On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 11:30:59 AM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:35:17 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:26:33 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 10:20:51 AM UTC-8, Doug Landau wrote:
On Sunday, January 8, 2017 at 1:59:35 PM UTC-8, wrote:
But the entire state is on a flood watch.

But the riding will undoubtedly be marvelous this spring with new growth everywhere and the old dead growth knocked down by the heavy winds and water soaked root systems.

The hills will be alive with plants and animals everywhere. The bird watchers made a count a week or so ago and I'll be seeing one this coming weekend to see the results among other things.

Since I saw a wolf on Mt. Hamilton and all called me a liar since there are no wolves in California they have a bit of egg on their faces discovering that there have been wolves spotted in several other places in California. There really are no such things as "lone wolves". These are very temporary. The Alpha Male or head wolf will evict the male pups from the pack after a couple of years when they get large enough to be a possible threat to his dominance. So seeing one wolf insures that many others are near.

The rivers even close to the cities are now turning up river otters. Naturalists are sort of confused about them. They only recently (relatively) discovered that sea otters are absolutely necessary to grow the kelp forests that grow the large diversity of sea creatures and other flora that maintain the health of the coastal waters. Now since river otters had disappeared so long ago the reappearance of them gives them pause. They do not understand what part they play in the ecosystem. They are still struggling with beavers as an absolute necessity as well.

If you LOOK while you ride it is amazing the things you can see. Now is only one of these reappearing animals will control the almost uncontrollable Crow and Raven populations.

What you saw was most likely a coyote, though, Tom

Right. We've always watched coyotes run across a mile of more of open ground at high speed. Coyotes are know for that don't you know. Are you aware that the spinal structure of a coyote and a wolf are different and that they have a different gait?

I should add that you should think about this for a second Doug. I'm sure that it's clear to you that a scavenger like a coyote has a completely different physical requirement than a predator.

As you can see Tom they are almost the same dam thing
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conserva...Identification

That is a coyote in winter coat and showing pictures like that doesn't give you a perspective on what a large difference in size there is. A wolf is larger than a German Shepard many of which I owned while a coyote is significantly smaller.

Coyote's DO NOT run long distances and they have a hopping gait. Wolves have a LONG loping gait capable of running down dear in full flight.