A Decomposing Snake

Yikes! This used to be a snake. There was no rattle so it was not a rattlesnake. It might have been a gopher snake or a garter snake. Do you see the ribs and the vertebrae? Some kind of animal ate this snake. Maybe it was a coyote, a fox, or a red tailed hawk. These animals are all consumers. They feed on other animals to survive. After the bigger consumers eat parts of the snake, other things break down the snake into smaller pieces. These are called decomposers. Decomposers are fungi, insects, and, bacteria. Over time, the decomposers turn the dead snake into soil. Then plants grow in the soil. Small rodents eat the plants. The snake eats the small rodents. It’s the circle of life!

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"V" is for Vulture

If you see a BIG black V-shaped bird hovering in the sky, chances are it is a Vulture. Another name for it is Turkey Vulture. Turkey vultures serve a sort of icky, but very important and very necessary purpose in nature. They eat dead animals. Yikes! I know, but my friends, what would be lying all over the ground if Turkey Vultures DIDN'T eat dead animals? That's right, a bunch of dead animals!


Turkey Vultures use winds that blow up the sides of hills. These winds push up their wings so they don't have to use a lot of energy. Their wingspan is WIDE. When the wings are stretched out, they are as wide as a six foot man is tall! The bones of birds are hollow, so the wings are very lightweight.

Turkey Vulture heads are red and they are "bald" with no feathers. Feathers on their heads would get messy from doing what they do. No head feathers is better for them.

Turkey Vultures help get rid of carrion (a fancy name for dead animals). The FIBs come along and help the Turkey Vultures and other carrion eaters. What other animals help them? Do you remember what FIBs stands for? Fungi, Insects, and Bacteria. Have you ever seen a dead animal? What was crawling around on it? Ants? Beetles? Flies? All of these animals and organisms help keep our environment clean and free from disease. They eliminate carrion.

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Lizard Season

The sun is high in the sky and it is warming up the dirt. There is an animal in this picture. Can you find it? I will give some hints to help you. It is long and skinny, and it has stripes going down its body.


How about now? You saw it?! Good! This animal is kind of lizard called a Skink. Why do you think it survives well in this habitat? Skinks cannot produce their own heat, so they have to live in warm places. They can live here, but not in extremely cold places. During the winter, lizards hibernate. The Skink's colors make it difficult to see. The Skink has another trick for survival.

When a predator grabs a Skink's tail, the tail simply falls off! The separated tail CONTINUES TO WIGGLE even though it is off of the lizard. This confuses the predator for a moment. The main body of the Skink is still very much alive, and runs towards shelter. After some times passes, the Skink will grow a new tail. Here is a different species of lizard which has lost its tail.

The lizard has scaly plates over its body. These protect it as it crawls over rocks and bushes. It has eyes on the sides of its head so it can see predators from both sides. Lizards also survive well because they are soooo fast! I couldn't believe it when this Skink let me approach it to take a picture. Usually they bolt! Sometimes you will see a flash of blue going into the bushes. Baby Skinks have beautiful turquoise blue tails.

Here is a different lizard. It is called a Western Fence Lizard. Like the Skink, it lays eggs. It is shorter and stockier than a Skink. Those tiny claws are just right for climbing around on rocks. This Western Fence Lizard and the Skink eat small insects. If you see a Western Fence Lizard doing "push ups," you know it is trying to look threatening to another male lizard, or a larger predator.


Skinks and Western Fence Lizards are plentiful during this time of year. With an adult, look for them on fences, in empty lots, and under big weeds. Look at all the different colors and patterns on their scales.


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Wild Oats Helping Mule Deer Helping Wild Oats

It's that beautiful time of the year when gentle breezes blow fields of Wild Oats in southern California. As the line from "America the Beautiful" suggests, there are "amber waves of grain" to be found in the late spring. The Wild Oats provide food for Mule Deer. In turn, the Mule Deer act as carriers for the Wild Oat seeds.

Here we see the green, compact seed heads of Wild Oats. Wild Oats are native grasses. When we think of grass, we think of the grass of a lawn or a school yard. If no one mowed these lawn grasses, they would grow up tall and make seeds, just like Wild Oats.

The spring rains stop. With no water, the Wild Oats start to change from green to pale amber. There are tiny hairs on the seed coats. These catch on the bodies of Mule Deer as they walk through fields. The seeds fall out of their seed coats and stick to the Mule Deer's fur. As the Mule Deer walks, it shakes off the dried seeds. The seeds are taken to a new place to grow.

The seeds fall out of their coat and stick to the Mule Deer's fur. As the Mule Deer walks, it shakes off the dried seeds. The seeds are taken to a new place to grow.


So the Mule Deer helps spread the Wild Oat seeds. The Wild Oats provide food for the Mule Deer. There is a fancy word for this...symbiosis (sim bee oh sis). It means two different living things are helping out each other.


What are some other examples symbiosis? Why do people spend so much time planting trees, flowers, and grass? Why do people feed, groom, and play with pets?

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The Camouflaged Killdeer

Sorry for the delay in posting an entry. My Photoshop stopped working and I had to order a new one.

Do you see a bird in the first picture? Maybe not at first, but if you look long enough you will find it. It is standing on the sand. This bird is the Killdeer. It survives well in this environment because it is camouflaged. The Killdeer's feathers are the same colors as its habitat... brown, beige, and black. I heard its cry before I saw it. It took me a while to focus on the bird. The colors help hide the bird. Also, it can fly away very quickly. Its coloring and speed help it get away from predators.

Killdeer are shore birds, but they are unusual as they can live far inland, too. They are found usually within a short distance of water. In this case, the Killdeer is near the creek.



Killdeer make nests right on the ground! The nest has little protection. So how could Killdeer eggs be safe if they are directly on this pebbly surface? Correct! The eggs, like the bird, are camouflaged.



I found the remains of this Killdeer egg. It must have been eaten by a raccoon or opossum. There are probably three more eggs that will turn into chicks. Do you see how the egg matches the pebbly surface of the creek bed? Because of its coloring, the egg is difficult to see. This helps the Killdeer survive in this environment.

Listen for birds in your neighborhood. When you hear one, take an adult with you and get as close as you can to the bird. What color is it? Are its feathers pink?
No? What color are the feathers. Do the colors match its surroundings? If you get close to the bird, does it fly away quickly? How does this help the bird to survive?

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Witch's Hair

What is that crazy orange stuff that looks like orange spaghetti hanging on plants? The fancy names are Cuscuta and Dodder. The fun name for it is Witch's Hair.

Remember the Mistletoe of winter? Like Mistletoe, Witch's Hair is a parasite. A parasite is a living thing that lives within another living thing or upon another living thing.

Witch's Hair makes flowers and these turn into seeds. The seeds fall into the soil and the "orange spaghetti" starts growing out of the soil. The Witch's Hair (Dodder) can sense the odor of a good plant for attachment. After reaching the host plant, the Witch's Hair wraps around it. In the first picture, the Dodder has grown up into a Pepper Tree. In the second and third picture, the Witch's Hair has found a sage plant to act as its host.
Once the Witch's Hair finds a host plant, it sticks little microscopic pointy things into the plant. These pointy things become embedded in the host plant. Then the Witch's Hair can start to suck up nutrients from the Pepper Tree or the Sage plant, like a sponge absorbing water. Now the Witch's Hair is set. It can just lay there and take in the nutrition from another plant. It is a true parasite.

"Witch's Hair" is a funny name for a plant. Look around your neighborhood. If you could rename the plants and trees on your street, what would YOU name them and why?

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