The White Whale (Black Bear slight return)

"Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up."

For the past two years, the infamous Black Bear of Marin has haunted this particular camera trapper, playing the role of Moby Dick to my Ahab.
Several reports have emerged from Point Reyes, across the county border in Petaluma and most recently at Kent Lake.
To capture images of a bear would be truly incredible -- for the species has been missing from Marin/Southern Sonoma for over 100 years!

On the heels of the latest report, I resumed the quest and headed out to Kent Lake.
Two cams were deployed, one focused on a set of boulders, the second in a circle of burned redwoods.

The anticipation was excruciating, but I somehow managed to hold off a check-in visit for 3 weeks...

The Results:

Redwood Cam

This was simply a horribly designed set. No bear and I deserve the results. Just going to walk away from this one.

Boulder Cam

I danced with the devil here, placing an unlocked cam in a location not terribly far from a trail. Perhaps, there is even more Ahab in me than I care to admit...

set view from behind boulder

 

10.13  10:22 PM

10.20  3:42 PM

I dig the gray foxes and to get an afternoon capture with them just chillaxing on a rock is a treat. Even without the bear, a feeling of success was attained.

However, the quest will continue...

Another Big Buck

Not sure if this is the same guy I photographed two years ago (probably not), but he is a big one.  He was standing by the side of the road on campus as I was heading into lab this past Saturday, but I only got the images on my computer tonight.

Young Bobcat is All Grown Up(?)

I think these images are all of the same bobcat. I also believe this is the young bobcat we photographed last Spring with its mom.

If so it appears to be on its own now as we only photographed it by itself, but it is also possible that it is the redder male we have also photographed and saw stalking through the mustard grass last spring.







 What we do know though is it is a male. 





 I e-mailed the Codger for confirmation that I was looking at what I thought I was looking at.

"High and tight, but still in sight"

Rat Tales

Christian had promised that I would post more pictures from the marsh at YLR.

I am usually running behind, but those of you that know me personally, have seen that I have been extra bad and behind this past month.  The start of the quarter, taking a class for the first time in two years, on something I know almost nothing about (RNA bioinformatics), and trying to wrap up the last figure and a half for a manuscript has left little time for more fun pursuits.

So here are a couple of quick pictures of a rat from Santa Cruz. I assume it is a dusky-footed woodrat, rather than an invasive rat, but it is hard to see a lot of fur on the tail in these images. The crop in image #2 does look a little hairy on the tail, a there are brief glimpses of a lighter under-belly.  Assuming my call is correct, these are our first N. fuscipes pictures on the homebrew. Rodents weren't really a target species on this set, but I will take them!  A bit of exploring led us to a much more accessible hemlock midden, so we will have to actually target woodrats in the preserve in the future.

Posing on the branch in the rain/fog.

Crop of above image. Looks like it may be a male with that bulge under the base of the tail.

Hidden a bit behind the branch

Crop of above image. That is a looooong tail.

Link Dump

Batrachoseps gavilanensis - Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander

Nobel Prize Week was a little "meh" this year.  I am not super excited about the Physiology and Medicine or the Chemistry prizes.  Deserving for sure, but the winning topics are just not of much interest to me.  I am NOT a crystallographer. I can barely stay awake during their talks. Despite trying, I have very little appreciation for poetry, so it is tough to get excited about the Literature Prize.

However, my alma mater gets a share of the physics prize and the oldest joke in Berkeley continues. "Q: What is better than winning a Nobel Prize? A: The free lifetime parking pass." It does remind me of one of my first days at college when I saw two cars double parked in the NL spot east of Memorial Glade. It made me realize the bar was pretty damn high and scared the hell out of me.

Salmon vandals strike.  I was a part of the United Anglers program way back in the late '90s where CTC went to High School. At least the fish were unharmed, but it must have been emotionally devastating.  Releasing fish you had spent a year raising from egg was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had.

A study of 300 Sea otters tells us ...? Well, they are still trying to figure it out.

Rains are here already and it is predicted to be a cold wet winter.  Time to start thinking about getting out the rain gear and doing some salamander hunting. I need to get my flashes fixed.