best vacuums ever

 Thanks to the Blogmaid for these great goat photos of the yearly clean-up down in Half Moon Bay. What amazing animals with outstanding digestive systems and their intriguing eyes. 

life on a sheep farm

 This wise looking fellow is only one day old. This week I have had the joy and privilege of writing with Anna, cousin of the Seahorse. She and her family live on a big farm in Tully, New York. Here is her note from last night:

Hi, I'm going to write but a little late. All well here except it is bitter cold and ewes are going into labor so I have to watch nonstop to make sure the babies don't freeze. Kitchen is full of babies just for tonight. By morning they should be able to be back with their mothers. Anyway I'm heading back out to look to make sure no one else is in labor and depending on what I find.... Love you. Hope you enjoyed your hermit day with the snuggliest snugglebutt.  

you should google this

 Comedy Pet Photography Awards ~ maybe my favorite kind of humor these days. My girl, just in case you are wondering, makes me laugh at least once a day with her antics. I don't miss Facebook at all, but I do love the cat and dog videos on Instagram, so that remains on a once-every-three-days kinda habit. 

something borrowed

 Here we have three of the Blogmaid's five devoted pets all stretched out as though arranged just for the camera. I know that they were more fun than last night's ball game. The series is now split. Sigh.

Mr. Handsome

 That is what the vets named this two year old mountain lion who was roaming around Bernal Heights last week. Beautiful creature who somehow got here from the south. (Probably faster than the always clogged freeways.) He is gorgeous but I'm glad I didn't encounter him as I walk the nabe. 

animal update!

Puma at party

New dog Noochi

Ms. Puma is settling in with Rev. Richard although she did have a bit of
a territorial dispute with a dog guest at the party. Puma won and I have
a feeling that she will always get her way. I snapped this photo of her
resting exactly where the previous cat (Desi) used to perch.

Our writing friend Will and his wife Valerie had to put down their old
dog last year. A Russel Terrier named Russel. Valerie went to Muttville
and found this sweet 12 year old and they named her Noochie because
of some fudge on the East Coast that is the same color as she is. I do
think that she is adorable and we know she found a great forever home.

animal kingdom

Carlini's  cat Desi

Linda's fireflies

Anonymous

Thanks to three friends for these important photos for all to enjoy.

cats, dogs, robins

I have been subbing as a Round Robin this week. Today my partner is
Linda and just knowing that I'm writing to her frees me to reflect a bit
more honestly than sometimes. Here is today's piece:

MY PET (the prompt)

I have a fictional cat named Salmon. A big orange guy who helps my
narrator (Ellen) as she tries to find out who killed her husband, Seth.
Yesterday at the SPCA I saw a Salmon-like fellow, round and profound.
He locked eyes with me and told me that he would be oh so happy
here in Bernal Heights. He said that he would never jump on the
kitchen sink or any table and that he would abide by all of our house rules.

We have had five cats and one dog here in our real house. My husband
never bonded with any of the cats, except for Uncle Junior who was
orange and very special. We thought we would be paid $5,000 to bring him
home and neither of us liked him very much at first. But, oh did he grow
on us. I can't describe exactly why he was so likable, but even Bill
warmed up to him. That special combination of independent and lovable.
Surprise, we never got one penny for rescuing him, but in the end we
were the fortunate ones. His death was a blow to both of us.

Our dog was a big Irish Setter and who could not adore him? Life is
so much easier without pets - the house stays clean(er) and there
are no huge vet bills to worry about. And yet, and yet...
 

it's a wild life

The anonymousmaid sent me these photos and soon the raccoons will be
birthin' again, so stay tuned for some controversial pictures!

meet Cooper

Our friends, Mickey and June, have always owned and loved dachshunds,
and here is their newest. A little blonde guy who is supposedly a clown
and of course he's obviously somewhat spoiled. Ginger in Santa Barbara
has the piebald dachsie (sp?), but this is the first golden-furred fellow
that we've ever seen. Mickey and June live in Bend, Oregon, remember
when we visited them up there a few years ago?

our new grand dog

Meet Daisy, the happy puppy over in Kensington. Middle son John
(aka John the Good) and his wife Kathy lost their beloved Nigel a
few months back and after grieving and talking, they found this
lovely Miss Daisy. They report that they had both forgotten how
much different a young, rambunctious dog is compared to an
old, well-trained buddy, but of course they are all adapting just fine.

pink tongue, pink tail

Thanks to Dancing Jen for this enchanting photo!

My day off yesterday was delightful and included a trip to Target and
a nabe walk to meet my friend Terri for coffee. It is time to garden
and that dead mouse I found out there for Husbando was "more"
if you get my meaning. Funny, Terri and I had been talking about
how many rats there are in SF just an hour or so before ~ if we had
a cat or two this would NEVER happen.

out of africa?

From yesterday's Chronny ~ we love stuff like this:

The sudden rash of "black panther sightings" this fall at Bay Area parks has given new spark to the region's greatest wildlife mystery:

Are the sightings cases of mistaken identity, as wildlife scientists believe?

Or is there another explanation?

Scientists say they have no proof of black panthers in the region.

"I really think that most of the black cat sightings are either house cats or occasionally where someone saw a mountain lion in bad lighting," said Steve Bobzian, a wildlife biologist for 14 years with the East Bay Regional Park District, where most of the reported sightings have occurred.

"I've had people send photos of what people thought were mountain lions, and they ended up being bobcats, house cats, and one time a fox, another time a coyote," Bobzian said.

One thing for certain is that hikers are seeing something out there that is unexplained. From the perspective of a scientist, here are the different rationales for the sightings:

-- Black panther: The definition of a black panther is that it is a melanistic leopard, that is, a condition that could cause it to be born with black hair. This occurs very rarely in Africa and China. There's no explanation for how a family of them could end up in the East Bay foothills.

-- Black mountain lion: According to the reports, the size and appearance of "black panthers" look exactly like black mountain lions. But according to mountain lion specialists at the Department of Fish and Game, scientists have never encountered such a thing in more than 12,000 cases in North America. "If you look at all the pelts that are out there, nobody has even one mountain lion pelt that looks black," Bobzian said.

-- Black bobcat: There are many verifiable cases of jet black bobcats in the wild, including in the East Bay foothills. The problem with this, however, is size. Recent reports describe the animals as typically about 4 1/2 feet long, 100 to 150 pounds, with long, swaying tails, consistent with the appearance of a mountain lion. Most bobcats are only about 2 to 3 feet long, 20 pounds, with short "bobbed" tails. "You do have black bobcats out there," Bobzian said. "About 30 to 40 percent of people reporting mountain lions turn out to be seeing bobcats. We know this from images we're provided where we can pick out characteristics. We just had one on Monday at Las Trampas, where a person thought they'd seen 'The Missing Lynx.' Turned out to be a bobcat."

-- Black jaguar: Photos of a black jaguar look like an exact match to the descriptions of eye-witness accounts of black panthers. The problem is that jaguars live primarily in Central America. One theory is that a wealthy eccentric imported a black jaguar for a personal exotic game farm, and then the animal escaped. But the jaguar would have to be registered and have a state permit. An escape would make big news. And it would not account for multiple sightings in different regions.

-- Black house cats: This past summer, The Chronicle received a photo of a "black panther," which was forwarded to the Department of Fish and Game for expert analysis. After studying it, scientists responded with a clear verdict: "This is a black house cat." Bobzian agreed: "I really think people are seeing house cats most of the time." According to Shelly Lewis of East Bay parks, the rash of sightings of black panthers at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness was "a story that someone let loose several black cats" about 10 years ago.

Sightings of mountain lions have become far more common than at any time in the past 100 years, Bobzian noted, but even then, are a rare event.

"Just the idea of seeing one, a mountain lion, is a very special event," Bobzian said. "I know wildlife biologists who have spent their entire career outdoors and have never seen a mountain lion. They are people right here in this park district who are out all the time and who have never seen one. A big shift in the outdoors is that a lot of people are very happy to see a mountain lion and they want to tell somebody about it."

Bobzian said he has seen eight mountain lions in his career, most recently at the Sunol-Ohlone Wilderness and Brushy Peak Regional Preserve near Livermore.

Seeing is believing

Accounts of recent sightings:

Once fooled, twice right: "People seem to think I'm 'crazy' when I told them today, that I've seen this big black cat that was not a housecat: approximately four feet long or so without the tail, jet black, very beautiful and sleek. I have this big ridge, part of Miller-Knox Park, right in front of my house. Every morning I hike it up to Point Richmond and walk back on the middle-level ridge trails. The first time I saw it I only got a glimpse of it from the side. I saw something black run past me. When I turned my head I just saw the back. I immediately had the thought 'mountain lion' and then immediately thought 'Nah, they don't have mountain lions here' and 'mountain lions are brown.' I thought that it's maybe a dog or maybe a deer that looked very dark. Talked myself into thinking that it must have been some kind of black deer. This morning around 8.30 a.m. or so, when I was walking in a little canyon I saw it again. No questions, a big black cat, no housecat, but a large cat. Jet black, no other colors."

- Michaela Graham, Richmond

Like a jaguar in the jungle: "I was curious about EBMUD's protected watershed off Redwood Road in Castro Valley, so I obtained a permit and checked it out . . . I decided to navigate into the gully, walked maybe 30 or 40 feet to the east and suddenly found myself locked eyes with this big black cat. It was roughly 50 feet from me, through several barriers of logs and overgrowth. The first thought is that it looked like a panther, but the weird thing is that sort of animal should be in Africa, not the East Bay. It was so out of place.

- Larz Sherer, Berkeley

Point Reyes surprise: "We came up a short rise through a grassy swale (near Tomales Point), and then, looking up, saw a large, jet-black mountain lion calmly sitting, eyes half asleep looking out at us from about 30 yards away. This lion was not darkish, not a brownish-tawny like some I've seen since, but jet black. My friend (Burke Richardson) and I stood there, stunned. It then started to slink away from us in a large semi-circle, attempting to hide in the grass. We were sadly without a camera, which was not like us at all, but, oh well."

- John Balawejder, Santa Cruz

Best-chance parks

Animals resembling "black panthers" or black mountain lions have been reported at these parks and watershed lands in the Bay Area:

Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, San Ramon: Black panther sightings are higher at Las Trampas than any other park in the Bay Area; shocked hikers occasionally show up at the adjacent Las Trampas Stables and tell their tale. The park has ideal habitat for mountain lions, with water (Bollinger Creek), space (5,430 acres plus miles of adjoining EBMUD land) and food (lots of deer and squirrels).

Info: (888) 327-2757, option 3, ext. 4537; ebparks.com

Pierce Ranch, Point Reyes National Seashore: The swath of land from Pierce Ranch to Tomales Point provides the best wildlife viewing in California, home for more than 500 elk, along with deer, foxes, bobcats and mountain lions. Wildlife thrives across the park's 71,000 acres, with plenty of food, water and protection. The best of it is at Pierce Ranch. From the ridgeline, you also get sweeping views of Tomales Bay to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Note: In one two-hour sequence near the water hole at Pierce Ranch, I counted 13 elk, six deer, three rabbits and a fox, and a week later on a return trip, saw a mountain lion and 200 elk.

Info: (415)464-5100; nps.gov/pore

Sunol Regional Wilderness, Sunol: Sunol is at the center of an extensive stretch of hilly wild lands. The park covers 6,800 acres, but is surrounded by other parks and watershed lands that encompass more than 50,000 acres. A high density of ground squirrels provides food for the large numbers of golden eagles that spend the winter here. Mountain lions are occasionally spotted above the rim of Little Yosemite by hikers heading out to see the waterfalls on the headwaters of Alameda Creek.

Info: (888) 327-2757, option 3, ext. 4559; ebparks.com

Chabot Regional Park/EBMUD watershed, Alameda County: These adjoining parcels, split by Redwood Road, provide ideal mountain lion habitat and lots of deer. Chabot spans more than 5,000 acres and features gorgeous Grass Valley, eucalyptus forest and adjacent Lake Chabot. East Bay MUD lands here are stunning, with pristine Redwood Creek feeding into huge Upper San Leandro Reservoir.

Note: When the sloped meadow in Grass Valley sprouts fresh growth from winter rains, you can often spot deer browsing in the early morning. Where you find deer, you have a chance to find the critters that eat them.

Info: (888) 327-2757, option 3, ext. 4502; ebparks.com; trail use permits required for EBMUD watershed at (925) 254-3778; form available online at ebmud.com - click on services/recreation.

Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, Martinez: This park covers 1,415 acres of hills, bluffs and waterfront along Carquinez Strait. There's a great shoreline bike ride here, but better yet is the trek up to Franklin Ridge; at an elevation of 750 feet it provides sweeping views of the lower delta.

Note: On one exploration here I came across a herd of goats, including some that looked like unicorns with horns sticking out of their foreheads. You couldn't ask for better bait for mountain lions.

Info: (888) 327-2757, option 3, ext. 4514; ebparks.com

Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline, Richmond: Some might be surprised that this park is on the list. That is because it's best known for its gorgeous swimming cove, Keller Beach, located in a protected area at the north end of the shoreline. From here, the wildlands extend north to Point Pinole, an area where mountain lions have been verified multiple times. The park also extends into the Richmond hills, with a ridge connecting to excellent wildlife habitat.

Info: (888) 327-2757, option 3, ext. 4544; ebparks.com

- Tom Stienstra

Tom Stienstra's Outdoors Report can be heard Saturdays on KCBS (740 AM) and FM 106.9 at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. E-mail Tom Stienstra at tstienstra@sfchronicle.com.