Corralitas Drive: Big Fat Rat Escapes Hawk

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 25, 2011.  A neighbor discovered a VERY large rodent hiding in the shadow of the neighbor's green trash bin.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The neighbor did not immediately recognize it as a tree or roof rat because it was so enormous.  (Big ears, tail longer than body, white belly and chest identify this as a tree or roof rat.)  The neighbor shot a few photos in case it was someone's missing pet. 

According to the neighbor, judging by the lacerations to the rat's face and neck; the rat appeared to have escaped the clutches of a hawk. It was probably too heavy for a young hawk.  (It takes a while before the youngsters become successful hunters.)   When the neighbor stepped away to get a shovel and bucket to end the rat's suffering, the rat limped quickly into the bushes. 

It appears the rat's been getting fat on dog food.  Once rats find a tasty food source, they will exploit it daily.  Pick up the food bowls once your pets are through eating, do not allow food to sit out in the bowls all day or night.  Store dry pet food in tightly secured metal bins.  Plastic is no deterrent to rats. 

Keep your trashcans closed at all times, even if they are empty.  If your City trash and recycle bins are cracked or broken call 311 and get them replaced.  You can also try submitting a request on line through the City's website. 

Read more about tree or roof rats, including useful links, in a post from March 2010. 

Fletcher Drive: Non-Native Grass Removed

Photo: Michael O'Brien.  Finestem Needlegrass (Nassella tenuissima) was recently removed from the parkway on Fletcher Drive at the Red Car Property.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Calflora lists this plant as an "escaped cultivar."  O'Brien says it's a highly invasive non-native species that should be removed before it gains a foothold in native habitats.  Once established, it is extremely hard to get rid of.   

Corralitas Drive: Joys Of Hillside Living

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 25, 2011.  When you only have one narrow winding hillside street in and out of the neighborhood, it takes even longer to replace the original 1923 gas main.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Taylor Yard: Grass Fire

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 27, 2011, 12:58 PM.  For about ten minutes, I could see the flames in the grass below the trees near the fence between Taylor Yard and the railroad tracks.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A few minutes later the flames were extinguished and it's just smoldering now.  I never heard fire engines.  The site is just east of the Fed Ex facility off San Fernando & Division St.

  

Corralitas Drive: Mutant Insects Descend On Glassell Park!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 24, 2011.  Glassell Park seems to attract aliens, creepy fog, nuclear moonrise and giant dragonflies.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

At least that's how it looked from my neighbor's house when a dragonfly with a 4" wingspan was trapped in the kitchen.  

Not to be outdone in the horror genre, the Red Car Property has THEM! and MOTHRA!

Red Car Property Meadow: 5 Months Ago

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 24, 2011.  Five months ago, we were ankle deep in vernal pools and mudwatch on the Red Car Property.  Today, the same location looks a lot drier.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property Meadow: Jimsonweed

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 17, 2011.  Jimsonweed, while still blooming, is also going to seed on the Red Car Property meadow.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Wikipedia lists Jimsonweed or Datura wrightii as poisonous. It is also a known hallucinogenic.  

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as Calflora and California Poison Control, on the issue of toxicity. We often get email suggesting some plants are edible. If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Property: Cudweed Blooming**

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 21, 2011.  Probably* native Cudweed is blooming on the slope where natives thrive below Adelbert. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

*There are 22 species of Cudweed listed on Calflora.  All but 3 are native.  

Click here our catalog of neighborhood native plants.

**8-24-11 UPDATE: Thanks to one of our regular readers (who has identified several native plants in the past) for providing the following interesting info on Cudweed...

"Psuedoghapthalium has a bicolor leaf, the sun facing part of the leaf is whiter and the shady part is a lighter greenish color, hence the name bicolor.

And there is the Fragrant Rabbit tobacco type that when you crush the leaf an odor is emitted (some have odor without crushing).

Psuedo and Gnapthalium are in the pearly everlasting category because they make great dried flower decorations. If it is a fragrant type then it has two great qualities of making the room nice smelling and giving it an artistic touch.

The smaller Gnapthalium chilensis is the weedy introduced one that grows in shady waste (not mowed) places. It has no odor and is too small to use in large dried flower decorations."

Red Car Property: California Fuchsia

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 21, 2011.  Native California Fuchsia is barely hanging on, but just starting to bloom on the slope of native flowers off Adelbert.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Red Car Canyon: Some Neighbors Still Unclear On Concept Of Brush Clearance & Removal

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 14, 2011.  The neighbor who maintains the guerrilla garden in Red Car Canyon persists in leaving giant piles of kindling beneath the dry branches of a huge pepper tree.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property neighbors are always nervous about the practice, because it never gets hauled away.  The canyon attracts parties day & night and fire season lasts all year round. 

Read more about LAFD Brush Clearance regulations: http://lafd.org/brush/. 

Red Car Property: "Dead Skunk Canyon" Living Up To Its Name

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 17, 2019.  Another long-since-dead skunk found where Red Car Canyon opens onto the Red Car Property meadow.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Keep your dogs on a leash! 

Click here for all our skunk posts.

Red Car Trolley Special Exhibit: Saturday, August 20, 2011

Photo: Unknown Photographer, 1904*.  The historic landmark Fletcher Red Car Trolley Viaduct was originally all wood trestle construction.  The center section was replaced with steel when Fletcher Drive was paved in 1927.  (Click on photo to enlarge). 

A special historic Red Car Trolley exhibit is a part of the FREE open house and opening celebration of a new permanent exhibit at The Banning Museum in Wilmington:

Improbable Gateway

The Los Angeles Transportation Legacy

FREE Opening Celebration

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Noon - 4PM

The Banning Museum

401 E. M Street

Wilmington, CA 90744

www.banningmuseum.org

(310) 548-2005

* This photo may or may not be a part of the exhibit, it's just one from my archives I haven't used before.  Click here for the same point of view in 1959 (when the viaduct was finally dismantled), four years after the last trolley crossed in 1955. 

Click here for all our historic viaduct photos.

Red Car Property: Tiny Native Flowers

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 13, 2011.  Native Spanish Lotus is still blooming in patches between the Adelbert All-Weather Lounge and the historic viaduct footings.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Red Car Canyon: Message From Your Neighbors

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 13, 2011.  Red Car Canyon neighbors who stock plastic bags on a tree in the canyon have a polite message for the inconsiderate.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Red Car Neighborhood has seen an increase in dog poop everywhere.  Always pick up after your dog and dispose of the waste in a trash can.  There are trashcans about 30 feet in either direction of this sign and bags in the canyon, yet the clueless persist in depositing poop in this bag.  Or worse, some leave the poop, even when it sits in the middle of the trail. 

Additionally, there are plenty of trashcans all over our streets to deposit waste in.  There is no excuse for not picking up after your dogs no matter where they poop.

If it comes out of your dog's butt, pick it up!

Red Car Property: California Poppies, While Small, Still Blooming

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 31, 2011.  If you look carefully through the dry grass on the Adelbert end of the Red Car Property, you can still find tiny California Poppies.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Red Car Canyon: Petrified Skunk Baby

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 8, 2011.  It looks like a dog found and abandoned a long-since-dead and dried baby skunk in Red Car Canyon, just north of the Charles Lacy memorial.

Reminder, Friends of Griffith Park Lecture Series - tonight: Major Mammals of Griffith Park.

Red Car Property: Got Allergies?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 5, 2011.  This may be a type of Horseweed or Asthmaweed near Adelbert on the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Major Mammals Of Griffith Park Lecture: Thursday, August 11, 2011

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 1, 2008.  For several weeks in 2008, Corralitas Drive neighbors had numerous gray fox sightings.  There may have been a den nearby. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Learn about the larger predators of Griffith Park: bobcats, gray fox, coyotes, raccoons, even mountain lions, their prey and their unique existence in an urban, yet wild park.   Details below and Friends of Griffith Park's website.

Friends of Griffith Park presents:

Major Mammals of Griffith Park

Lecture by Dan Cooper, Ecologist,

Scientific Director of Griffith Park Natural History Survey

Thursday, August 11, 2011

6:45 PM

Los Feliz Branch Library

1847 Hillhurst (at Franklin Ave)

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2011, 9:42 AM. A large, healthy, male coyote heading toward the Avenue of the Palms in Elysian Park.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Why you should care about predatory species in the Red Car Property Neighborhood:

The Red Car Property is a part of the hillside urban wildlife corridor between Griffith and Elysian Parks.  Reports of bobcat as well as gray fox sightings on Elysian Park point to the need for urban wildlife corridors. I've followed coyotes in broad daylight from the 18 Acre Elysian Park Parcel, through the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract, under the 2 Freeway, up the Red Car Property to the Menlo Property (where I gave up). 

In 2009, a study was published following the movements of bobcats (using radio collars and motion sensor cameras) in Irvine.  It found they were surprisingly urbanized moving between open space areas.  Wildlife corridors are increasingly important to maintain genetic diversity in urban areas.   

Sort of Related: Barn Owl sighting in Echo Park on The Eastsider. 

Red Car Property: No Shortage Of Squirrel Tails Thanks To The Red Tailed Hawks

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 5, 2011.  At least the squirrel tail leftovers from the Red Tailed Hawks don't go to waste on the Red Car Property meadow.  Dogs think they make excellent chew toys.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Canyon: Belladonna Lily

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 5, 2011.  Non-native Belladonna Lilies seem to spring up out of nowhere in Red Car Canyon and throughout the neighborhood.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Once the flowers have finished blooming, long leaves sprout from the bulb at the base of the stem. 

Belladonna Lilies are considered minorly toxic by Calflora, causing dermatitis and vomiting.  

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as Calflora and California Poison Control, on the issue of toxicity. We often get email suggesting some plants are edible. If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Corralitas Drive: Are You Sure This Is August?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 5, 2011, 7:24 AM.  Yesterday's sunrise over Glassell Park and Taylor Yard looked more like March, than August.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Corralitas Drive: The Joys Of Hillside Living

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 4, 2011.  Even the wider portions of hillside streets are difficult to navigate during construction. (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Corralitas Drive: Utility Work Takes Over

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 4, 2011.  The Gas Company is replacing the gas lines on a large portion of  Corralitas Drive.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

The gas main has not been replaced since originally installed in 1923.  Expect delays and parking nightmares for the next month or so. 

Red Car Property: Enjoy Berries At The Adelbert All-Weather Lounge

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 28, 2011.  You can snack on berries while watching hawks from the Adelbert All-Weather Lounge.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Earlier posts identified these berries as native Pacific Blackberries.  However, a berry connoisseur neighbor says these are Boysenberries, not blackberries.  

There are 188 species of berries listed on Calflora, including several native and non-native species that look just like this plant. So the ID is not definite yet.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as Calflora and California Poison Control, on the issue of toxicity. We often get email suggesting some plants are edible.  If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Corralitas Drive: Hawks Leaving Feathers Behind

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 28, 2011.  Hawk feathers have been turning up all over the neighborhood lately.  Perhaps it's the result of all the mockingbird harassment.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Property: THEM!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 28, 2011.  California Harvester Ants have an extensive series of colonies stretching from the historic viaduct footings to the oak tree on Lot C of the Red Car Property.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

California Harvester Ants are NOT Fire Ants. They are a native species that will defend their colony if threatened.  They are NOT an invasive, dangerous species like Red Imported Fire Ants.  

In CEQA-speak, Harvester Ants are an "indicator species."  Their presence in the ecosystem is an indicator of a healthy environment with ample and diverse food sources to support their continued survival.  

Corralitas Drive: Dramatic Afternoon

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 1, 2011.  Thunderstorms over the mountains look remarkably similar to the pyrocumulus clouds created by the 2009 Station Fire.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

LA River: Arundo Removal In Elysian Valley

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 29, 2011.  Work crews in Elysian Valley had the tough task of removing Arundo from the LA River and hauling it up the steep banks by hand. (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Arundo is a non-native, highly invasive and combustible giant grass threatening ecosystems in California waterways and hillsides like the Red Car Property. 

Read more about Arundo on the California Invasive Plant Council's (Cal-IPC) website.

See what else is happening on the LA River, in the Mountains & Recreation Conservation Authority's (MRCA) newsletter: Symbiosis.