GHB

This is what happens when someone takes GHB, also known as the date rape drug. Isn't it wonderful to think this guy had been driving in this condition? Wildlife biologists use GHB for sedating animals, and before it became a popular recreational drug, biologists could get GHB from veterinarians by simply filling out a little paperwork. Not so easy anymore, which is a good thing.

At least the weather is good

Another gorgeous day here in So-Cal. Temperatures were in the mid-80s and it was, of course, sunny. The local paper keeps saying this is the kind of weather that makes so many people want to live here. Yeah, if only it wasn’t for the crime, overpopulation, pollution, horrible traffic, and idiot drivers, this would be a perfect place to live. Well at least the weather is good.

I spent the day doing Engelmann oak work today. We set up some new transects in a section of the Cleveland National Forest near the Tenaja Trailhead. The area was closed to the public until recently (i.e., within the last few days) because of fire risks. Ours was still the only vehicle parked in the trailhead parking lot, so it was a nice (temporary) escape from the hustle and bustle of the rest of southern California.

Tomorrow is an office day, so nothing exciting will probably be taking place. Hopefully we will get a chance to get outside this weekend and do some hiking. The weather will certainly cooperate.

Clear days...

Today was another day of conducting Engelmann oak surveys for me. Engelmanns are very rare in Western Riverside county and we are interested in keeping track of survivorship and recruitment of individual trees from year to year. Our points today were at the Santa Rosa Plateau, which consists mostly of oak-grassland habitats. Unfortunately, our points were along a creek bed that was in a canyon full of poison oak. So in a few days I may be itchy.

I'm looking forward to next week because we start training for conducting carnivore surveys at work. From what I understand we will be clearing out plots of land (several meters squared in size) so all that remains is a patch of bare dirt or sand. We'll probably then smooth out the dirt (with a rake?) and come back the next day to look for signs (e.g., tracks, scat, etc.) that mammalian carnivores have passed through. Some such surveys will bait the plots with attractive scents, but placing the plots along clearly used game trails will almost guarantee that carnivores will pass by. The species we will hopefully get some tracks from include mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, weasels (including badgers), and gray foxes. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of tracks once the study starts next month.

Weather here is really nice. Not only are the temperatures great (in the mid-80s), but we have blue skies and very clean, clear air. You can't beat that down here.

UCR Botanical Gardens

We spent about an hour this afternoon walking through the UC Riverside botanical gardens. According to their website, the area is approximately 40 acres and consists of 4 miles of trails. Unlike some other botanical gardens I've been to in the Midwest that were indoors, this one was entirely outdoors. This, afterall, is southern California, and the only people that complain about any "cold" weather are the locals who don't know any better! Speaking of the weather, it cooperated today by being completely sunny and in the low 80s for a high. Fortunately the air quality was good enough that we were able to get some decent pictures of the San Bernardino mountains.

Our first stop along the tour was the fragrant and colorful rose garden. There were plenty of places to sit and relax while taking in the view.

Most of the plants that were planted in the garden are native to California, but not necessarily to southern California or lower elevations like in Riverside. There were also numerous exotic/ornamental/introduced species that one might find throughout the state, and fortunately they had little signs next to them saying what species they were and to where they were native. A couple of examples below:

To the left is a distant shot of a floss silk tree, native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America. To the right is a close-up of its trunk, which you can see is covered in some wicked looking spines. The spines are used by the tree to store excess water, but I'm sure they also play a role in deterring predation by hungry herbivores.

There was also a little patch of bamboo, which is native to Asia. It's hard to believe that this stuff is a type of grass, but then again, carp are a species of minnow. Go figure.

Like I said, the views of the nearby mountains were fairly good today, and here you can see the San Bernardino mountains in the distance, with the UC Riverside campus in the foreground.

It was nice to get out and see some green today without having to drive into the mountains. The best part was that admission to the gardens was optional (we paid anyway), and parking was a whopping 25 cents/hour. Can't beat that!