We've Said It Before: Don't Use Rat Poison

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 5, 2010.  Dead rat near Adelbert on the Red Car Property.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Rat poison travels up the food chain, causing disease & killing predators including hawks, coyotes, foxes, bobcats & even mountain lions.  See yesterday's story about the Griffith Park Mountain Lion, P-22: LA Times

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: Another Sign Predators Are Doing Well This Year

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 18, 2011.  Native California Black Walnuts litter the ground above the historic viaduct footings and throughout the Red Car Property.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The past couple years, Black Walnuts were stripped from the trees by the squirrel overpopulation. You could barely find any walnuts on the ground.   Squirrels were even getting obese.  This year, judging by the plethora of walnuts on the ground and still on the trees, hawks, owls and other predators have been quite successful in controlling the squirrel population. 

Red Car Property: Leftovers

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 11, 2009. Harvester ants having a field day on leftover feathers from either a coyote or fox kill, above the viaduct footings. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

2008 Neighborhood Wildlife Review

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 1, 2008. Can you spot the Corralitas Fox? (Click on photo to enlarge.)

2008 was a year for unusual wildlife sightings in the neighborhood. Late spring was a busy time for wildlife on Corralitas Drive. In April and May, we had routine sightings of the Corralitas Fox. George Jones captured awesome photos of a hummingbird raising a baby. There was even an incident of snake vs hawk (the gopher snake won). In most neighborhoods, daytime coyote sightings are unusual, but not here. Apparently, summer is the time for giant moths.

In August and September, we had two separate reports from different neighbors of a female mule deer: one on Rosebud under the 2 Freeway near Allesandro around 10AM; the second a few weeks later on Corralitas at the base of the Corralitas Staircase around 11PM. Unfortunately, no one got a photo.

Mule deer live in Griffith Park, but not Elysian Park. City Wildlife Officer Greg Randall reported female mule deer often flee Griffith Park and hide during mating season (August- September). However, he too had never heard of sightings this far south of the park. It's possible the deer found much less nighttime traffic on Riverside Drive since the abolishing of overnight parking last year. The deer likely found its way to Corralitas and Allesandro via the Red Car Property, a wildlife corridor.

In October, a juvenile red-shouldered hawk visited regularly, but was not as comfortable with people as earlier red tail hawks. The Audubon Center in nearby Debs Park lists at least 10 different raptors on their bird checklist.

For the past month, Corralitas Drive neighbors up and down the street reported seeing and hearing a great horned owl around dawn, dusk and throughout the night. Several neighbors report two owls calling to each other on recent nights. No one has been able to snap a photo of the owls yet. In the past, at least two different species of owls were seen in the neighborhood; great horned owl and a similar looking owl at about half the size.

If you have photos of any neighborhood wildlife (including scary bugs), please send them to Diane Edwardson at redcarproperty@gmail.com with info pertaining to when, where and who took the photo as well as any other observations of the animal's behavior at the time. DO NOT attempt to pet or feed wildlife.

For more on urban wildlife, see City of Los Angeles Animal Services website.

Corralitas Wildlife Update

Since the dry brush was cleared a few weeks ago, the Corralitas fox has gone into hiding. Although it appears she is still coming and going from the same area where she used to nap at the edge of the green brush. There have been fox sightings late at night by three different neighbors on the street near the top of the hill and near the first hairpin turn on the way up Corralitas.

The hummingbird who raised a chick successfully off our driveway in April is back in the same nest with three eggs this time around.

There have been no sightings this year of the albino skunk who used to frequent the area around the first hairpin turn. He was a big skunk; very pale grey with white stripes.

For the past few weeks, a young red tail hawk has been hanging out near the decks of the log cabins, learning to fly and waiting for the parents to bring him rats. On windy afternoons you can see the hawk will flying between the eucalyptus trees on Corralitas to the 2 Freeway and Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract. Crows and mockingbirds have been harassing the young hawk.

Corralitas Fox Update

Photos, left: Diane Edwardson, right: Gary Vlahakis, both taken May 1, 2008.
(Click on photos to enlarge)

The Corralitas fox is a creature of habit. We've watched the fox napping daily in the early morning and late afternoon into evening at the mouth of what appears to be a den on the lot below 2636 Corralitas Drive. When I shot the photo above left, I thought the fox might be dead. However, through binoculars I observed the fox having running dreams just like a dog - with all 4 feet running. A few minutes later the fox shifted positions and Gary caught the photo above right.

According to the Los Angeles Animal Services website, grey foxes are common to the foothills of Los Angeles. Considering our proximity to Griffith and Elysian Parks as well as the Los Angeles River, it's not too surprising that fox still survive in an older urban hillside neighborhood.

What is surprising is how often the fox is lounging around in the open. Perhaps the fox feels safe living out in the open because the neighbor with 4 big dogs and Mojo the cat, sold her house more than a year ago. Mojo hunted the hillside daily for mice, rats and gophers. The fox just moved into Mojo's niche in the food chain. We're hoping for a litter of little foxes soon.

BREAKING NEWS: Fox Sighted on Corralitas

Photo: April 25, 2008, Gary Vlahakis

While walking the dog around 5PM today, I noticed a strange looking cat walking through the lot below 2636 Corralitas. But it wasn't a cat, it's a grey fox. Its body is about a 10 to 12 inches long, with a long puffy tail, grey with red markings on its chest, small head and pointy ears: NOT a coyote. It may have a den in the brush in the middle of the hill. There's a trail that's been worn along the edge of the green bushes, which I saw her walking along, leading to what appears to be a den. I've heard scattered reports of foxes in the Semi-Tropic Spiritualist Neighborhood, but this is the first photo a neighbor snapped. A number of neighbors witnessed it this afternoon.

Update.