I also visited another two sites that Venkat recommended about 40-50 minutes to the South-east of Crown Valley: Thomas Road (33.545869, -116.85783) and Tule Creek near Aguanga ( 33.4629, -116.8274). I also saw a half a dozen owls, presumably a higher number than usual and something to do with all that food scurrying around. These latter two animals paused obligingly at the roadside but I wasn’t quick enough to get any pictures. I had another kilometre along the road to the North East (33.6467, -116.9964), and what I believe was also a Stephen’s Kangaroo Rat, a mile or so to the south west along Rawson Road (33.6379, -117.019). I saw one or possibly two animals at exactly the spot listed in Venkat’s report (33.6489, -117.0052 ). Venkat’s report includes a lot of detailed information, most of which I won’t repeat here.ĭuring a couple of hours driving the Crown Valley and Rawson Roads, through the Roy Shipley Multi-species Conservation Reserve, I saw at least three Stephen’s Kangaroo Rats, the only kangaroo rat species in the open grasslands and sage brush on the valley floor. The population explosion, coupled with a lot of help from Venkat (largely in real time) made for a very successful trip. Rodent numbers seem extraordinarily high in southern California right now, and I don’t think I have ever seen as many anywhere as I saw around my campsite by Joshua Tree, and that includes the Sanetti Plateau in Ethiopia and the NYC subway. From there I went to Lancaster, primarily to see Agile Kangaroo Rats. Venkat saw a bunch of species I wanted to see and so I largely followed in his footsteps, starting the trip in Hemet before heading to Joshua Tree National Park. Next thing I knew I was landing in Los Angeles for the Memorial Day long weekend in late May 2017. I was powerless to resist and booked a ticket a few days later. In early May I read Venkat Sankar’s report detailing a cornucopia of small mammals in southern California. I had to be physically restrained from taking a suitcase, spotlight and taxi to the airport.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |