Red Car Property: Red Tailed Hawk Makes A Kill

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  One of the big Red Tailed Hawks ate  breakfast atop one of its favorite telephone poles on the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  Moments earlier, a neighbor and I watched as the hawk launched itself with a couple of big flaps of its wings, from a tall tree on the Lake View side of the property, pulled its wings tight to its body and zoomed across the Red Car Property to a vacant lot on Corralitas Drive.  It was on the ground for a minute, before flying back with a bird in its talons, to a telephone pole on the Lake View side of the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  If you look closely, the hawk is on top of the telephone pole with a bunch of doves perched on the surrounding high voltage wires (uppermost set of wires) on the telephone pole.  

Worth noting: the native Black Walnuts in the foreground are recovering from last year's fire.

Corralitas Drive: Hummingbird Rescue

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, December 11, 2017.  Before 8 AM, a neighbor rescued a hummingbird who flew into the kitchen and couldn't figure out how to escape.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, December 11, 2017.  The tiny visitor rested for a minute in the neighbor's hand before flying off.  

Click here for all our hummingbird posts.

Corralitas Drive: ALERT, Large Coyote Pack

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, June 11, 2017.  Coyote pup on Red Car Property, still photo taken from video.

A Corralitas Drive neighbor, from the middle of the hill, wrote in an email today, "last night at 11pm, I saw a pack of 5-6 coyotes casually sauntering up Corralitas in the middle of the road, as if they were clocking in for the night shift."

It's more typical we see packs of 3 coyotes in the Red Car Neighborhood.  This is the first sighting of such a large pack on the street.  It is likely a family group with the juveniles learning to hunt with the adults.

Los Angeles Animal Services recommends "hazing' coyotes. If you encounter coyotes,  throw small rocks, shout, wave your arms, make yourself larger.  Be sure to keep your dog on leash and do not let your dogs chase coyotes.  

With a pack that large it is easy for them to lie in wait around cars to take unsuspecting pets as prey. Yes, I've stopped a couple of those attacks using the aforementioned techniques. You know the neighbors who walk their dogs regularly in the neighborhood, by the fact we've all said, "I saw two coyotes and I looked around and said to myself, OK, where's the third one?"

If you feed your pets outside, pick up the food bowls as soon as they are finished.  Do not leave even empty trash and recycle bins open.  If the bins are cracked or broken, get them replaced for free by calling 311 or online via MyLA 311.

Living with urban coyotes: LA Animal Services 

Record your coyote sightings: LA Nature Map on iNaturalist 

Click here for all our coyote posts.
 

Lake View Ave: Dia De Los Muertos

Photo: s_d_m, October 15, 2017.  Red Car Property Adjacent Neighbors found an Angle Winged Katydid and it obliged with a seasonal photo shoot while demonstrating its excellent camouflage.  See more of their photos on iNaturalist.

Corralitas Drive: Killer Kitty Celebrated Urban Wildlife Week With Rodents

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, October 16, 2017.  A killer kitty brought home what appears to be a megamouse.  Before disposing of the rodent, the owner took a few photos. 

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, October 16, 2017.  It (same rodent as first photo) looks like a tree rat, also called a roof rat.  However, it lacks the white belly and chest.  Norway rats have small ears lower on their head.  Verdict: tree rat, A.K.A. roof rat.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor August 19, 2017.  You'll often see tree rats as trained rats on TV because they are cuter than Norway Rats.  This one was an earlier tree rat kill.  The owner quickly distracts the cat(s) with cat treats so the kill can be quickly disposed of, rather than allowing the cat to eat the kill.  Almost all rats and mice have some level of poison in their system. 

Rats can live for up to 18 months with poison in their systems.  The poison travels up the food chain and it can cause serious health problems for the predator.  

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, October 21, 2017. This is definitely a mouse.  

Talk to your neighbors - if you live in the hills - everyone has rat stories.  Some of us just document them.  

If there is a construction site nearby, be sure they are disposing of their trash in a covered container as they are required by the municipal code. Rats already like construction and remodelling sites, because they gain entry to a house.  Open trash piles and open trash cans make it easy for them to feed close to shelter.

Corralitas Drive: Not A Frog

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, October 17, 2017.  A neighbor rescued the tiniest lizard from one of the killer kitties.  It's most likely a fence lizard.  The neighbor placed it way up in a bird of paradise flower, out of reach of the killer cats.  

It's Urban Wildlife Week.  More info @NatureinLA

Related: All our lizard posts

Lake View Ave: Angle Winged Katydid

Photo: s_d_m, October 15, 2017.  Red Car Property neighbor found a Katydid in the yard yesterday.  Check out those alien feet!  See more photos: iNaturalist.

We've seen a few of these unusual looking bugs, often brought in by a neighbor's cat. 

According to @NatureinLA (LA County Natural History Museum), it's Urban Wildlife Week.

Click here for all our unusual bugs.

Corralitas Drive: Wildlife!

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, September 24, 2017.  A neighbor placed empty and rinsed recyclables on the stairs to take to the bin.  Five minutes later, a young raccoon was already looking for snacks.  There's a reason we endlessly preach about keeping recycle and trash bins closed tightly.  Urban wildlife is opportunistic.

Corralitas Drive: Day Of The Mantids

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 22, 2017.  A neighbor was pruning plumbago, felt something on her leg.  She thought it was the cat, until it reached her thigh.  It was a 3" long, green Praying Mantis.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 22, 2017.  Later, the neighbor opened the green bin and a tan mantis popped out.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 22, 2017.  The neighbor scooped up the mantis and placed it on a nearby bush so it wouldn't get run over by a car.  It too, looked to be about 3".

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 22, 2017.  The tan mantis was a better model the the green mantis.

Click here for all our neighborhood praying mantis posts.
See also: Unusal Bugs

This was post was actually published 10-16-17 and backdated to the date the photos were shot and originally published on Twitter. Click on the photo dates for original tweets. 

Corralitas Drive: Ring-Necked Snake V.S. Cat

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  A neighbor's cat found a tiny snake to play with.  Use the garden hose for scale.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  It was a fast moving, squirmy little thing, fascinating the cat.

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  The snake was about a foot long, the width of a pencil, olive green, dark head, light ring around the neck.  It was a Ring-Necked Snake. 

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, August 12, 2017.  The snake made a break for nearby rocks where it made its getaway,  distracting the cat by wiggling and curling/uncurling the bright red underside of it tail.

Ring-Necked Snakes in our neighborhood live in the leaf litter below big trees and lots of shade.  They seem to prefer areas with more moisture on Riverside Place, Corralitas Drive and Red Car Canyon.  According to California Herps, they eat Slender Salamanders - also found in all the same habitat in the neighborhood.

Learn more about Ring-Necked Snakes: California Herps.

Worth noting on California Herps is the conservation status.  USDA Forest Service lists the subspecies as "Sensitive;" Nature Serve State Ranking: S2, "Imperiled in the state because of rarity due to very restricted range, very few populations (often 20 or fewer), steep declines, or other factors making it very vulnerable to extirpation from the state."  

Luckily this snake got away!

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-24-17 and backdated to the date the photos were shot and originally published on Twitter. 
 

Corralitas Drive: Urban Skunk Kits Making Themselves At Home

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #1, July 11, 2017. A neighbor, upon turning on the bathroom light at 3 AM, was surprised to find a young skunk asleep in the  bathtub.  The neighbor has no idea how it got into the tub.  It made it self quite at home on a washcloth and left its calling cards near its "bed."

The neighbor surmised the young skunk came in earlier in the evening, while the door was open and fan on.  It must have wandered in and seeking relief from the relentless heatwave, found its way into the cool bathtub.  "Actually, it seemed totally content and not at all agitated by my presence." 

As for removing the skunk, the neighbor continued, "I got two large old beach towels, put on my gardening gloves and dropped the towels over it and quickly wrapped them around and carried it out the back door and by that time there was definitely a skunk odor in the towels. I loosened the towels and came back inside. End of story. I now use my fire screen in the door when I leave it open." 

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor #2, July 7, 2017.  At least one skunk kit has a taste for the plentiful rubber tree fruit around the yard.  

A Corralitas neighbor sees the baby skunks pass through the yard daily.  At least one skunk kit, or as the neighbor refers to them, "skitten" routinely pauses at the open door looking to be invited in (not going to happen).  The neighbor's cats are so complacent, "they don't even growl when the kits come by, let alone when the skunks try to come in the door!"

The other day, I got a text from Corralitas Neighbor #2, who was lying on the couch with the door open in the midday heat.  The neighbor "felt a very smooth little tongue licking her big toe."  Knowing it wasn't a cat or dog, she looked down and was surprised to see a skunk kit kissing her toe.  Unfortunately, the neighbor couldn't reach her cell phone to shoot a photo without standing up.  At which point the little skunk kit made a hasty retreat for the door.  The skitten was really sucking up in the hope of some relief from the heat.  

The same neighbor has told skunks trying to enter the house, in a calm voice, "No, no, no you can't come in.  Away with you."  The skunks go without argument. Sometimes you have to get up slowly and walk calmly toward the skunk while telling them, in a calm voice, to leave.  Skunks don't see well.  As long as you stay calm and make no sudden movements, they have no need to spray. 

No, neither neighbor feeds their pets outside.  Nor do they leave food around.  The rubber tree fruit attracts all types of urban wildlife.  It's hard to control the rubber tree fruit, even if you sweep daily.  If there is food a skunk wants, it will do almost anything to get to it.  I've seen skunks move rocks significantly larger than themselves, in broad daylight, to get into a yard.  I've also watched them squeeze through a single chain link in a fence (skunks are mostly fur).   

If wildlife wants to use your yard as a thoroughfare, it's not worth the trouble of trying to stop them.  Skunks and raccoons will move rocks and big pots, dig up plants, dig under fences to get back on their routine path.  It's better to find a way to coexist with them so you know where they come through the fence rather than be surprised in the middle of the night.  Jade plants are resilient enough to place near openings in the fence where urban wildlife insists on using a path. 

Don't feed your pets outside.  Keep your all your pets' vaccinations up to date.  Do not attempt to feed or pet wildlife.  Be sure you throw away any and all food trash (like from a BBQ or fruit fallen from trees) directly into a the large City trash bin and be sure the lid is tightly closed. 

Additionally, it is a myth that seeing a skunk in the daylight means it's sick or injured.  Corralitas skunks are out in the middle of the day.  We see them frequently, even when the dog is in the yard.  

Click here for all our skunk posts.

Corralitas Drive: Who Needs An Alarm Clock When You've Got Juvenile Hawks?

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, July 10, 2017.  Like clockwork, at dawn, one of the recently fledged Red Tailed Hawks calls to be fed from just outside a Corralitas neighbor's window.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Another Corralitas neighbor named one of the juveniles, Rodan, for its constant calling starting at dawn and continuing for hours.  

The Red Tailed Hawks help control the rodent population.  Our resident Red Tails have a taste for squirrels. 

Click here for all our hawk posts.
 

Corralitas Drive: Young Hungry Hawk

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, July 1, 2017.  Corralitas Drive neighbors report hearing hawks calling for hours outside their homes.  This telephone pole near the top of Corralitas Drive is a regular perch for Red Tails in the neighborhood.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Last Saturday and again today, starting at dawn and continuing for hours, a recently fledged Red Tail Hawk was calling to be fed.  This is a particularly large youngster.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 1, 2017.  Even young hawks are aware of  people watching them.
 
We suspect the Red Tails have a nest in a tall pine tree on Corralitas Drive.  About a month ago, one neighbor reported seeing a large adult Red Tail pluck a squirrel out of a palm tree, then fly less than 100' to another neighbor's pine tree, landing in an opening of the branches near the top of the tree.  It appeared to be doing something in the tree with the squirrel as if it were feeding chicks.  It was too far for photos with a cell phone.  We usually see Red Tails eat meals atop telephone poles around the neighborhood.

The neighbor with the pine tree reported hawks frequently circling and calling in and around the tree and house this year.  This is typical nesting behavior in our neighborhood (we've watched the Red Tails in the nest on the 2 Freeway for years).  Since they nest high in the trees, neighbors are not always aware of the nest.  We've seen Red Tail juveniles return to the nest in the evenings months after they've fledged.

Red Car Property: "Today's Nature Walk, From Tinderbox To Rain Forest!"

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  Another Red Car Property Neighbor had a prettier view of the depressingly dry conditions on the Corralitas end of the Red Car Property. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  Who was guarding the trees in Red Car Canyon? Summer is a great time of year to watch lizards in Red Car Canyon. The dappled light and cooler temps in the canyon attract lizards  and their insect prey. 

The LA County Natural History Museum wants your neighborhood photos of Lizards taken June 1 through July 31, 2017.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  Mourning Doves tend to be nervous visitors to the shade of Red Car Canyon.  Cooper's Hawks tend to hunt birds and likely nest in the canyon too.  We've witnessed a number of Cooper's Hawk vs Great Horned Owl smackdowns in the canyon through the years.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  Cooper's Hawks prefer the dense trees in Red Car Canyon.  They have  keen eyesight good maneuvering ability to catch prey by surprise in the high contrast lighting conditions in the Canyon.  It's hard to believe this scene is a few 100' from the first photo in the series.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  And yes, the neighbor saw the No Trespassing signs on the ground.  

As always, we are grateful for the contributions of photos from our many Red Car Property neighbors.

Corralitas Drive: Baby Skunk Season!

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, June 27, 2017.  Fartilda greeted a neighbor first thing this morning.  It's several months before baby skunks can project their spray, but they do fart skunk stink.

Fartilda appears to be the runt of the litter, but she is definitely capable of holding her own.  Last night, around 7 PM, the same neighbor saw the baby on the stairs.  By the time the phone was in hand to take photos, the skunk farted and the cats came running in and sat just inside the door, guarding the house from the tiny skunk.  The baby scampered off into the bushes.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 12, 2016. Last year ,The Little Skunk had a litter of six.  This was their first group outing in the yard. Tip for shooting skunk photos: they don't see well, stand still and use your zoom.  DO NOT attempt to feed or pet any wildlife.  I was crouched down, about 6 feet away.  They either saw or smelled me and charged me. I just sat still and shot photos until their mom called them and they joined her.

It's a myth that skunks are not active in the daylight.  We've always seen skunks in the daytime on Corralitas Drive.  Some yards are more conducive than others to skunk activity.  Presence of dogs does not deter them since skunks have the upper hand.  Usually, the mother comes through the yard first, spraying to keep predators and people away, then the kits come through.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, July 14, 2016.  For years we had a semi feral cat who would babysit litters for his buddy, The Little Skunk. 

Take precautions if you have dogs.  Keep your dogs on a leash.  We're often surprised by skunks, opossum and raccoons.  Wildlife keep a routine foraging schedule and they quickly learn what time you feed your animals.  If you must feed your pets outside, pick up the food bowls immediately after they eat.  

Click here for all our skunk posts.

Corralitas Drive: Rattlesnake or Gopher Snake?

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 18, 2017.  Every year I get a few panicked calls/emails/texts from neighbors who think they've seen a rattlesnake on or around the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Luckily, now most neighbors grab their phones now and take photos from a safe distance.  All photos here have been cropped.  

The neighbor first texting me the story of working in the garden and hearing what sounded like a rattlesnake. "I thought I knew about snakes, I was obsessed as a kid.  I looked at the tail immediately, looked like a gopher snake but the rattle had me shook.  A neighbor's cat started pawing at it and hearing a rattle, I panicked."  The neighbor shooed the cat away safely. and the snake disappeared under the leaves and patio. I asked for photos and to my surprise, there were many to choose from.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 18, 2017. (enlarged from previous photo.)  Head: inconclusive from this angle, the light makes it appear articulated from the neck.  It the best head shot the neighbor got.  However, the spotted pattern looks like Gopher snake.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 18, 2017. Hard to get both the head and the tail of the 3.5 to 4' long snake in the same shot.  Gopher snakes will mimic rattlesnakes by shaking their tails in the grass or leaves, even coiling up in a defensive position like a rattlesnake because it scares the potential predator (in this case a human).  

I have witnessed such behavior many times, as have a number of neighbors.  Take a step back and stay still, observe, take photos.  If you have pets or children with you, move them away from the snake before you take photos.  Do not put them or yourself at risk.  Use this as a learning experience of how to behave around wildlife.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 18, 2017.  Tail enlarged from previous photo, verdict: Gopher Snake.  The neighbor proclaimed, " If it eats gophers, it's my new best friend!"

The last report of rattlesnakes in the neighborhood was from the early 1980s before our part of Silver Lake was completely built out. Before automated trash pick up, the City workers who picked up the trash cans said they found them underneath the cans in the early mornings in our hillsides.  However, there are definitely rattlesnakes in Griffith Park, and there is enough natural habitat in Elysian Park to suggest they exist there too, so there is always the possibility they are in the hills of eastern Silver Lake.  (People did not believe we had foxes and bobcats until we confirmed both with multiple sightings and photos.)

Learn more about Rattlesnakes and Gopher Snakes as well as other reptiles and amphibians:  California Herps

Click here for all our snake posts.

Astro Restaurant: C-145 Brought A Friend

Video: Gary Vlahakis, June 18, 2017.  The coyote in tracking collar, often seen waiting for a meal in the Astro Restaurant parking lot, was identified as C-145 by LA City Animal Services Wildlife Officer Hoang DInh, but we could just call him Astro.

National Park Service was tracking C-145 along with 5 other coyotes in their Los Angeles urban coyote study.  C-145 and his mate had a litter in a Silver Lake backyard in 2016.  According to the NPS website, the batteries died a few months after the collar was placed on the coyote.  Information regarding the study hasn't been updated since 2016. You might try Facebook for their latest info.  

There is an ongoing coyote scat study, with the help of volunteers, they learn much about what Los Angeles coyotes are eating.  In C-145's case, you don't need to find his poop to know he's a regular at Astro and probably taught his pups to eat there too.  (I'd heard stories for years about the coyote in a collar who visits Astro, but last week was the first proof.)

Under the advice of  Wildlife Officer Dinh, Vlahakis attempted to chase off C-145 and his buddy from the Astro parking lot. C145's buddy took off across Fletcher. C-145 is so unafraid of people that he went right back to the parking lot to wait for breakfast early Sunday morning. 

Dinh recommends hazing coyotes: making your self large, waving your arms, throwing pine cones in the direction of coyotes to make them afraid of people again.  

LA City Animal Services is hosting a series of Wildlife Workshops across the City.  In addition to coyotes in our neighborhood we have bobcat, gray fox, raccoon, opossum, skunk, rats and snakes among a plethora of birds, raptors, owls, gophers and insects in the neighborhood.

LA City Wildlife Workshop

Thursday, July 13, 2017
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
North Central Shelter
3201 Lacy St.
Los Angeles, CA 90031

(Cypress Park)

Learn more about living with urban wildlife:
Los Angeles City Animal Services
Coyote Hazing The Humane Society
Conflict Resolution With Coyotes The Humane Society 
Keep Me Wild State of California  

Document coyote sightings (citizen science):
"Coyote Catcher" University of California
LA Nature Map on iNaturalist LA County Natural History Museum

We've been documenting coyote sightings in the Corralitas Red Car Property Neighborhood for the past ten years.If you have photos of coyotes or other wildlife in the neighborhood, email photos or links to video along with a brief when, where and what was the behavior you observed: redcarproperty@gmail.com

Red Car Property: Coyote Calling

Video: Gary Vlahakis, June 11, 2017.  Vlahakis heard a coyote calling noisily prior to seeing the youngster on the Red Car Property slope, below homes on Lake View Ave.  It's worth watching with sound.  This was Vlahakis' second coyote sighting of the morning and it wasn't even 9 AM.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, June 11, 2017.  The coyote in the video was sitting to the right of the scorched and bent telephone pole (center of photo).  This photo shows potential den sites and pathways into the dense brush.  

If you need another reason to get your brush clearance done, other than reducing risk of fire: the dense brush gives coyotes good cover for ambushing prey and neighbors' pets.  

Keep your dogs on a leash.

The telephone poles running across the slope are at the Red Car Property line. In addition to the Red Car Property, only a couple of upslope neighbors on the Lake View and Silver Ridge side have done their brush clearance.  At least the protected native Black Walnut Trees are recovering from last year's fire.

Click here for all our coyote posts.
Click here for all our brush clearance posts.

Astro Restaurant: Coyote Wearing Tracking Collar

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, June 11, 2017.   The coyote appears to be wearing a tracking collar like one worn by P-22, the Griffith Park mountain lion.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Sunday morning, a medium-sized coyote was lying down in the middle of Astro Restaurant's parking lot when Red Car Property neighbor, Gary Vlahakis pulled in.  He'd seen the coyote wearing a collar in the parking lot before.  This time, he was able to grab a great photo and some video.  The coyote seems to be waiting for breakfast. 

Vlahakis spoke to workers in the restaurant, where he learned the coyote is a regular visitor.  Vlahakis advised them not to feed the coyote as it is not only against the law, but it encourages the coyote to associate humans with food.  Clearly this one has no fear of humans. At least the trash dumpster, a potential food source, is closed.

We forwarded the video and photo to the researcher conducting the Los Angeles urban coyote study with the National Park Service via one of their volunteers who is a Red Car Property neighbor.  

Click here for all our coyote posts. 
 

Corralitas Drive: Little Skunk Has No Fear

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor May 2, 2017, 6:15 PM. The cats do not get to eat outside.  Why?

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 2, 2017, 6:30 PM.  The Little Skunk has long been a fixture in this yard.  She used to hang out with the semi-feral cat, even leaving her babies with him to babysit while she went on her foraging rounds.  

Skunks don't see well but they do have a nose for food.  It is not unusual to run into skunks on Corralitas in the daylight.  Don't panic, don't make big moves.  Talk to them in soothing tones and they go about their business.  If you want to take photos, use the zoom on your camera.  Never feed wildlife.

City of Los Angeles Animal Services has info on their website on living with skunks and other wildlife.

Click here for all our skunk posts.