Rat Spill

I learned a new term this weekend "rat spill."

Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands Nat'l Park

Think of an oil spill and then replace the oil with introduced black or brown rats flowing onto an island and threatening the entire natural habitat: animals and plants.

It's quite an image and appropriate for the environmental damage that can occur when these large rat species are introduced to an island ecosystem. California's Channel Islands are constantly threatened by the potential of rat spill. 

Black rats (Rattus rattus) and brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are the number one cause of extinction for reptile and bird species on islands. These large rodents reproduce rapidly and eat everything, including eggs and hatchlings.  

Because islands are primary nesting locations for seabirds, rat spill can take out entire populations. Brown pelicans, oyster catchers, western gulls, and rare species–like ashy storm petrels and Scripp's murrelets–all nest on California's Anacapa Island. Prior to 1940, however, a rat spill introduced hungry rodents to the island with devastating impacts. Some of the bird species were headed toward extinction.

Beginning with efforts in 2001, Channel Islands National Park spent millions of dollars eradicating the rat spill. The effort was successful, but the process wouldn't be feasible on larger neighboring islands with small endemic mammals–like the island fox and island spotted skunk live.

While you might think an island fox could prey on a large rat, the fox's small size and the rat's aggressive self-protection, make this rodent a difficult catch for the diminutive island fox. Additionally, rats are a disease vector and can bring viruses, which threaten the fox's survival. 

more about island foxes

Across the Channel Islands prevention is the goal. Just like with oil, it is much more cost effective to prevent a rat spill, than to clean up the damage and hope you can restore a habitat. 

Take a virtual visit to the Channel Islands 

The Success of Island Fox Conservation

San Nicolas Island fox, Keri Dearborn

In 2000, four subspecies of Channel Island foxes were on the brink of extinction.

I became involved with island fox conservation in 2002, first as an observer and then as Education Director for Friends of the Island Fox, a non-profit organization focused on education and informing the local California community about this rare animal disappearing on our doorstep.

Santa Cruz Island fox, Michael Lawshe

Friends of the Island Fox has worked with biologists and land managers across the six Channel Islands that provide habitat for this endemic California species. Today the island fox is the perfect example of how the Endangered Species Act should work and how scientists, conservation organizations, government agencies and an active community can save a species.

At the low point, only 15 individual animals survived on San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands. Check out the annual update from the meeting of island fox biologists.  
2014 status of Channel Island fox.

You will be inspired. Individuals can make a difference.

Visit the Channel Islands and see island foxes.

Hear my interview about the island fox and how it came to be endangered.

Take An Earth Minute

Step outside and take a minute to reconnect with the other living things that share our world. 

You can do that close-by at a quiet neighborhood location like one of Los Angeles' Hidden Gardens at Orcutt Ranch Park in the San Fernando Valley.

Or travel far away, like outer Mongolia - Listen to the wild wind and see the extreme terrain of Western Mongolia.

island fox footprints

No matter where you go, if you look closely you will see what other people miss: A wild tortoise living among ancient Roman ruins (Temple of Aphrodite, Turkey); flying fox bats in downtown Cairns, Australia; the endangered island fox on California's Santa Cruz Island.

When you take the time to engage with the world around you it will bring you peace, wonderment and inspiration. My husband and I are posting a minute of adventure - large and small - at TheEarthMinute.com each Friday.

Sometimes you can find a minute of wonder at your back door, like the Bewick's wrens that built a nest on our patio. 

This Friday I'm posting a moment with some of my favorite micro-carpenters. Subscribe to the e-mail that tells you when a new Earth Minute has been posted; you won't want to miss these bee-autiful builders.

Santa Cruz Island - A World Away and Right Next Door

Sometimes you don't have to go far to experience a different world. 

road coming up from the harbor and wetland

Santa Cruz Island is larger than the island of Manhattan. It is part of Channel Islands National Park and home to many rare and endemic species. Yet, few people visit this island only 26 miles off the coast of busy, bustling Southern California. 


A day trip out to Santa Cruz is like traveling back in California's history, when people were few and weather and sea molded the landscape. Last Thursday we took a trip on an Island Packers boat to Prisoner's Harbor on Santa Cruz Island.

brown pelican

There were sea birds, dolphins and migrating gray whales (including a gray whale calf). Picture of bottlenose dolphin with calf.

native blue dick

The wildflowers were in bloom.

And we found the tracks of an endangered island fox.

Santa Cruz Island was greatly impacted by the ranching of domestic sheep, goats and pigs during the 20th century. These large herbivorous animals nearly grazed the island to death. Today all of the domestic animals are gone and the wild plants and animals are making a strong come back. Before the day was over we saw not only the rare island scrub-jay, but also a healthy island fox. 

the island fox is only 12 inches tall

I'm the Education Director for Friends of the Island Fox. We've worked hard supporting conservation efforts to save this tiny rare canine from extinction. Just 12 years ago, you could not see an island fox on the northern islands running free in the wild. Only 15 individuals survived on San Miguel Island, 15 on Santa Rosa Island, and less than 100 on Santa Cruz Island. To see a healthy island fox in the wild at Prisoner's Harbor was a thrill.  For more about the island fox, visit www.islandfox.org

A day trip to Santa Cruz Island is a beautiful get away / adventure. For more pictures (including a dolphin calf), see my Island Journal at Friends of the Island Fox. You can take a trip to Santa Cruz Island with Friends of the Island Fox. We will be leading a group to the island on May 5th, 2012. Information on Trip to Santa Cruz Island.

The Channel Islands are also home to numerous bird species including island subspecies. Here's My Bird List for 3/29/2012 to Santa Cruz Island:

Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)  ~1000     in large rafts of individuals
Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii) 
Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)  125     in a raft
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) 
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 
Red-tailed Hawk (Western) (Buteo jamaicensis calurus) 
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)      
Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba)   
Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) 
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) 
Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)       island subspecies
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)  carrying food from wetland area to west side of barn structure, nest not seen
Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya)      in restored wetland area
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  in willows
Island Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma insularis)  3     pair together east of wetland area, single bird on the hillside up by the lookout, all visible at the same time
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)
Bewick's Wren (Pacific) (Thryomanes bewickii)  island subspecies
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)       island subspecies
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group]) 
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) 
Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)


 

Talking About Island Foxes

One of my professional hats has ears, island fox ears.

Since 2005, I have been the V.P. of Education for the non-profit organization Friends of the Island Fox, Inc. I recently sat down for an interview on the EverGreen Show on California State University, San Bernardino's Internet radio station.

My interview on the EverGreen Show airs:

• Tuesday, March 9 from 6-6:30 PM
• and replays Thursday, March 11 from 6-6:30 PM.

We discussed the endangered Channel island fox and the important role this tiny carnivore plays in the island ecosystem. Follow the link below and listen over the Internet.

CLICK HERE to HEAR the Interview (30 mins.)

CSUSB Coyote Radio Station http://coyoteradio.csusb.edu/

For more on the Channel Island fox: www.islandfox.org

Taking a New Path

The path we walk everyday can become ruled by repetition and obligation. Sometimes we trudge along just content with forward movement, unable to really observe the passing scenery. Simple beauty, like the gentle curve of a blade of grass or the slope of a hillside, becomes lost in the complex twists and turns of our life’s road.

Despite concerted effort toward a distant goal, we may wander and find ourselves looping back to where we began.

For the past two years, I have wandered the road of academia. Now, I find myself back where I was, but looking at the path ahead with a new perspective.

Where will this trail lead? I don't know, but I feel ready for an adventure.

Helping the Island Fox

Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the negative news about the world we live in? I know I sometimes do.

Helping to preserve diminishing rainforest in South America, saving great apes from the bushmeat crisis and even polar bears that are being threatened by global warming, can all seem distant and unsurmountable problems. We can give money, but do we personally see the difference that we have made?

I just finished writing up a website entry for Friends of the Island Fox at islandfox.org about riding along with biologist Julie King of the Catalina Island Conservancy as she did health checks on endangered island foxes. How did I get this great opportunity?

Three years ago a close friend asked me to join her on the board of a conservation organization working to save a local endangered species, the island fox. Friends of the Island Fox, Inc. works to save a local Southern California species that is found only on the Channel Islands.

In the past 2 years we have:

• raised funds to provide 17 radio tracking collars for island foxes to be returned to the wild.
• created school outreach programs and an Island Fox Ambassador Program that helps kids become active in saving this local endangered species.
• we've raised awareness about this little known animal at community events in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
• We've created a video on island fox releases. Link to the video.
  
• And we have started an Island Fox Talk podcast. Listen to the podcast.
  

Are we making a difference?

Yes. People are becoming aware of this native Californian and reaching out to help the island fox. Across the four islands where the island fox is endangered, population numbers are increasing. All of the land managers on the Channel Islands are seeing greater support for their efforts.

Check out the Friends of the Island Fox website.

If you are interested in getting involved and making a difference, we need volunteers to help with classroom visits and manning booths at educational events. If you have a skill that you are willing to share, let us know at islandfoxnews@gmail.com

If you know a school, class, youth or adult community group that would be interested in learning about the island fox, drop me an e-mail at islandfoxnews@gmail.com and we will set it up.

You can make a difference and the best place to start is by helping a neighbor.

The Real Poop

I can't help it. One thing that fascinates me is scat. That's right the remains of what something ate the day before. (That is unless you are a hummingbird and then its only a few hours before.)

On a recent trip to Catalina Island, I had the honor of tagging along with the fox biologists for the Catalina Island Conservancy as they did annual trapping of island foxes to give them health checks. One of the things we came across even before we found an island fox, was their scat.

Look at this scat closely and what do you see?


Is it plant or animal matter? If you want to find out the real scoop on this poop, follow the link to Friends of the Island Fox.

Saving the Island Fox

For two days I've been in the classroom and not counting creatures in the yard. I've been out talking to school children about biodiversity in California and the endangered island fox.

The island fox is found only one place in the world–the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. This endangered creature is the perfect example of a neighbor that is in desperate need of help.

I got involved with Friends of the Island Fox because they are local conservation in action– people working together to save a local endangered species. Check out their website www.islandfox.org

You can make a difference. And it starts with one small creature and one small habitat at a time.