Tag: marin county

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Long-tailed Weasel, Point Reyes National Seashore

A long-tailed weasel hunts gophers.
Long-tailed Weasel, Point Reyes National Seashore

A long-tailed weasel looks for its next meal on the Tomales Peninsula.  Long-tailed weasels have a high metabolism and eat up to 40% of their body weight in food every day.  They are nocturnal.  Their diet consists mainly of rodents which they pursue into and through their burrows.  In the northern portion of their range they molt to white in winter, but the tip of the tail remains black.

The Park Service also lists the short-tailed weasel as an inhabitant of Point Reyes. They are about 1/2 the size of a long-tail, have shorter tails in relation to their body length, and have white bellies.  They can also molt to white with black tail tip.  It is the short-tail weasel that is also known as ermine.

A long-tailed weasel emerges from a gopher hole.
Long-tailed Weasel, Point Reyes National Seashore

Here is another look at our energetic hunter as it emerges from a rodent hole.   These animals do not stand still for long.

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Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

A coyote looks back before retreating.
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is one of the coyotes I’ve seen recently out at Point Reyes.  Note the numerous gopher holes.

Point Reyes seems to have a healthy population of coyotes and bobcats.  The same can be said throughout Marin County thanks to the efforts of Camilla Fox.  In the late 1990s Camilla, with the help of other concerned citizens, convinced the County of Marin to stop the indiscriminate trapping and poisoning of coyotes to protect sheep.  Not only was the trapping and poisoning inhumane, but it killed more badgers, bobcats and foxes than it did the highly intelligent coyotes.  Now the County has a non-lethal coyote control program that relies on guard dogs, llamas and electrified fencing to protect sheep.  The program has been an unqualified success.  Camilla now heads up an organization called Project Coyote which fights the senseless trapping and poisoning of coyotes throughout the United States and Canada as well as other inhumane practices like coyote and fox penning where a coyote or fox is locked in an escape-proof enclosure and then dogs are released to kill it.   It seems a bit like dog fighting to me with one side not having a fair chance.  Some people actually enjoy doing this.  To learn more about Project Coyote click here.

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Red-Tailed Hawk, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

Photo of a red-tailed hawk.
“What do you want?”

A red-tailed hawk perches on a piling.  You might wonder why most of my photos of raptors at Point Reyes are on posts.  The reason is that much of Point Reyes is open dairy or ranch land.  In the farming/ranching area there are few trees or, better yet for the birds, snags (dead trees with no leaves and therefore unlimited visibility).  There are also power poles that they roost on, but I don’t normally photograph birds on them for several reasons (too high, too far, unaesthetic structures and poor (sky) backgrounds).

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Turkey Vulture, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

A turkey vulture rests on a post.
Turkey Vulture, Point Reyes National Seashore

This turkey vulture is one of a few that were feeding on a skunk carcass on the Pierce Point Road.  Turkey vultures or turkey buzzards get their name because their heads resemble a turkey’s.  When you see them riding the thermals you may think they are using their eyes to find carrion, but in fact they rely more on their sense of smell.  They lack a nasal septum and in profile you can see in one nostril and out the other.  Note the very long front toes.