Tag archives: animals
It wasn’t rain falling in the rainforest of the Corcovado National Park, located on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, but it was raining leaves, bushels of them floating beneath the canopy that was so dense it blocked out the sun. The wind wasn’t blowing, yet the leaves continued to fall. Instead, there was a […]
I almost lost them in the densely vibrant fields of hillside daisies within the Carrizo Plain National Monument. They were about a half-mile west of where I stood, my Canon 300mm IS lens aimed in their direction. I was hoping for them to meander my way, but with wildlife you never know. They have their […]
The barks and bellows from raucous California sea lions wafted skyward from their seaside rookery just beyond wave-battered Potato Harbor. Ascending the newly named Montanon Ridge Loop Trail, I loped across a craggy, rolling marine terrace, that cacophonous marine mammal serenade gradually drifting away, aided by wispy northwest winds above Coche Point on Santa Cruz […]
Back onshore, you can do your part to safeguard our local waterways for those animals that are still roaming free by participating in the pandemic version of Explore Ecology’s annual Coastal Cleanup. This year, instead of gathering together at beaches and sites throughout the county on a single day, the cleanups will officially take place […]
The pea soup fog hung over Tomales Point at Point Reyes National Seashore like a wet, cold blanket in Northern California. We could hear the surf thundering below, but Holly Lohuis and I couldn’t determine how big the waves were, the fog concealing just about everything except the narrow, rolling route out to the wave-battered […]
Owls have long lived in my most favorite category. Their stoic demeanor. Their wisdom. The intensity of the screech owl’s screech, the trills and lonely melodic resonance of the great horned owl’s “hoot hoots,” and the barn owl’s hissing rasp. Twice this week the California Highway Patrol rescued owls hit by a car along Highway […]
The Santa Clara River Estuary was a graveyard of tattered driftwood, tangled kelp balls, a rotting sea lion carcass that was so putrid it could only attract a pair of turkey vultures. A high ceiling of overcast kept the early morning comfortably cool. The sand was coarse and gritty, perfect for breeding and nesting western […]
The Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (WCN) is a wild and amazing place located at 1460 North Fairview in Goleta. The Spring babies are here! Wildlife doesn’t know about the pandemic. They just need to be fed and cared for. Because of the virus the Wildlife volunteer force is absent and the small staff has […]
More Gretchen, Please Last week’s article “A Man and His Dog” (by Gretchen Lieff) touched me – as so many of your articles do. I know I speak for many when I say we’d love to be able to follow more of Gretchen’s musings – and adventures – in your Journal. Sincerely Sharon Kantanen Free […]
Regular grooming shows love to your pet, and it also helps keep your house clean. That recently became more challenging since we’re now all working and studying from home. For Paws Salon, a locally owned pet grooming business in Montecito and Santa Barbara, plans to keep both locations open. They will now provide curbside or […]
Although for humans it might seem like life has come to a complete stop, the cycle of life and rebirth in the natural world around us continues. This pattern is never more striking than during spring, however, which to wildlife rescue experts has another name: “Baby Season,” which is when mammals produce the bulk of […]
Summerland resident Lee Heller has lived in Santa Barbara County, including Montecito, for the past 23 years, and has been active in animal services for another few decades before that. She’s also a longtime volunteer with the cat-centric Animal Shelter Assistance Program, or ASAP, which is based in Goleta. According to Heller, animal shelters throughout […]
This Saturday, March 14, George Pet Shop in Montecito Country Mart will host a special adoption event to showcase Manny, a senior dog who is looking for his new home. “I would love to help him find his forever home so he does not continue to spend years in a shelter,” said Shelley Greenbaum, a […]
Santa Barbara’s 32-year-old Wildlife Care Network, which is building a two-story, 5,000 sq. ft. animal hospital on its 1.8 acre Goleta property, has raised more than $3 million of its $6 million budget, including a hefty donation of $3 million from News-Press owner Wendy McCaw and $250,000 in a grant from the Oiled Wildlife Care […]
It was nearly dark on the Carrizo Plain National Monument. I pulled up in my truck on a plateau of dry, crunchy grass overlooking the Temblor Range on the Elkhorn Plain in the southeast corner of the monument, coyotes yelping in unison in some nameless canyon. I was tired from five full days of guiding […]
The party animals were out in costumed force when the popular charity Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network threw its 31st annual benefit at the Carriage and Western Art Museum with nearly 300 guests raising around $150,000 for the Goleta-based facility and rescuing more than 3,500 animals annually. The fun fete, co-chaired by Gretchen Lieff and […]
It was a night on the tiles when the Santa Barbara’s Wildlife Care Network hosted a Rose on the Roof sunset soiree at the Union Bank on Anacapa Street for 60 guests. As well as quaffing the wine, donated by co-chair Gretchen Lieff, the animal lovers noshed on a variety of treats from Santa Barbara […]
This show has become a local favorite in the two years it’s been on and is going national with a one-hour special that will be aired at 8 am on Saturday September 21 on Cox Cable Channel 4 and 1004. The Animal Zone special will feature highlights from the first two seasons including stories of […]
It was a double occasion for celebration when Montecito animal rights activist Gretchen Lieff threw a sunset soirée at Tydes at the Coral Casino when her longtime beau medical equipment executive Miles Hartfeld celebrated his 66th birthday. The peripatetic twosome just returned from sojourns in Oahu and Kauai where they got engaged, Gretchen tells me. […]
The Santa Barbara Zoo has been giving the wildest party in town for 34 years. The 500 or so animals don’t seem to mind when it’s time for the Zoofari Ball – this year’s theme was Summer Camp with the campsite being the hill at the Zoo. It was definitely glamping, not camping. Some […]
