Bobcats Are Special
I enjoy seeing and photographing all wildlife, but some species are more special than others to me. Bobcats are one of those species, along with wolves, bears and eagles. I’ll never get tired of photographing them.
Tag: wildlife
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.
Here is another look at our energetic hunter as it emerges from a rodent hole. These animals do not stand still for long.
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
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.
Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
A cow elk gazes off into the distance. Pardon the anthropomorphism, but she looks like she is smiling. This photo was taken at the Tule Elk Refuge on Tomales Point.
Columbia Blacktail Deer, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
It’s really green at Point Reyes now and the early flowers are starting to bloom. This photo was taken on January 26, 2010, just south of Abbott’s Lagoon. I haven’t been there in about a week, but Ill bet it will look just like it did last year real soon if not right now.
Raven, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
I don’t know what this raven was eating. It was a soft, yellow vegetative material.
Turkey Vulture, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
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.
