe, Asia and Africa. They live up to five years, and are highly adaptable and aggressive, which makes it easy for them to take over the habitat of native crayfish and aquatic life. The crayfish live in sluggish or stagnant water, and eat meat, including aquatic insects, worms, invertebrates and snails. They Louisiana crayfish is dark red, with a browner back. The underbelly and sides of the shell are a bright red. Some are more brown, or can be orange, white or blue. In cold weather or dry spells, they dig into the mud at the bottom of their home and stay dormant for up to 4 months. They are far from endangered, and are creating problems all over the world because of the ease with which they spread.

I Wanna Iguana!

First I have some plain scientific description of the Desert Iguana. Believe me, when you see one, it is a lot cooler than anything makes it sound. From a subjective opinion, they look like very cool, sleek aliens. But here is some real scientific info.
The Desert Iguana lives in California, in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, Nevada, Arizona, and upper Mexico. They inhabit dry, hot parts of the desert, mostly where there is creosote. They are white with pale brown spots across the head and back and brown bars on the tail. Around their eyes are black markings which make their eyes look elongated (hence the alien comment). In the bright sunlight they look purely white, especially from a distance. They stay out in temperatures up to 115 degrees Farenheit before retreating into their burrows. The iguanas don't dig their own, instead taking up residence in abandoned holes. They eat mostly plant material, a favorite being creosote flowers, but they eat anything else they can find.
My aunt told me it actually came up to 115 yesterday. For our work today we drove down to McCallun pond to take samples of plants. Since it was pretty humid today, it felt wonderful to be in the water. The mud at the bottom of the pond was nice and squishy, and we waded through and found a few samples of plants. Later, Petsmart identified the plants for us, but we barely made it out of the store alive. The kittens almost had us fully hypnotized.
(By the way, the title is just poetic license. I WANT NO IGUANAS. But they are the definition of cool. I suggest you look at one in person.)

Desert Pupfish Surveys

I know it isn't a creative title. Bear with me, I've worked for a long time today. Especially on this blog. Hope you enjoy and it's not really boring. :)

Today we helped with a survey of the endangered Desert Pupfish. These fish are very hardy to some tough environmental conditions: high salinity and temperatures up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There are many different types of this fish and they live in South California, Southern Arizona, and Northwest Mexico. They live in and around the Sonoran and Mojave deserts in pools, streams, springs and ponds.
The Desert Pupfish are silvery brown with dark bands on the sides, and in the spring the males, which are larger than females, become an intense, shimmery blue with vibrant yellow fins. The rest of the time they resemble the females. And as to their shape... they look like fish. But small. An inch and a half is pretty long for them. Anyways, these beings eat algae, worms, invertebrates, and other things they find.
Even though they can survive in unfriendly habitats, the Desert Pupfish are being outcompeted for food and territory by mosquitofish, mollies, and tilapia. Crayfish, bullfrogs, and Rio Grande Leopard Frogs all eat Pupfish. Ponds that once had large populations of Pupfish now are mostly populated with the invasive species.
Today the survey was focused on discovering the number of Pupfish in each location. We put cylindrical traps into the ponds, baiting them with catfood. On each end of the cylinder is an inverted funnel. The fish swim in, but not out. It's really interesting.
Two hours later we pulled up each trap and emptied it into the bucket. We counted out the fish of each type, then threw them back in. In the first pond we monitored we found only two female Pupfish, but a huge quantity of mosquitofish and mollies. In the next were tons of leopard frogs, but the last one was a safe haven for Pupfish. No competitors live in that pond, so every fish we pulled up was a Pupfish. Being endangered, they got special treatment to make them feel less traumatized. They had a bubbler and were anylized faster.
I will tell you, it gets HOT out here. Today it got up to 108 degrees, and this is a cool summer. Normally it gets around 116 in the afternoon. I probably drank over two liters today, and now, in the cool house, am still drinking a ton, replenishing water. Even though it was hotter than I think I have ever felt, I wasn't miserable. The Pupfish survey was really fun, and in the heat, if you just decide to live with it, it's not too bad. It worked for a while, but after a few hours it got to be a little too much.
The ponds were created for fish stocking, and the water feeding them is pumped out of the ground. There used to be wetlands surrounding and more natural ponds, but the canal that fed them by seeping was paved, so now the wetlands are created by artificial means.
A couple ponds and most oases are surrounded by the native California palms. There is only one species of palm native to California, and they only grow around springs like that. The palm trees everyone associates with California are not the native trees. The native ones are the only palms that don't lose leaves, so as they grow, the dead leaves drop to form a massive brown skirt. They get really thick and tall. Walking in among them is awing. Everything is so peaceful, and the glaring light is filtered to a sweet green glow. It's such a relief getting out of the heat, too. Imagine being a settler before the times of air conditioning, traveling in the desert. The oases would be the most amazing thing to find.
I also got to try a date at one of the date farms.
I LOVE air conditioning.