Tahoe Truckee Region Animals Digest

A dark-sky movement to save birds from window strikes is sweeping the San Francisco Bay Area. Several cities have passed or are drafting laws restricting light pollution while making windows easier for birds to see.

Novelist Jonathan Franzen looks at how trap-neuter-release policies in feral cat colonies have troubling consequences for city residents, local wildlife and even the felines themselves.

Sarah Grimes investigates reports of dead marine mammals up and down the coast. So when she began finding the decapitated bodies of harbor seal pups just a few miles north of Fort Bragg in 2016, she was on the case. Grimes wasn’t able to pin down the culprit until last year, with the help of a UCSC student.

Salmon populations in the Scott and Shasta rivers have crashed, so state officials are about to restrict irrigation again. And the controversial rules may even become permanent.

Birds are affected by the mass use of fireworks on New Year’s Eve up to a distance of 10 km away, reports an international team of researchers.

A coyote recently was found at the $27 million Russian Hill home of AI mogul Sam Altman. This relates to a study, which found that coyote sightings were more frequent in higher-income areas of San Francisco.

Conservationists intend to shoot all of the deer on Santa Catalina Island by helicopter. Some people are opposed, either for not wanting to eliminate the deer or for missing out on future chances to hunt them.

Livestock are responsible for half of all methane emissions in California. The White House is giving $21.4 million to California Dairies and $22.8 million to Dairy Farmers of America to help change this.

A 2021 fire has helped bring wolves back to Southern California for the first time since the 19th century. A rancher is worried about how to keep wolves, which are federally protected, from harming cattle.

The Office of Habitat Conservation’s Restoration Center has awarded $27.8 million to bring Central California Coast coho salmon back to California rivers, funding projects by Trout Unlimited, the San Mateo and Gold Ridge Resource Conservation Districts, and the Nature Conservancy.

Researchers tell LAist that half of California’s population of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, which are endangered, died last winter due to record weather. Causes of death include avalanches, starvation and getting eaten by mountain lions after moving to lower elevations for food.

Written by Center for Biological Diversity scientist Tiffany Yap and illustrated by artist Meital Smith, “Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey” takes the reader through diverse habitats, across busy freeways and inside science labs to learn about one mountain lion’s survival story.

The case of West Nile virus was identified in September, and the patient is now doing well. This is the first diagnosed human case of the disease in Nevada County since 2018.

There’s an official state bird, mineral, tree, fish, insect, lichen, fabric, sport, dance, soil and even dinosaur.

Placer County Animal Services debuted two umbrella structures to provide shade and security for dogs, staff and volunteers. Funding was supported by two local dog-lovers.

In a new study published Aug. 17 in the journal Science, fossil records at La Brea Tar Pits indicate that the disappearance of California’s sabertooth cats, dire wolves and other large mammals nearly 13,000 years ago was linked to rising temperatures and fire activity spurred by people.

California’s only native sunfish, the Sacramento perch, was once abundant before invasive species decimated it. As the planet heats up and threatens cold-water game fish, the Sacramento perch may be on the cusp of a comeback, thanks to its ability to tolerate warm water.

The new pack consists of at least five individuals not previously detected in California, including one adult female, who is a direct descendant of California’s first documented wolf in the state in recent history, (OR7), and four offspring (two females, two males).

The California Tahoe Conservancy has awarded a $500,000 grant to the nonprofit Wildlands Network, in partnership with Pathways for Wildlife, for a multi-year study of wildlife connectivity in the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Luis Yauri Oyola hopes one day to buy a tractor to start a business in Peru; he estimates that he is six years away from that goal, for which he will have spent more than a decade of his life living thousands of miles away from his family. He is on call 24/7 and doesn’t leave the job site except for necessities.

Research by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s snake fungal disease project indicates that the pathogen is occurring in more locations and impacting more snakes in California than previously known.

There's a new way for animal lovers to help the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe. A thrift boutique is set to open in early August, at 12047 Donner Pass Rd.

Concerns were raised over the placement of the designated dog park in Incline Village due to public safety access and potential harm to the surrounding creeks at the Village Green.

Photographs have been flowing into the Tahoe Tribune email featuring bobcats that have been spotted around the region, leading the newspaper to explore whether there are more of the felines in the area.

Nevada County Agriculture Commissioner Chris de Nijs has been appointed to the National Wildlife Services Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack on recommendations for the department’s wildlife services program.

The California Tahoe Conservancy is closing the Upper Truckee Marsh to dogs—a seasonal closure that protects birds and other wildlife during the breeding season.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected for the first time in free-ranging California wildlife. One hunter-harvested mule deer, a buck from El Dorado County, was confirmed to be infected. The deer was harvested in 2021 and sampled for chronic wasting disease surveillance.

The salmon industry, worth about half a billion dollars, is devastated. The culprits: Drought and decades of water diversions and development.

Wildlife Ecology Institute was awarded $236,000 to assist in the recovery of the endangered canine in concert with state and federal agencies and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the California spotted owl population in the Sierra Nevada as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Tahoe residents are all too familiar with the black bears that inhabit the basin, but a lot of time and resources go toward educating visitors and newbies.

A young, orphaned black bear is on the loose in South Lake Tahoe and officials are seeking help in locating it after it escaped last week from a wildlife shelter.