Pete Thomas Outdoors

Introducing the Facebook Foxes... you're sure to 'like' them

Here's a story animal lovers who use Facebook are sure to "like."

It's about a couple of gray foxes that moved onto Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, and raised a family in the sprawling campus Zen garden.

The three growing pups and their shenanigans have livened up an already stimulating work atmosphere, and added a cuteness factor that simply does not exist at most other businesses.

 

While the family has grown to the point where it has dispersed from the garden, the foxes still regard the Facebook campus as home and sightings remain frequent as the animals scurry up trees, stroll on sidewalks, rest on furniture, and climb onto awnings to cat nap above the bustle of human traffic.

(Note: this is a reprint from GrindTv Outdoor.)

The animals are so beloved that the company has set up a Facebook page so employees can share photos and clips of the fuzzy animals. (We've pulled a short sampling to illustrate this story, and tried to include appropriate credits.)

 

A photo posted Thursday showed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg using his phone to capture an image of a small fox outside the window of his office (posted above).

The photo, under the title "FB Fox crashes Zuck's meeting," on Friday morning had been liked by more than 3,600 people.

Employees have adopted such a respectful attitude toward the foxes—no chasing or feeding—that the National Wildlife Federation recently presented Facebook with a "Certified Wildlife Habitat" plaque, which is proudly displayed in the Zen garden. Said NWF naturalist David Mizewski in a blog post about the foxes' presence on the campus:

 

"The Facebook foxes are a perfect symbol of the fact that the natural world isn’t just in faraway, exotic places. It’s all around us, sometimes literally right outside our doors. Good stewardship of wildlife habitat in our cities and towns means that all it takes to have amazing animal encounters is to simply get outdoors."

The NWF's Beth Pratt, who wrote the post, stated that Facebook called in a fox expert to give a presentation to the staff, so it could coexist with the animals in a manner that allows them to remain wild "and that this experience didn't deteriorate into a petting zoo or the foxes receiving handouts from the ice cream stand."

Alexis Smith, who started the FB Fox page, told Pratt: "I loved how the foxes brought everyone together—that people cared that the animals made their home on our campus and that they merited respect from everyone."

The FB Fox page is growing a huge audience, having increased from 17,000 likes a week ago to more than 57,000.

It's hoped, and expected, that the adult foxes will return to the Zen garden next year, to raise another family.

To be sure, among animal lovers, there's nothing to "dislike" about this story.

--Pete Thomas

--Photos, top to bottom are by Josh Frankel, Bertha Coombs (photo shows Facebook Chairman Mark Zuckerberg photographing a fox outside his office window), Jeffrey Ferland, and Robert Bieber

NOAA decides against listing great white sharks as endangered

Great white sharks in the northeastern Pacific, including California, are not in danger of becoming extinct, according to NOAA Fisheries, and will not be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA had consented to consider listing white sharks as endangered in response to two petitions submitted last year.

In a news release issued Friday, the federal agency explained that a team of eight scientists determined, based on review of the best available science, that white sharks in the northeast Pacific--from the Bering Sea to Mexico, and westward to Hawaii--have "a low to very low risk of extinction now and in the foreseeable future."

While conservation groups and some in research circles will argue that white shark numbers are low enough to warrant listing--one recent study placed the California population at only 219 adult sharks--others believe that long-standing conservation efforts are working and that the population might actually be increasing.

"I keep saying that the recovery of the white shark population is probably one of California's greatest success stories," said Christopher Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach. "And it's based on the fact that it takes more than just protection of white sharks from fishing mortality back in the mid 1990s to accomplish this. 

"It has required improving water quality, restoring prey for juveniles and adults through better fisheries management and protection.  Just look at the amazing recovery seal and sea lions have made off California alone!"

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which has temporarily displayed live white sharks in the past and has participated in research projects with Stanford University and other institutions, issued a statement in which Margaret Spring, vice president of conservation of science, stated:

"The aquarium appreciates NOAA’s thorough review and synthesis of the best available information on great white shark status and threats. We are fully committed to supporting rigorous science, public education efforts and ocean policy reform to ensure that great white sharks do not become more vulnerable in the future.

"For more than a decade, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and our research colleagues from Stanford, UC Davis, CSU Long Beach and other institutions have generated most of the data about adult and juvenile great white sharks in the northeastern Pacific. We will continue this work so we can gain a better understanding of population trends and the overall health of sharks that play a vital role in ocean health."

In California, the Farallon Islands and other Bay Area waters are primary seasonal aggregation spots for adult white sharks. They arrive each late-summer and fall to feed at elephant seal rookeries.

In Mexico, Guadalupe Island west of Baja California is the primary gathering place for white sharks during the same feeding season.

While these are primary aggregation sites, some scientists believe that because of the burgeoning sea lion population off the West Coast, particularly off Southern California, not all adult white sharks need to visit elephant seal rookeries each fall. Thus, it's impossible to formulate an accurate population estimate.

Lowe, who has worked extensively with juvenile sharks off Southern California, cites as contributing factors for what he believes is a growing population: The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972; the removal of coastal gill-nets under Prop. 132 in 1990, and  a long-standing California ban on fishing for white sharks.

"It's always a good sign when the big predators start to return to coastal ecosystems," Lowe said. "It means we're doing some right to correct for our past abuses of the ocean.  Of course, we're not out of the woods yet, as there will always be new emerging problems as a result of an ever-growing human population. But this shows we have the ability to fix things when we put money and political will toward it."

Some of those problems exist in Mexico, and particularly off Baja California, where there is no ban on nearshore netting, and where juvenile white sharks are often caught and killed by fishermen.

--Pete Thomas

Shaun White's band signs with Warner Bros., releases single and announces U.S tour

Shaun White is a snowboarder first, a skateboarder second and a rock musician third.

That sounds about right because White is the world's most dominate halfpipe rider in snowboarding (two Olympic gold medals and counting), a multiple X Games gold medalist as a skateboarder, and for years has been inspired by classic rock--Led Zeppelin, in particular---as he learned to play guitar.

But now White has a band, Bad Things, which recently signed with Warner Bros. and will embark next month on a tour that kicks off in New York City. Bad Things will release a full-length album later this year.

So it seems that White, 26, is now a snowboarder first, a musician second and a skateboarder third--because skateboarding clearly has taken a back seat to rocking.

Check out Bad Things' debut track, "Caught Inside,"  a term surfers use when they're  overcome by large waves as they try to paddle out.

 
The four-minute track, which is very indie-rock, lacks only in that there are no standout riffs from White, the lead guitarist.

But knowing White, that will come.

He is joined by lead vocalist Davis LeDuke, guitarist Anthony Sanudo, bass player Jared Palomar, and drummer Lena Zawaideh.

The producer is Rob Schnapf, who has worked with several name bands, including Beck and The Vines.

The big question regarding White is how much of a distraction this will be, if any, for his preparation for the 2013 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In the past, he has spent much of the summer training in the Southern Hemisphere.

So maybe, for the time being at least, White is a musician first, a snowboarder second and a skateboarder third.

At what point, though, does rock music--and the lifestyle--become the most important aspect of White's life?

Or has that already happened?

Probably not. But after he wins a third consecutive Olympic gold medal during the Sochi Games, what else will he have to prove as a snowboarder? (Answer: nothing.)

Meanwhile, he has plenty to prove as a rocker, where there's no place to go but up.

--Pete Thomas

Photo of Shaun White before he cut his hair is courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

What should a hunter do if deer tag is lost while in the field?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: When hunting, a valid hunting license and a valid deer tag for the specific zone is required to be in the immediate possession of the hunter (Fish and Game Code, section § 4336).

What happens if while in the field hunting, the hunter becomes aware that his or her hunting license and/or deer tag have been lost? What is the proper way to exit the field without risk of receiving a citation for failing to carry the hunting license and/or valid deer tag?

What can or should be done if the hunter, after dispatching a deer, discovers his/her valid deer tag is missing?

In these hypothetical situations I am assuming the hunter could prove that a hunting license and deer tag were purchased because the California Department of Fish and Wildlife track all license and tag information through its unique GO ID number system. (George C.)

Answer: As soon as you realize you have lost your license and/or tag, you should unload your rifle and immediately leave the field.

While we can go back and check the computer database to see if you have purchased a hunting license and the appropriate deer tag, the law requires that the license and tag be in your possession so that the warden can confirm you are licensed without stopping to call in to the system (which is not always accessible from the field). Some poachers use this excuse to avoid filling out their tag, so a warden might start asking you a lot of questions. If you didn’t discover that your license and tag were missing until you went to tag your deer, you’re in a tough situation.  Do your best to document that you took the deer, and intended to report it. You are still in violation of the law, since you have the deer and have not tagged it, but there are some steps you can take to show that you did everything in your power to try to fix it.

Once you have cell phone service, call your local CDFW office or CalTIP and tell them what happened. Stop at the first place you can to have someone that can countersign tags look at it, and ask them for their name and contact information.  If you haven’t already made contact with a warden, continue to try to do so, and if there’s a local CDFW office and it’s open, give them a call and see if you can go there. You will need to buy a duplicate tag and get the tag completed as quickly as possible. Sometimes it is hard to tell our hunters from our poachers, so in a situation like this, do the best you can to show the warden you’re acting in good faith, and our wardens always try to do the same.

It is incumbent upon the hunter to have all licenses and documents with them before going out into the field, not after pulling the trigger.


Q: I work in a restaurant that continually sells fish that have been given to the chef by local spear fishermen. Is this illegal and should it be reported? (Jeff, Anaheim)

'Shark Week' ad period begins with demise of Snuffy the Seal

 

"Shark Week" is still a month away but the ad campaign has begun, and it features the same kind of drama the Discovery Channel series is famous for--at the expense of poor Snuffy the Seal.

The accompanying video shows a fictitious newsroom story with footage of a rehabilitated and beloved seal, Snuffy, being  lowered from a pier in a sling, about to be released. Enter the monstrous shark, completing an airborne attack before horrified spectators.

The footage might, for some, seem in poor taste. But the abruptness of the ad works perfectly for its theme: "Shark Week. It's a bad week to be a seal."

Writes Business Insider: "The ad is shocking, awesome, and effectively getting fans pumped up for August 4."

The Drum points out that "Snuffy the Seal" was trending on Twitter after the release of the ad.

One of the tweets, via Conner Morris (@ConnerSaurusRex): "I've been an emotional basket case ever since I saw that shark kill Snuffy the Seal."

Another tweet described the footage as "advertising genius at it's finest."

That's a fair assessment.

Presumably, fans of "Shark Week" will see real sharks munching real seals when the series airs Aug. 4-9.

'Jack' the blue whale has another name (CRC 154), and is no stranger to Southern California

A blue whale with a peculiar-looking fluke was photographed Monday off Dana Point by Capt. Frank Brennan, who named the giant mammal "Jack."

But it turns out that Jack already has a name, or a series of letters and numbers, CRC 154, and that the whale has been spotted more than 50 times dating to 1981.

This is according to blue whale expert John Calambokidis, one of the founders of the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, Wash.

CRC 154 is the catalog number given to a whale now being called Jack, Brennan said, "because its fluke is all jacked up."

Brennan was running out of Dana Wharf Whale Watch when he photographed the whale. Its fluke is tattered, or frayed along its back edges, presumably because of injuries suffered long ago.

Calambokidis said there have been verified sightings of the whale from Mexico's Sea of Cortez as far north as Point Arena  in Northern California.

The researcher said he does not know for sure whether it's male of female but added that the leviathan "was reported one year--2011--with a calf by a collaborator, so if true it would mean a female."

That would make Jack a Jacquelin, or Jackie.

Calambokidis, who will stick with CRC 154 as a name, also said that he's not aware of the origin of the apparent injuries to the whale's fluke.

It does not appear to have obvious indications of killer whale bites, ship strike or entanglement injuries.

To be sure, the whale seems to be getting along fine, and with the blue whale season just beginning off Southern California, it's quite likely that Jack, Jacquelin or Jackie will be spotted again soon.

--Pete Thomas

Photos are courtesy of Frank Brennan/Dana Wharf Whale Watch

Have you ever seen a shark fly? Check out this amazing cloud

As cloud formations go, the one shown atop this post may be the coolest to have come around in some time... or the most ominous-looking.

A great white shark, in what looks to be attack mode, silhouetted against the sun.

Was the image photoshoppeed?

We're not sure. It was posted to Reddit on Sunday by a user named Iamkraze, who commented:

"Took it from a friend's Facebook page. She seemed a lot less enthusiastic about it. I told her to share it, but I don't think she's a reeditor. The world had to see this shark."

That was followed later in the thread by this comment from MintyGr33n:

"It was taken before a point in Ultimate Frisbee. We literally stopped play so I could get my phone and take a picture. Just hadn't gotten it up to Reddit in time."

Naturally, the shark cloud inspired lots of comments, including this one, in reference to the thriller, "Jaws": "We're going to need a bigger plane."

Another stated: "We're going to need a bigger sky."

One person stated that the shark cloud looks as though it's attacking a fleeing penguin.

Another followed: "It’s amazing how random moments can mean so much."

It is, indeed.

Rare photograph: dolphin with white seabass in its mouth

Beautiful dolphin photos are posted just about every day, it seems, on social media pages. That's because dolphins are so abundant off Southern California.

But on Thursday Capt. Frank Brennan captured a rare image showing an offshore bottlenose dolphin carrying in its mouth, and possibly eating, a large fish.

Brennan was piloting the Dana Wharf Whale Watch catamaran on its 5 p.m. trip. They were about three miles beyond San Onofre when he and a crewman spotted the dolphin emerge at the surface with what they identified as a white seabass in its mouth.

It was one of an estimated 100 dolphins, spread over a vast area.

It's not clear if the dolphin captured a fresh seabass or whether it had recently been thrown back by nearby fishermen. Brennan, however, said the dolphin carried the 10- to 15-pound fish around as though it were "a dog's chew toy" before submerging, possibly to finish its meal.

Bottlenose dolphins sometimes prey on fairly large bottom fish, but are rarely seen or photographed off Southern California with large fish in their mouths.

Definitely the most peculiar dolphin photo of the season.

--RELATED: Cloud shaped like great white shark floats across the sky

Any health dangers associated with eating ground squirrels?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: I heard there are some concerns with eating ground squirrels in general. Is there some truth to this? If so, why do I see recipes to cook and eat them? Are they like chicken and pork where if you ensure the meat is cooked thoroughly, you should be okay? I like to go squirrel hunting with my son, but tree squirrels may not be hunted. Ground squirrels are our only option. Any guidance would be helpful! (Highhorse L.)

Answer: California ground squirrels are not a game animal, and so from a legal standpoint, they have no bag or possession limits. If taken in the condor zone, they must be hunted with non-lead ammunition.

However, before attempting to eat them, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife veterinarians, there’s a lot we don’t know about diseases in ground squirrels. We do know they carry fleas and are highly susceptible to plague and probably die within a short period of time after exposure to the disease agent.

Also, anyone even thinking of eating ground squirrels should first make sure there is no chemical ground squirrel control going on in the area because ground squirrels are commonly controlled by anticoagulant rodenticides. If the ground squirrel consumes a non-lethal dose, the rodenticide would still persist in their tissues for a few weeks or months.

Be aware that both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website www.cdc.gov/plague/ and the California Department of Public Health site www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Pages/Plague.aspx indicate the greatest risk of acquiring plague is being around infected rodents like ground squirrels due to their fleas. Humans usually get the disease after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague. During the Middle Ages, plague is infamous for killing millions of people in Europe. Today, modern antibiotics are effective in treating plague. Without prompt treatment, the disease can cause serious illness or death.

Plague is endemic everywhere in California, except the southeastern desert and the Central Valley. It is not active everywhere in that range though, so before your hunt I suggest you contact the county public health department in the areas you will be hunting to find out the status and history of plague in those areas.

If after reading all this you’re still determined to eat them, like with all wildlife, make sure they are cooked thoroughly. Proper preparation and cooking is key to avoiding and minimizing exposure to disease.

Q: I have a question concerning spear fishing for carp. When I was a kid, we used to go into the creeks and spear big carp. On the Russian River during the fall, I would see tens of thousands of huge carp congregating. Can I let my kids go into the water with a mask and fins and spear these 10-20+ pound carps? I would think that would be helpful for the river and we can pass the meat out to our multi-cultural friends. (Anonymous)

Giant roosterfish, a potential world record, set free off Baja

The recent Southern California catch of an enormous mako shark generated fierce criticism, much of it directed at Texas angler Jason Johnston for killing such a majestic creature for the sake of a possible world record.

This week, Temecula angler Ron Burgess is at the center of a different kind of story.

While fishing on Sunday out of La Paz, Mexico, he reeled in a roosterfish estimated by local captains to weigh at least 135 pounds.

That would shatter a world record--114 pounds--that has stood since 1960.

But Burgess said he did not care about records, so after posing for photos he released the roosterfish and watched it swim safely away.

He was fishing in the Sea of Cortez off Las Arenas, a remote Baja California region southeast of La Paz, utilized by Tailhunter International Sportfishing.

A 30-mile stretch of coastline from Las Arenas to the south has for years been referred to as the "Roosterfish Capital of the World."

These exotic-looking and extremely powerful members of the jack family, with their broad black stripes and comb-like dorsal fins, patrol coastal waters in search of sardines and mullet.

They're sometimes easy to find; but not always.

Burgess and his group, however, found a school of huge roosters Sunday, while fishing aboard several pangas. They had caught and released roosterfish in the 70-plus-pound range before the big one bit.

"I stupidly threw another bait in the water right after this and hooked another huge rooster and felt like crying," Burgess recalled. "I was already in pain. What was I thinking?"

Jonathan Roldan, who runs Tailhunter International, said this was by far the largest roosterfish he has seen in 20 years of operating in the region.

The fishery remains in good shape, mostly because roosterfish flesh is not considered good-eating. Recreational fishermen almost always let them go.

But perhaps not as many would releaae a potential world record. Burgess, to be sure, is to be commended.

--Pete Thomas

--Note: Jonathan Roldan was interviewed Tuesday about the catch by Phil Friedman Outdoors Radio. (Interview begins at 3:20 mark.)

--Photo showing Ron Burgess with his massive roosterfish is courtesy of Tailhunter International Sportfishing