As yet another storm cell thunders over the Tehachapis, and
once more I am begrudgingly confined to climate controlled sanctuary that is
the Tejon Conservancy office, I find myself wondering how all our local wildlife
is faring out there in the cold and wet. Certainly better than I would be, the
conspicuously furless biped that can often be observed out on the ranch hurriedly
bundling up at the first patter of drizzle or the first whisper of breeze. I have
set up so many wildlife cameras in recent months, and have observed so much
wildlife footage (I am basically the TMZ of the Tejon woods), that I cannot
help but feel some absurdly misguided concern for the comfort of my feathered
and fuzzy neighbors out there in these brutish elements. Of course our native
wildlife are perfectly evolved to withstand the coldest snap of a California
winter, just as they are right at home in the dry heat of summer.
However, as local weather patterns continue to unnaturally
shift along with global climate, there is a legitimate concern over the ability
of flora and fauna all over the world to adapt to and withstand increasingly
divergent seasonal weather conditions. With that in mind, I’ve dug up some
video of our local wildlife braving winter climes over the last few months. I
am happy to report that, at least for now, everyone seems to be doing just
peachy, particularly the family of pumas featured in the first video below,
enjoying their pork dinner during a snow storm that makes my teeth chatter just
staring at through my computer screen.
Check back next week on the blog for much more from these three cats as they feed on and protect their kill.
One of our troublesome wild pigs (Sus scofra) takes a sniff at a survey camera. The ear tag he is wearing is part of a long-term population study of wild pigs and their impacts to native ecology out on the ranch.
A large golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) has a drink on the snow burdened north slope of Tunis Ridge.
This mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) carefully makes her way across an ice covered upland spring.
A pair of striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) make their way down El Paso Creek
A bobcat (Lynx rufus) carefully avoids getting her feet wet as she makes her way to an overlook to survey the canyon.
