Category Archives: photography|quirky

nature, nature|insects, photography, photography|quirky

Scrub Oak Apple Gall

published
Click on thumbnails for more info & larger image.

Scrub oak apple gall.

Almost incandescent in the soft light of an overcast sky, the remarkable color of this scrub oak apple gall contrasts sharply with the muted greens, grays and browns of the surrounding chaparral.

The gall forms in response to the larvae of the California gall wasp. The gall protects the developing larvae, as well as providing it a source of food.

On the right side of the gall there appears to be a “sun print” of an oak leaf in the red color, where a nearby leaf may have shielded the surface from sunlight.

From today’s run on the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, near Saddle Peak.

nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|quirky, photography|wildlife, trails, trails|smmc open space

Las Llajas Longhorns

published
Click on thumbnails for more info & larger image.

Longhorn or Corriente bull and heifer on the Las Llajas loop.

Part of the appeal of trail running is that even on a short weekday run, close to home, on a familiar trail, stuff happens.

The plan for today’s trail run was a simple one — run up and down the Chumash Trail in Rocky Peak Park. By the time we were done, a 5 mile run would morph into a loop of nearly 10 miles. We would encounter a rattlesnake and a longhorn bull, and we would run short on water. But we would also have a great run!


Southern Pacific rattlesnake on the Chumash Trail
I’ve run in the Rocky Peak area for decades, and from time to time have encountered cattle near the end of Rocky Peak road. In recent years, the herd has been hanging out in the oil field and oaks between Las Llajas Canyon (near Poe Ranch) and a small mesa east of Rocky Peak road.

Seems to me most of the stock used to be Brahman, but these days there are many longhorns in the mix and according to an expert, these could be Longhorn, Corriente, or a Longhorn/Corriente cross.

When they heard us coming down the road most of the cattle just moved to another area — except for the big guy in the title photo. He made it very clear that no one should be messing with his heifers. He was a little agitated. While he didn’t charge us, it seemed possible he might. Avoiding any appearance of confrontation, we kept moving, and after a few moments were well away from the herd.

Here’s a Cesium browser View of a GPS trace of the Chumash – Las Llajas loop.

Some related posts: Chumash – Las Llajas Loop, Las Llajas Hill 2484, Exploring Las Llajas

nature, nature|insects, photography, photography|insects, photography|quirky

Sting of the Tarantula Hawk

first published & last updated
Click on thumbnails for more info & larger image.

A tarantula hawk wasp feeds on the flowers of a narrow-leaf milkweed

Its menacing body glistening a deep iridescent blue, a tarantula hawk wasp feeds on the flowers of a narrow-leaf milkweed.

I haven’t found these huge wasps to be particularly aggressive, but I’m not sure at what point a digital camera held inches  from the alien-looking insect becomes a threat — and I don’t want to find out!


Tarantula hawk wasp
The following is from the paper Venom and the Good Life in Tarantula Hawks (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): How to Eat, Not be Eaten, and Live Long:

“Tarantula hawks produce large quantities of venom and their stings produce immediate, intense, excruciating short term pain in envenomed humans. Although the instantaneous pain of a tarantula hawk sting is the greatest recorded for any stinging insect, the venom itself lacks meaningful vertebrate toxicity. …the defensive value of stings and venom of these species is based entirely upon pain. This pain confers near absolute protection from vertebrate predators.”

Shudder…

While photographing the wasp, I also took this short video. From a run earlier this week at Sage Ranch Park.

Related post: Tarantula Hawk

nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|quirky, photography|wildlife, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|san gabriels

Bear Cubs on the South Fork Trail

first published & last updated
Click on thumbnails for more info & larger image.

Bear cub clinging to a tree on the South Fork Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The thing about a dangerous situation is that you almost never see it coming. In an instant a pleasant adventure can turn really serious. We were in the San Gabriel Mountains about 2 miles down the little used South Fork Trail, and 20 minutes from Islip Saddle, when my running partner shouted, “Do you see that!”


Adventurous running on the South Fork Trail
From the tone of her voice I knew it was something serious. My first thought was a mountain lion, but then I saw it — a bear cub clinging to a tree on the trail ahead. Sh*&! How many times had I told friends that I didn’t worry too much about black bears, “unless, of course, it’s a mother with her cubs.”

Where was Mom? She had heard us coming down the trail, but apparently only had enough time to send her cub up the tree, and take cover. Not good, and potentially very dangerous. We couldn’t see Mom, we couldn’t hear Mom, but knew she was nearby. Most likely she was in the thick brush on the steep slope below the trail.

Suddenly, the cub scurried higher in the tree, its long claws digging noisily into the bark of the tree. That’s when we saw that there were two cubs! The noise startled me, and I wondered if Mom — wherever she was — would react.


The gnarled and twisted roots of the Wally Waldron Limber Pine
After a quick assessment, we walked quietly by the tree, and in a second or two started to jog. In a matter of seconds we were out of danger. It was fortunate that there were two of us and we were relatively noisy. A solo runner would have almost certainly surprised the mother with her cubs.

After a time the adrenalin subsided, and the rest of the run went very well. Temps were not quite as hot as expected on the low part of the course, and were pleasantly cool on Mt. Baden-Powell. Both the South Fork Trail and Manzanita Trail had been recently maintained. Some slides and washouts remain, but these are an integral part of the adventure and character of this trail run.

Update October 8, 2009. Here’s a video of the cubs and Mom taken a couple of months after our encounter. The cubs have grown! The video is from Johanna Turner’s YouTube Channel, which has fascinating footage of mountain lions, bears, deer, bobcats, foxes and other animals found in the mountains near Los Angeles.

More info about the approximately 23.5 mile course can be found in the post Islip Saddle – Mt. Baden-Powell South Fork Loop.

Related post: Wally Waldron Limber Pine