Mountain lions, coyotes and bears, oh my!

[Wrightwood]

[naturalist]

[WWRatOut]

Do mice like birdseed?  DO THEY EVER!

I used to have an outdoor aviary and all these tunnels showed up on the floor of it.  The first good rain a lot of water pooled at the bottom of the aviary.... and went down the tunnels.  

By the time I got home from work the bottom of the aviary was covered with these little pink maggoty looking things.... On closer inspection they were BABY MICE!!!  

I was horrified.  I began to pick them up to dispose of them, presuming them to be drowned....

HOWEVER, as some of them warmed in my hand they began squirming, STILL ALIVE!  YEEGADZOOKS!!  About half were alive.  

I could not bring myself to let them die so I put them in a jar by the oven to warm.... within an hour these little "pinkies" were bopping around in the jar....

The next morning they were like pink popcorn.... they could jump straight up and almost out of the jar!  And their eyes were still closed!  I dropped BIRDSEED into the jar and they picked it up with their little hands and ate it!  

The next day they had early fur and their eyes opened!  I think the trauma they had undergone sped up their development processes.  

Within two or three days they were well furred, jumping around and ready to go.....  So I put them back in my aviary!!!  

Hmmmm....  Do mice eat birdseed.... YOU BETCHA THEY DO!!!  

The next time I build an aviary I will put metal screen or net on the floor of it, hoping to prevent a repeat performance of that little nightmare!

[naturalist]

Hmmm, just add snakes...  pinkies, fuzzies, jumpies, all are snake treats!  but then they might eat the birds, too...at least the eggs.  I know the brown tree snakes they introduced to Hawaii eat bird eggs, but I've never heard of any local snakes doing that.  Anyway, I was just imagining the little food chain going in your aviary : )  Or get some bigger omnivorous birds--Jays would eat those baby mice!  But they would definitely eat other baby birds and/or eggs, too, so I guess you wouldn't want them in your aviary.  I'm just smiling picturing a jar full of jumping baby mice!

[Wrightwood]

[naturalist]

Well that's a cute picture!!  
They are really fast, too, and move in unexpected directions with unexpected ease and fluidity.  A beauty to watch, probably a pain to try to photograph!  Good Luck!

[clint]

I have seen a Grey Fox for the second time in LPC. The first one was way down at the bottom, this one was  near the top. The car in front of me almost hit it, as it darted out into the road. I don't know what the normal range of a fox so I don't know know if this might be the same one or a diffrent one. Maybe Maggie can help out here.

[naturalist]

I wouldn't think it was the same one, but I bet birdsong could come up with some great weblinks that tell us all about the natural history of grey foxes!  They are pretty small and fairly common--I've seen them a lot up here, so I would bet they are two different foxes.  In the fall, I saw one (this one I think was the same one) running through the outdoor school campus almost every evening with an apple in its mouth from one of the old trees there!  They are quite omnivorous.

[Smiley]

Lots of coyotes.  Especially standing in the middle of the street and my front yard the other night howling.  We have seen 2 huge bears, (One on our neighbors porch) several deer and I have been very lucky to see the big horn sheep twice.  Once there were about 8-10 of them running down the middle of Hwy 2 (right before the tunnels about 20 miles from town) and another time 5 of them near the same place took off right up the side of the mountain.  They are amazing!  

[BirdSong]

[FIGHT ON]

Mountain Lion Scares Residents
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Mountain_Lion_Scares_Residents_Los_Angeles.html

[tallgal]

I was out walking my border collie this morning around 7ish.  She started sniffing kind of oddly and sure enough about 2 car lengths away from a  house on my street and there was a coyote. He was coming around the corner.  Yikes, fortunately we were almost in my yard so we hurried inside.  They are so bold, hungry and thirsty.  Everyone be aware they are out there even in the day time.  I'm not sure if my dog could take one on but her being a herding/protect the sheep dog, I think she would at least give it a go if need be.   I think I qualify as a sheep to her sometimes. 

[lagomorphmom]

tallgal, reports of coyotes in town during the daytime are not a rarity.

Another good reason to keep your fur babies on the leash.

We have friends who sadly lost their chihuahua to a coyote last Christmas. It and their Dalmatian was in the front yard with mom when a coyote showed himself in the bushes bordering the property. Both dogs took off after the coyote, which then grabbed the little guy and took off. To add to the horror of the memory was of course the audio that went with it. Very, very sad holiday season for them.

[angelwolf326]

I always walk with a small can of hairspray.....  If anything comes near, they are gonna get it...    Be careful.

[FIGHT ON]

Several of our neighborhood pets have gone missing or have been attacked over the past few months. Maybe this coyote was why. Looks pretty sick and ready to die to me. 
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/14654964_oX8WW#1090541118_SSgBQ

[ForestGal]

From all the gashes, the poor thing looks as if it was in a recent fight with something bigger (or meaner) than it is.  I'm sorry about the missing pets in your neighborhood.  That doesn't look like coyote country - do you live in the foothills?

[FIGHT ON]

Somebody told me it may be Mange, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange

[cookiesforthree]

Ewwww~~  Poor thing.

[free2bee]

Sidewalks!? Where are there sidewalks?

[Nolena]

A mountain lion was seen on upper Acorn last night. It's time to watch the kids & pets when they're out at night.