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Category Archives: Wildlife
Warm bike trail attracts snakes
A warning painted on the bike trail alerts trail users to watch for snakes.
I noticed about a week ago someone has been painting alerts to watch for snakes on the American River bike trail. The paintings appeared and then most of them were painted over or removed (I assume by Parks Dept. employees).
Springtime is when snakes begin appearing on the trail. Consider this entry by Robin Donnelly in her book, Biking and Hiking the American River Parkway.
“As you travel the Parkway in springtime, you might see a snake sunning in the path. After its winter hibernation, it is absorbing heat from the warm surface in order to hunt longer at night. Snakes “hear” through vibrations picked up from their underbelly in contact with the ground, as a result, it is likely they will know you are there and move out of the path.”
Posted from Rancho Cordova, California, United States.
Eye of the Tiger
For more than a week, local mural artist, Alex “Cabron” Forster has been working on a mural entitled, “El Tigre” on a 17-foot by 85-foot wall at the office of Born Free USA at the corner of S and 12th streets.
Born Free is an animal welfare and wildlife conservation organization based in Sacramento since 1968.
“This mural packs a huge punch combining the power of animals, art and sheer size to move people,” said Sharie Lesniak, Born Free USA Creative Director in a prepared statement.
The organization plans to host a Second Saturday “Off the Wall” mural opening event on June 9, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot in front of the mural.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Wildlife all over the trail on the morning commute
Lots of wildlife on the morning commute today. From the white turkey crossing the entrance spur to the bike trail, to the deer crossing, to the blue jay winging across the trail ahead of me, I enjoyed a number of encounters as I rode the bike trail to work this morning. Pity the folks stuck behind the wheel on their morning commute.
Cow t-bones cyclist in Fresno
Yikes. Check out this story and pictures on KFSN-TV out of Fresno of a woman who was hit by a cow while riding her bike during a training ride for RAAM.
“As soon as I come around the corner, he just barrels and t-bones me. Sends me about 30 feet down the hill,” Melanie Spigelmyre told the TV station. Amazing she wasn’t hurt worse.
Friday evening along the bike trail
A cyclist heads west along the American River Parkway bike trail Friday evening as an egret and a few ducks feed in the slough nearby. The great weather will continue through the weekend, but there is rain headed our way for most of next week according to this story in on sacbee.com today. Enjoy the weekend, but, if you’re out and about on Sunday morning, the bike trail will be closed from Discovery Park to Del Paso Blvd. until about noon. There will be more than 6,000 runners out there competing in the Shamrock’n Half Marathon. Good luck to all those runners participating in the race.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Birds on a wire
A bird lifts off from the high-tension power lines where she and other birds were roosting on a recent evening near the intersection of Howe Avenue and Fair Oaks Blvd. in Sacramento. I noticed these birds as I was unlocking my bike from a rack at the grocery store on the way home. It’s a sight I’m sure I would have missed had I been driving instead of bike commuting.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Sunday morning run on the bike trail
Another warm, sunny Sunday morning brought out the runners on the bike trail. This runner startled a pair of mallard ducks and they launched from the slough next to the trail near the 3.5-mile post.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Tom turkey struts along the bike trail
The turkeys are back. It’s been a few months since I’ve seen a turkey on the bike trail and then this morning I saw a gang of about 14 birds clucking along the trail under the Fair Oaks bridge. Then I noticed the tom strutting along with his feathers all fanned out.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
How much is that doggie in the window?
Or, better stated, how much is that doggie hanging out of the window?
I happened across this pooch hanging out of the window of a red Ford Mustang this morning as I headed toward the bike trail in below-freezing temperatures. He didn’t seem very impressed by my cold-weather spandex attire.
Posted from Arden-Arcade, California, United States.
Mountain lion warning signs by Nimbus Dam
Just east of the Nimbus Dam, park rangers have posted warning signs about mountain lions sightings. There have been four sightings according to a story on sacbee.com. Read Bill Lindelof’s story here.
Posted from Fair Oaks, California, United States.
Warmer mornings ahead
The morning commute continues to be a cold one these days with temperatures remaining below freezing well into the morning. The daily lows should warm up as clouds and a possible shower move into the picture later this week. Read Bill Lindelof’s weather story in The Bee.
The sun rises over the American River near William Pond Recreation Area on Christmas morning.
Posted from Arden-Arcade, California, United States.
Coyote sighting part 3
Another coyote sighting. This one is better than the previous two. On Friday morning I saw this coyote strolling along the American River bike trail by Campus Commons golf course. He trotted along the trail, oblivious to the golfers on his right and occasionally looking over his left shoulder at me. I was up on the levee pacing him until I reached the point where the levee trail drops to the bike trail. He saw me coming and took off.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Thanksgiving Day – turkeys on the bike trail
Happy Thanksgiving. Here’s a collection of video clips of encounters with turkeys this fall on the American River bike trail.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Coyote on the bike trail
This coyote was strolling along the bike trail Saturday morning near the 15-mile mark. While I was video recording, a passerby asked my what my dog’s name was.
Posted from Rancho Cordova, California, United States.
Sea Lion heads south on the Sacramento River
On this morning’s ride to Davis we were treated to the view of a couple Sea Lions cavorting in the Sacramento River. One was feasting on a Salmon (unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough to capture that with my camera) and the other was headed south, swimming fast toward the Delta. I was able to get a quick shot of him surfacing for air just north of the water intake station near Old Sac.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
White-tailed buck foraging along the bike trail in East Sac
I saw this White-tailed buck along the bike trail right by the Fair Oaks bridge Friday morning.
“You don’t see that very often,” said a guy who was walking nearby with his wife.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Coyote on the bike trail
After a long hiatus, I saw a coyote on the bike trail yesterday morning near the 6-mile mark on the detour at Campus Commons. He popped out on the trail, saw me and headed back the way he came.
Posted from Arden-Arcade, California, United States.
Just Ducky
A recent encounter with a flock of ducks on the way to the bike trail ended peacefully.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Mountain Biker taken out by a buck
This is some crazy video of a mountain biker getting hit by a buck. According to the information with the video on Max Cluer Sports Marketing’s YouTube channel where the video is posted, mountain biker Evan Van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa got taken out by a Red Hartebeest (a grassland antelope) during a bike race at Albert Falls Dam in Africa. Van der Spuy appears to be alright at the end of the video, but he took a tremendous hit. Check out his helmet.
Good grooming
Saw this Great Egret grooming itself Sunday morning on my way home along the American River bike trail.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Scenes of fall along the bike trail
A few video clips from the past week of scenes of fall I saw along the American River bike trail – deer grazing along the trail, Salmon fishermen lined up like sentinels in the river and a young couple watching the sun set over the river.
Hawk waiting for breakfast
Saw this hawk perched in a tree waiting for breakfast along the bike trail the other morning. Birders tell me it’s probably a Cooper’s Hawk.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
The tortoise and the heron
I happened upon this tortoise and Great Blue Heron sharing a log last evening along the American River bike trail on my way home.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Deer crossing
I was heading home along the bike trail last night and a deer bounded across the trail right in front of me. I looked for other deer to follow – something I learned long ago in Pennsylvania – but this deer was traveling alone.
Posted from Arden-Arcade, California, United States.
Turkeys on the bike trail
Almost hit a flock of turkeys on the bike trail near Cal Expo this morning.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Larry, Curly and Moe
Saw these three river otters diving and rolling in a slough along the bike trail this evening on the way home.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Grazing herd of goats and sheep crosses the bike trail
My morning commute was pleasantly interrupted by a herd of about 1,600 goats and sheep crossing
the bike trail, headed for the levee on the south side of Garden Highway to do some serious brush clearing. Grazing contractor Lee Haseltine told me the animals will be in the area for at least the next five days as
they clear the levee of the high vegetation. Watch the video and photo gallery below:
Photo Gallery:
Great Egret
Saw a Great Egret looking for dinner in a slough along the bike trail near mile marker 4.5 on the way home.
