Reptiles and Amphibians of California's Journal

Journal archives for February 2018

February 9, 2018

Common snakes in Orange County, and how to identify them.

The uptick in Orange County snake sightings in 2017 is the result of storms that battered the region in January and February. Jason Magee, owner of OC Snake Removal in Anaheim Hills, says calls for removals and snake fence installation are up 44 percent over last year, with roughly 200 calls as of this month compared to over 112 in 2016.

https://www.ocregister.com/2017/05/01/common-snakes-in-orange-county-and-how-to-identify-them/

Posted on February 9, 2018 11:23 AM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 10, 2018

It’s the Circle of Life: Snakes Sow Plants By Pooping Mice.

It’s no secret that some spores naturally disperse by “hitchhiking” on animals. The most common mechanism, called zoochory, sees seeds cling to fur or feathers, or get stored in cheek pouches or crops.

https://www.geek.com/science/its-the-circle-of-life-snakes-sow-plants-by-pooping-mice-1730560/

Posted on February 10, 2018 12:54 AM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 15, 2018

Why Gold Rush Miners Imported Sea Turtles.

Starving settlers ushered in a craze and decimated surrounding lands.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gold-rush-sea-turtles

Posted on February 15, 2018 01:57 AM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 21, 2018

Baby rattler at my door.

"The whole thing was so frustrating, as there weren't any clear options."

https://m.sandiegoreader.com/news/2018/feb/20/stringers-baby-rattler-my-door/?templates=mobile

Posted on February 21, 2018 01:19 PM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 25, 2018

City Nature Challenge 2018! April 27-30

From @kestrel


Hi everyone,
It's back! The City Nature Challenge is on again, this year from April 27-30. It started off in 2016 as San Francisco vs. Los Angeles, last year it was between 16 cities in the US, and this year there are over 50 cities around the world competing! You can see who's participating this year & read more about the challenge at the City Nature Challenge website.
The timeline for the City Nature Challenge is:
April 27-30: Making observations. The project won't accept any observations made before 12:00am on April 27 or made after 11:59pm on April 30.

May 1-3: Getting everything uploaded and identified! As long as the observations were made in the April 27-30 time frame, you can still upload them afterward. Also, the more observations we get identified to species, the higher our species count will be!

May 4: Results announced!
The "big 3" stats that we look at for the City Nature Challenge are (1) number of observations, (2) number of species, and (3) number of people who participated. This year we'll also be putting more emphasis on those numbers with verifiable (not captive/cultivated, and has media) observations.

http://citynaturechallenge.org

http://www.sdnhm.org/calendar/the-2018-city-nature-challenge/

Posted on February 25, 2018 05:19 PM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 27, 2018

Tracking data reveal the secret lives of marine animals.

Seals, whales, sharks, turtles, seabirds, and other marine vertebrates show similar patterns of movement in marine environments.

https://news.ucsc.edu/2018/02/marine-animals.html

Posted on February 27, 2018 11:13 AM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment