Tag archives: animals

The manic cacophony of western gulls was too frantic to pass up, diverting my attention span toward drama-filled blue skies as a keystone species buzzed a prominent, weather-beaten seabird rookery. As I kayaked toward the commotion, I soon realized I was in the presence of an apex predator wreaking havoc over Scorpion Rock near the […]

The pets we keep are an extension of our personalities. Dog people are often distinct personality types from cat people and when you get into reptiles, fish, and other exotic pets, it says even more about the owner. At Odd Animal Corals & Critters, unique pets are their business. Odd Animals was opened by fellow […]

“I’ve never seen it like this. Business has never been better.” That’s quite the statement from Hiroko Benko, the CEO of the Condor Express, the booming whale-watching outfit that takes daily trips into the Santa Barbara Channel to give locals and tourists a glimpse at nearly every species of whale, as well as dolphins, seals, […]

It was nearly dark when I arrived on a lonely dirt road within the Carrizo Plain National Monument. I pulled off behind a cluster of salt bush, grabbed my binoculars and scanned the immediate region in fading light. About 100 yards to the east, I saw two rambunctious San Joaquin kit fox pups garnering attention […]

The party animals were out in force when Roger and Sarah Chrisman hosted a nautical bash for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network on their new 78-foot cruiser, Polaris II. The 30-year-old nonprofit, which cares for 3,400 animals each year and has more than 200 volunteers, has just launched a $1 million capital campaign to […]

It’s not too big of a stretch to suggest that a lot of people probably felt like they might never get out from under the “new reality,” what with several surges and multiple levels of lockdown over the past 15 months. But the folks over at the Santa Barbara Zoo are emerging from the COVID […]

Having grown up in a house on Miramar Beach, Josh Chapman has more than a few tales from his time in Santa Barbara. Between building forts from driftwood and playing dolphin whisperer with his friends, it would’ve been difficult not to develop an appreciation for the surrounding wildlife. Today, Josh is a freshman at Griffith […]

The reflection from my headlamp glistened off the wet of its black button snout as we gazed into each other’s eyes under a star-filled night.  I felt the thumps on my picnic table that doubled as my bed at around 2 am on a windswept Santa Rosa Island. I had slept soundly until then, lulled […]

The pandemic might have produced a reduced need for services at many businesses and nonprofits. But that’s not the case at the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. In fact, the coronavirus crises created a contrary result, even if only indirectly. “We saw a dramatic increase in animals coming here in 2020, and we’re certainly on […]

The phones at both the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network and Santa Barbara Zoo were quite busy over the weekend and into Tuesday — there were a handful of Australian Black Swans hanging out in the Santa Barbara Harbor, a sight never seen on the South Coast. That ended abruptly on Tuesday afternoon when Julia […]

Kristina McKean’s passion project is saving one elephant at a time in the United States and abroad Kristina McKean has funneled her lifetime passion for helping animals into a full-time profession by creating The Elephant Project. McKean had always felt drawn to animals and their related causes but it wasn’t until her honeymoon to Thailand with her […]

Santa Barbara’s Wildlife Care Network has just broken ground on its new state-of-the-art $6 million, 5,400-square-foot hospital in the Goleta foothills. “It will allow us a greater capability to save and serve thousands of wild lives,” says Ariana Katovich, executive director. “Current conditions have staff working out of old, meager facilities. Diets are prepared in […]

It has been quite a hair-raising year for Montecito crimper Marcus Boyle, owner of the Halo & Horns salon on Coast Village Road with his wife, Clara, just a curling tongs’ throw from Ca’Dario. Marcus, 45, who trained at Vidal Sassoon in London, celebrates the first anniversary of his business this month having worked for […]

For the last several months, Larry Balducci, the beloved owner of Plaza Deli in La Cumbre Plaza, has been offering his expansive and easily accessible patio as a drop off location for pet food donations. “After hearing all of these stories about how people can’t afford to feed their pets during the pandemic, I knew […]

Resting easy in my tent, headlamp burning bright, I was putting pen to paper when I heard giant kangaroo rats (GKRs) communicating with one another throughout a star-filled night. From one grassland burrow to the next, the drum of their oversized feet tapped the ground at a feverish pace, sending a message to other GKRs […]

All things bright, beautiful, and birds are well noted even during our cold winter lockdown, thanks to the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, who decided to hold its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) after weighing in on all the variants. The team organized the count with proper precautions and rules in place, including masking, distancing, and […]

It was a trail run like no other. Three trail runners had returned from an early morning run beneath dewy, overcast skies, reporting a mountain lion sighting on the narrow single-track trail, the Coon Creek Trail of Montaña de Oro State Park, located just south of Morro Bay. The runners reported that the mountain lion […]

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network is launching a Wild Rosé limited edition fundraiser. The Grenache Rosé wine, available for a limited time, was made specifically to benefit the popular charity by renowned winemaker Kris Curran, voted one of California’s highest profile winemakers with grapes from Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff’s Alamo Creek Ranch. Donor premiums […]

I first learned of the Blessing of the Animals when we lived in Spain. My daughter, Kim, came home one day and said, “We need to take Alegria (her horse) to the Blessing of the Animals.” Really? Okay! And that was the beginning of St. Francis in my life. Even though I heard he began […]