It’s always a treat to see a tarantula ambling along a road or trail.
In Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) the most likely time to see a tarantula is in September or October.
They are generally not aggressive, but can move very quickly if needed.
Some related posts:
– September & October are Tarantula Months!
– Tarantula Time
In their forecast discussion for today, the NWS Los Angeles Oxnard commented, “A long-lasting and extreme heatwave will continue across the region, and especially the interior…” The high temperature was expected to range from 105 to 115 across the interior valleys, mountains and deserts.
I was doing the Trippet Ranch Loop from the Top of Reseda. The highs on the San Fernando Valley side of the Santa Monica Mountains were expected to be in the 90s. But keep in mind that’s essentially the temperature in the shade. In full sun, the temperature could be 10 to 15 degrees higher. When I reached the Hub, at 7:00 in the morning the in-the-sun temperature was already around 90 degrees.
Nearer the coast, temps were expected to be a little cooler. From the Hub, I could see why. A shallow marine layer had developed along the coast. A couple of miles later, as I neared Trippet Ranch, I descended into a bank of wonderfully cool fog. It wouldn’t last, but I enjoyed the coolness as I continued down to Trippet Ranch and around to the Musch Trail.
I hadn’t run very far on the Musch Trail when I came across a remarkable spider web. The spider had ingeniously bowed a flexible stalk of tall grass to build its web. This solution avoided having to span the web between two stalks. I also wondered if the added tension would make the web more efficient.
At Musch Camp, I topped off my water bottle and then continued working up the trail. Near a still-seeping vernal creek, a speckled-orange Humboldt lily bloomed brightly in a patch of poison oak.
From the camp, the Musch Trail climbs about 400′, in a bit over a mile, to the junction of Eagle Rock and Eagle Springs Fire Roads. A left turn here leads past Eagle Rock to the top of the Garapito Trail.
Other than the Bent Arrow Trail—which remains closed—the Garapito Trail is the “End of Reseda” trail most impacted by our back-to-back wet rain seasons. At times, washouts, debris flows, slides, fallen trees, and vigorously growing chaparral plants have made the trail nearly impassable. The Santa Monica Mountains Task Force worked tirelessly over the Winter to restore the trail.
Of course, the rain that caused all the problems on the Garapito Trail has also resulted in numerous wildflowers along that trail. Today, some of the most prominent were scarlet larkspur, scarlet monkeyflower, Indian pink, and Plummer’s mariposa lily. And, Garapito Creek was still trickling in July!
This high-resolution, interactive, 3-D terrain view shows the Trippet Ranch Loop (yellow). The track of the closed Bent Arrow Trail is shown in red.
Some related posts:
– Trippet Ranch Loop, Musch and Garapito Trails – February 2024
– Trippet Ranch Loop Plus Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout
– Fogbow Near the Top of Hell Hill in Pt. Mugu State Park
I’ve encountered some interesting things crawling on the ground at Ahmanson Ranch this Fall.
Gopher snakes are the snake I see most frequently at Ahmanson Ranch (Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve). Recently, I came across this sizable gopher snake crossing the dirt road on the long switchback above the Victory Trailhead. Despite the small size of its head, a gopher snake can consume prey much larger than might be imagined.
Just a few days ago — in virtually the same place as the gopher snake — I encountered a good-sized Southern Pacific rattlesnake serpentining across the dirt road and continuing up the brush-covered hill (video). The snake reminded me of a rattlesnake I photographed near the Victory Trailhead in November 2019. In the Fall, Southern Pacific and other rattlesnakes are said to return to the same den year after year. This rattlesnake had about 13 rattle segments, and the November 2019 rattlesnake about 10. Both were headed in the same direction. Might they be the same snake going back to a den?
On that same run as when I encountered the rattlesnake, I came across this remarkably colored and patterned caterpillar on Lasky Mesa. It turns out to be the caterpillar of a white-lined sphinx moth — a type of hummingbird moth.
A few days later — near the same place where I encountered the gopher snake and rattlesnake — I happened upon this tarantula scurrying across the road. Male tarantulas search for mates in the Fall.
Some related posts:
Ahmanson Trailhead Rattlesnake
Big Southern Pacific Rattlesnake at Ahmanson Ranch
Stuck in the Drive-Thru
September and October are Tarantula Months!
If It Looks Like a Hummingbird and Flies Like a Hummingbird…
An Acmon Blue butterfly on narrow-leaved milkweed on Lasky Mesa.
From a run in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) on August 6, 2020.
Some related posts: Painted Lady Butterflies in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, Checkerspot Along the Garapito Trail, Tiger Swallowtail on Snow Plant
I was running down a narrow trail at Ahmanson Ranch, concentrating on the irregular terrain, when I suddenly found myself jumping over something on the trail. As my consciousness caught up, it asked,
“Was that a tarantula?”
“What tarantula has a stripe of orange on its back?”
Landing, I stopped and looked back up the trail. Totally unperturbed, a female tarantula hawk wasp, its bright orange wings gleaming in the sun, was diligently working to move its paralyzed prey to a nearby burrow.
The quintessential elements of a nightmare, I watched as the large wasp assessed the huge spider. I could hear the question as she turned away from the spider, and then reading the ground with her feet and antennae, determined if she could drag the beast uphill over a small bump. Then, question answered, she proceeded to do so.
Here’s a 30 second video of the tarantula hawk with the tarantula.
Related post: Tarantula Hawk, Sting of the Tarantula Hawk, September and October are Tarantula Months
Back in March, a profusion of painted lady butterflies in Southern California made headlines. The colorful insects were said to be passing through the area on their way to Oregon and other points to the north.
Two months later millions of the black, orange and white butterflies continue to be seen in the West San Fernando Valley, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch), and other areas. Recently there has been an uptick in their numbers and there have been some remarkable displays of the flyers along local trails.
There are three very similar species of “lady” butterflies in the genus Vanessa — the painted lady (Vanessa cardui), the American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) and the west coast lady (Vanessa annabella). The Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility web site has a side-by-side comparison of these species and this post on BugGuide.net compares the American lady to the painted lady.
The lady butterflies I’ve looked at closely in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve have the identifying characteristics of the painted lady (Vanessa cardui). Here are an open-wing photo and a closed-wing photo of painted lady butterflies in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
This three-minute slow-motion video of painted lady butterflies in upper Las Virgenes Canyon reveals their fluid, bird-like flight. The purple flowers in the video are winter vetch, an introduced plant which is also more abundant this year.