Category: Pretty Critters

May I introduce: Melanerpes formicivorus, aka Acorn Woodpecker.

These pretty redheads can be found in Griffith Park – if one knows where oak trees grow. Acorn Woodpeckers lead a busy life drilling holes into dead trees and collecting acorns to stick into the holes for later consumption.

They also pick dried out acorns out of their holes and stick them into new ones with a tighter fit to prevent them from falling out; this ensures that the life of an Acorn Woodpecker is quite a busy one – tending to the stored acorns takes up a large part of their day.

So many acorns, so little time! Plus, these busy birds always have to keep an eye out for the jays. Those pesky lazybones just love to harvest the granaries created by the woodpeckers.

Yes, Woodpecker Central in Griffith Park is a paradise for bird watchers. By the way, that is not the real name of the valley where the pretty redheads live, so don’t try to look it up on a map.

Could this be the seal equivalent of a High Five?

If so, it is more than appropriate, because after nine years of the seals being an issue with the last five years spent on a lawsuit to evict them, they can stay. Hurray!

Yes, you too. Come on in!

On November 13th, Superior Court Judge Timothy B. Taylor issued a final order that the seals can stay. In his opinion the former rulings were fine at the time they were issued; but with legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to allow the city of San Diego to turn the Cove into a seal sanctuary starting from January 1st 2010, Judge Taylor saw no need to chase the seals away for 1 1/2 months.

Nearly 10 years of struggle by many animal activists, lawyers, ordinary people and a sympathetic judge have paid off to keep this wonderful little window into marine wildlife open.

With the new pupping season starting at the end of November, all is well again at the Cove.

Once, on a flight to the US, I was so bored that I decided to watch a comedy on offer, “Legally Blonde.” About 10 minutes into the film I was giggling and enjoying myself hugely. Talk about East Coast / West Coast stereotypes and what a good script and a delightful main character can make out of that! One of my many favorite moments was the sequence where the West Coast girl turns up at a frat party dressed as a Playboy bunny, because she was told it was a costume party. Eek, bitchy East Coasters.

Anyway, we see our heroine walking up the steps of the frat house in her shiny satiny pink bunny outfit, fluffy tail, ears and all, stepping through this door:

Yes, and I stepped through this door too – but rest assured, not adorned in pink satin. This is the door to the Perry House at the Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles. Filming was done here

and in the house next door, the Hale House.

The Heritage Square Museum is an example of how deeply some care about the history of Los Angeles and the architectural history of the US and to what lengths they go to preserve it for future generations. It is well worth a visit for anyone coming into town, whether as a tourist or to settle here. To get a peek into the houses, take the tour (weekends only).

Although it is a museum, some live there:

See, if bunnies can hop into houses, mother hens can parade their chicks around.They might not wear pink satin, but they do have fluffy backsides.

The story of the seals in the Cove at La Jolla and the dispute over whether or not they should be dispersed just took another turn:

At a cost of nearly $700,000 the city of San Diego wants to use a loudspeaker that emanates a barking dog sound from 6 A.M. till sunset and have police personnel on site to protect the person carrying/operating the device. If needed, even over the course of several years.

At nearly $700,000 per year (and rising, of course)?! Can one imagine a better use of taxes in times when we are told every day that we have to tighten our belts?

Angry Over Seals
Barking At Seals
Banished From Beach

More background information on all of this and the law suit running now since over 10 years can be read here:

http://savesandiegoseals.com/

I just can imagine how pleased those citizens of La Jolla living near the Cove will be to be woken up every morning at 6 o’clock sharp by the sound of barking dogs.

And the kids! They will love it! “Mommy, Daddy, can we go down to the beach where the dogs bark all day and the man runs around who carries the machine making the noise, while two policemen take care that everybody is safe during this event?”

Yes, that is what kids and neighbors and guests in the hotels lining the Cove love. Much more than seals. Because seals apparently are a nuisance.

And what about those who want to see marine mammals in the only seal rookery between San Francisco and Mexico? Why, they can go to SeaWorld and pay about $60.00 to stare at some seals in a tank.