North American Flying Squirrels, etc.

If you are ever in the Washington, DC area in winter, the Long Branch Nature Center here in Arlington has a Southern Flying Squirrel program that is pretty cool.  The squirrels come to a feeder on the deck. They have a one hour talk, which is mostly for kids, and ask for a $3 donation, but you can skip those and just show up around dusk.

The squirrels blam into the tree and immediately race around to the other side, scoot down to get a nut, then race up the tree and launch themselves into the air. They have a high cute factor and it is easy to stand there for an hour watching them.

I am wondering if anyone knows of a public place where Northern Flying Squirrels come to a feeder. I have had no luck  finding them in the wild where I have been in their range.

I am also wondering if anyone knows of a good place for Snowshoe Hares in the eastern US. I know they are abundant in places, I just don’t know where those places are.

I’d like to make a trip north before the winter sets in, trying for those two species is a good reason to go.

Thanks in advance,

John

Mountain goat kills hiker

Not the kind of mammal encounter you’d want.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone being killed by a mountain goat before…

Mountain goat kills hiker at Olympic National Park.

ID confirmation of a couple Carrizo Plains Rodents

I was out at the Carrizo Plain last week and did quite well, despite being limited to the paved road at the southern end, due to extremely wet and muddy conditions.    I spent about 3 1/2 hours there, hiking and cruising, and conservatively saw 60+ rodents.   There were at least 7 species, however I was only able to photograph 2.

I’m pretty sure these are San Joaquin Pocket Mice, Perognathus inornatus.

 

I think this is Peromyscus maniculatus.

 

I also saw the 3 K-rats, Southern Grasshopper Mouse, and a California Pocket Mouse.

 

Thanks,

 

Curtis Hart

New Small Carnivore in Madagascar

ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2010) — A new species of small carnivore, known as Durrell’s vontsira (Salanoia durrelli) has been identified by researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Natural History Museum, London, Nature Heritage, Jersey, and Conservation International (CI). The small, cat-sized, speckled brown carnivore from the marshes of the Lac Alaotra wetlands in central eastern Madagascar weighs just over half a kilogramme and belongs to a family of carnivores only known from Madagascar. It is likely to be one of the most threatened carnivores in the world.

Read more

Jon

New Trip Report – PNG

There’s a new trip report from Steve Anyon-Smith on the Papua New Guinea page. He just spent a couple of weeks in a lodge in the central highlands which sounds excellent for mammals (at least relative to much of PNG where they are seem so hard to see). He saw 5 species and several others are in the neighbourhood including Doria’s Tree Kangaroo. The human fauna sounds fascinating too. Its worth reading for the prose alone… “some of the potholes are so big they create their own weather” …..

Jon

Jerusalem – Porcupines and Gazelles

I was in Jerusalem last weekend for a night. Indian Porcupines are easy to see at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory in the middle of the city (quite well signposted between the Knesset and the Supreme Court). They usually feed in front of the bird hide in this tiny reserve just after dusk and I saw at least 2 animals here, along with a Southern White-breasted Hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor). Many thanks to Ohr Tregger, Jonathan Meyrav and Amir Balaban, the manager of the reserve, for their help.

Mountain Gazelles are quite common in Israel and if you are in Jerusalem they are easy to find in the Valley of the Gazelles, a small patch of scrub that has been isolated in the middle of the city, still home to a population of gazelles. I asked the taxi driver to drop me off at the busy Pat Junction, at the southern end of the valley, early in the morning. I found a hole in the fence and wandered through the bush, flusing 3 Gazelles in the middle of the grassland. There used to be 20 or so animals living here, but someone told me that fewer than 5 remain.

East Timor RFI

I will be in East Timor in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know anything about mammal watching possibilities there?

thanks

Jon

Flying Foxes – Subic Bay on the Philippines

Steve Brown asked me to post the following to raise awareness of the problems Flying Foxes face on the Philippines. If you would like more information please email him at buckheron@yahoo.com

I am an American that has visited a number of the Philippine islands. Subic Bay, which is no more than three hours from Manila, and easily accessible by public transportation on good roads, is one of the last virgin lowland rain forests in southeast Asia. There is a colony of giant flying fox bats, the largest bats in the world, and a variety of other bat species. The number of flying fox bats has been greatly reduced, perhaps more than 98% from their numbers not that many decades ago. Hundreds of the bats can be seen in the daytime roosting on a few select trees that at present are alongside a well paved road. At dusk, when they leave the trees to search for food, they are a magnificent sight to behold, as they fill the sky. Unfortunately, they are still being hunted, even though their numbers are greatly reduced.And the fruit trees on which they rely are decreasing. It is easy to arrange for one of the Aetas people- an indigenous people that live in and near the forest-to guide one through the forest to see other animals. Guides are available by going to the main entrance point into the Subic Bay forest, which can easily be reached by a taxi or other forms of transportation. By employing the Aetas as guides, and making it known in general that the protection of Subic Bay and all of its trees, bats and wildlife is an important source of tourism and interest , a strong message is sent as to the importance of preserving this unique virgin rain forest. The one species of monkey in the Philippines can easily be spotted from Subic Bay.

The Philippines in general is a good location for spotting a variety of marine mammals. There are locations in the islands of Bohol and Negros where it is practically guaranteed that one will see spinner dolphins on whale watching tours and a chance of seeing other marine mammals. There are other locations where there is a good chance of seeing Irrawaddy dolphins, which I have seen in the Philippines. Du gongs, though rare, inhabit some of the coastal waters on some islands. Many species of whales and dolphins pass through the waters of the Philippines. I have met people that have spotted pygmy sperm whales, false killer whales, and a variety of other species. The Philippines is also a good location from which to make trips into Borneo. I think it is vital to support conservation efforts in the Philippines, because the remaining forests, corral reefs, and other wild areas are under great distress. There are many species of birds, mammals,and other wildlife that are endemic to these islands, and that face extinction.

New Trip Reports: The Azores and Spitsbergen

Steve Morgan sent me two detailed reports for the Azores and Spitsbergen. Highlights include Sperm Whales off of the Azores and Belugas off Spitsbergen.

Jon

New Trip Report – Madagascar

And another new report, from Matthew and Maureen Hart whose round the world mammal vacation has taken them to Madagascar for two weeks and 24 new mammals.

Jon