DEAR JOAN: A few days ago, I caught on camera a skunk out front, right before sunrise. Not too surprised, as over the years I have caught strong whiffs of them. Last night, just after midnight, my camera and light came on at the rear on my patio. I was surprised to see a skunk on…
Read More “Skunk skulking around Fremont backyard has man concerned about his dogs” »
DEAR JOAN: I notice that a variety of animals and birds drink from my swimming pool. Does the chlorine cause a problem for them? Do they have an instinctive reaction against drinking tainted water? I don’t know how we could protect wildlife from the thousands of swimming pools in our county. Lyn Arscott, Danville DEAR…
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The behemoth blues are back – and they’ve brought some babies as they hang out along the coast. Blue whales, the world’s largest animal, have been spotted off the Southern California coastline in recent days, showing up with calves frolicking alongside as they forage for food. There were sightings of the massive blue whale Friday,…
Read More “Massive blue whales are back off the California coast — along with their cute babies” »
LIVE OAK — A squirrel was euthanized after a resident discovered the rodent flailing with two different miniature steal traps clamped onto his limbs Sunday evening. The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is seeking information on the individual who set illegal steel rodent traps in the Live Oak area. (Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter —…
Read More “Reward offered in Santa Cruz County illegal squirrel l steel trap case” »
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (KSL) — A Utah neighborhood terrorized for weeks by a goose has now embraced the bird, having learned what was behind his “insane” behavior. “We love Gangsta now. We do,” says John Canaan, whose family came under attack more than once. The Canada goose showed up last month outside the Canaans’ home…
Read More “How a goose went from bad news to a beloved neighborhood mascot” »
A recent column on getting a lizard out of a house resonated with several readers. DEAR JOAN: I had to chuckle about this morning’s column, because it brought back memories of an incident that happened in our home years ago. We had an elusive alligator lizard in our home, probably one that had escaped when I…
Read More “Readers connect with San Jose woman with an unwanted lizard” »
CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) — A mountain lion that was part of a National Park Service study was fatally struck by a vehicle in Southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains along the same road where her mother was similarly killed. The adult female cougar, dubbed P-54, died Friday on Las Virgenes Road, south of Mulholland Highway, the…
Read More “Mountain lion in Southern California study killed by vehicle” »
When Keith Yip got word Wednesday, June 15, that a 28-foot juvenile gray whale tangled up in gillnets had been spotted off Laguna Beach and was being monitored by a team of boats, he scrambled his rescue crew from San Diego. If boats could keep track of the whale, it meant they might have a…
Read More “Gray whale is swimming free after rescuers cut loose massive bundle of netting” »
DEAR JOAN: I have an 8-foot ladder leaning against a sheltered corner of my patio. A pigeon, I think, made a nest on top of it about a week ago and then two days ago, the bird, I guess, started dismantling the nest. Today, I climbed a shorter ladder, to see. The nest is completely…
Read More “Birds build flimsy nest precariously perched atop San Jose ladder” »
The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA’s Pets of the Week are Daisy and Bago. If you subscribe to the theory that more is better, then prepare yourself for oodles of poodles. Meet bonded poodle mixes Daisy and Bago. Daisy is a four-year-old spayed female and Bago is a five-year-old neutered male. Both dogs have exquisite…
