Santa Cruz County Animals Digest

The governor asked the water board to waive rules designed to protect endangered fish. Environmentalists call it "a breakdown of law and order," while growers laud it as a way to ensure more water is delivered this year.

Woodland and beach regions known for tick activity across northwest California could be even more prone to the disease-carrying arachnids this year.

A small white deer is the sole survivor of a once-large herd created by famed publisher William Randolph Hearst.

“This is great compared to three years ago; this is not great compared to three decades ago.”

A nonprofit group that aims to protect endangered species has asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce sea otters from Northern California to Oregon.

Repeated delays of Dungeness crab season chips away at the long-term stability of the local industry.

It’s been a long road to recovery for the sanctuary and the society’s senior wildlife biologist, Joe Burnett. In August 2020, he watched helplessly over a remote video camera as a ribbon of flame crested over the mountain ridge toward the condor sanctuary.

Scientists studying otter behavior at the Elkhorn Slough near Moss Landing find that volunteers are as effective as professionals in collecting data.

Spring runs of a large minnow numbering in the millions have nourished Pomo Indians since they first made their home alongside Clear Lake more than 400 generations ago.

A new generation of Olympia oysters has taken up residence in Elkhorn Slough. Scientists hope breeding oysters in the lab and returning baby oysters to the slough will help the mollusks to rebound from the brink of extinction.

After being hunted to extinction in the 1800s, the North American beaver is returning to the creeks of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Drought, human-caused climate change, invasive species and a “legacy” of environmental issues are permanently altering California’s landscape and placing some communities and ecosystems at increasing risk.

Earlier this fall, Alameda County supervisors officially banned the practice of " wild cow milking "—a timed event in which a lactating beef cow, unused to human handling, has been wrangled from the fields and brought to an arena.

A dozen independent fish scientists are calling for urgent changes to sport fishing rules to save California’s largest freshwater fish after an unprecedented red tide this summer left hundreds of them dead.

For eight straight days this summer, farmers in far Northern California drained almost all of the water out of a river in defiance of the state’s drought regulations. The move infuriated environmentalists and salmon-dependent Native American tribes downstream.

Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control workers discovered an adult mosquito on Oct. 12 in Interlaken, marking the first sighting within county borders. By Nov. 7, they’d found or trapped 22 others.

The crow population “is hundreds of times larger than it was historically” because the birds have discovered an endless feast of trash and food scraps to feast on.

California pet rental laws can get tricky, and are slightly different between subsidized housing and rentals. The Bee breaks down everything that pet lovers need to know.

Divine Equine currently has about 35 students, 40 volunteers and six highly trained horses at a 13-acre ranch it leases in the Soquel hills. Teenagers make up a quarter of the clients.

2022 State of the Birds Report shows decline in more than half of the bird population, with grassland bird species shrinking the fastest. On the bright side, waterfowl are thriving in the nation’s wetlands.

Fall is deer mating season on the Central Coast, and deer are significantly more likely to be on the move. SPCA Monterey County is urging drivers to use extreme caution when driving to avoid hitting deer on roadways this time of year.

Marin, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Ventura counties have prohibited nurseries from selling a species of tropical milkweed species after the California Department of Agriculture recategorized it as a noxious weed. But some experts say the focus should be on larger threats such as pesticide and herbicide use.

Dr. Ronald Li, a veterinarian at UC Davis, treated 23 cats rescued from the Tubbs fire in 2017. In addition to the expected traumatic injuries, something else caught Li’s attention. “We noticed clots forming within their hearts,” he said. “But at that time, we didn’t know why.”

The monarch butterfly has been placed on the endangered list because of its dwindling numbers. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating insect for the first time to its “red list” of threatened species.

The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is looking for a new director now that Melanie Sobel, the director and program manager, is leaving to run the Denver Animal Shelter. The county plans a national search to find her replacement.

The seasonal fear of summer shark attacks spiked when a swimmer was attacked by a shark while at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. Then last week came social media footage of a 9½-foot great white spotted in the area of Soquel Cove known as “Shark Park.”

Caring for animals rescued along 600 miles of coastline from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County, the Marine Mammal Center just ended its longest public closure since its founding in 1973.

Dr. Merrianne Burtch established BirchBark Foundation to assist people facing financial obstacles in caring for pets. “The vision driving our organization,” she said, “is that financial hardship should never cause the loss of any family pet.”

Central Coast residents are urged to be on the lookout for struggling pelicans. The birds can be helped by the Monterey County SPCA. And in Santa Cruz County, help can be found at Native Animal Rescue, also a certified wildlife rehabilitator.

A dangerous bend on Highway 17 in Los Gatos, dubbed Laurel Curve, is notoriously deadly for wildlife attempting to cross the busy throughway. But after a decade of prep, work has begun on a wildlife underpass for at-risk species, such as mountain lions.

Spring is here, which brings with it wildlife youngsters. Many people who come across young animals may think they are abandoned or injured. This is most often not the case.

Backers of California’s High Speed Rail project haven’t had much to celebrate, given soaring costs and scaled-back service, but a new poll shows a solid majority of voters still want to move forward and finish the job.