The stream-dwelling frog has disappeared from more than half its former locations in California, primarily because of habitat damage caused by dams and water diversions, invasive species, climate change and pollutants. The state’s Fish and Game Commission will decide in June whether to move forward with protecting the frog under the California Endangered Species Act.
If you saw someone wielding a camera around the middle of April, well... You were probably out in public, among people, where camera-wielders, whether they're posing for selfies or styling food shots, are pretty common nowadays.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/CityNature-Challenge-LA-Represents-420896793.html
Rounding up rattlesnakes is the business of a husband and wife who relocates them to California state parks.
http://m.wtol.com/toledonewsnow/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od:TfN4lRRA
Like a scene out of a horror film, adult western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) dangle on tips of grasses and other low-lying vegetation in their ghastly host-seeking posture called questing. In this stance, they spread their two front clawed limbs wide open and wait patiently for hours or even days for unexciting creatures to brash by so they can dig their metal-like mouthparts inside their host and gorge themselves on blood.
Traditional techniques weren’t working for the raven-ravaged reptile. So researchers got creative.
Wildlife biologists say an alarming number of female desert tortoise carcasses found earlier this year just outside the southern edge of Joshua Tree National Park may be the result of mothers fighting extinction by exhausting their water and energy to lay eggs, even under stress.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-survival-20170515-story.html
First of all, I would personally like to say thank you to everyone, and I mean everyone, who has joined this project. Without your dedication and observations, this project would still be very small and we wouldn't be able to see half of the reptiles and amphibians everyday people like you and I find in our daily lives. I would also like to say thank you to biohexx1! You have been posting some great journal entries on this project that I find very fascinating! It sure beats that Salamander post I had running for almost two years hehe. I'd also like to thank biohexx1 for scouting out observations from people who haven't joined this project, so we are able to see more of the rare reptiles and amphibians of our beautiful state. Again guys, I thank you all for joining and continuously contributing to my project. You all deserve a round of applause in my book and I cannot wait to see all of your future finds! Until next time, happy herping! :-)
-Dominic
The Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, a federally listed endangered species, was struggling for many years because their ponds were drying out during the drought. “The only thing they were lacking was water,” Holley said.
