• It’s been two years since billionaire Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya purchased Anchor Brewing, and the venue still has yet to open with no updates provided. [Chronicle]
• Thieves crashed a car through the front doors of a Fremont coffee shop Tuesday morning — the fourth such incident in two years. [KRON4]
• Rescuers at the Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Contra Costa County have a lot of tiny animals on their hands this time of year when baby birds typically fall out of nests or baby squirrels, possums, and skunks become orphaned. [NBC Bay Area]

National:

• Trump’s plan to build a defense bubble around the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, much like Israel’s Iron Dome, would cost an estimated $175 billion. The dome would block rockets and missiles, but critics say enemies with an arsenal of nuclear weapons, such as Russia or China, would still have some ability to break through it. [New York Times]
• Longtime ICE official and former GEO Group executive David Venturella will serve as the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director, replacing Todd Lyons who’s leaving at the end of the month. [NBC News]
• A new survey shows that about one in four visitors to Disney parks have accumulated debt paying for their visits, averaging almost $2,000. [Boing Boing]

Video of the Day:

Meet Xylo. She helps patients feel better during their dental work at 450 Aesthetics Dental Group. The practice utilizes a whole suite of tools, which it calls its “comfort menu,” including a weighted blanket, eye mask, and augmented reality movie glasses. Xylo will even sit on visitors’ laps upon request. [SFGate]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

'Tis the season once more for Velella velella, also known as "by-the-wind sailors," which tend to wash up onshore en masse on NorCal beaches in the spring and sometimes summer.

There was a mass beaching of the little blue guys with their distinctive jelly "sails" on Baker Beach, Crissy Field, and Ocean Beach (and likely elsewhere) on Monday, as the Chronicle reports. And it is a natural phenomenon for this time of year — onshore winds catch the creatures, which use wind currents to sail over the surface of the ocean, and can push them toward the shoreline, particularly after storms.

And being free-floating hydrozoans without any means of steering or sight, they just end up beached.

Velella velella do have stinging tentacles that reach down into the water to catch food, however these don't tend to harm humans, as the National Park Service explains.

"Velella are not true jellyfish, but are related to jellyfish, as well as to sea anemones, corals, and hydroids," says the Park Service. "The Velella is a flat, oval-shaped creature, bluish to purple in color and three to four inches long. The body is relatively firm and has a flexible two-inch-high triangular 'sail' attached to it."

The Velella "feeds on planktonic crustaceans, primarily copepods" as it sails over the ocean surface, and it has few known predators.

These mass beachings have been fairly regular occurrances on local beaches, happening in late March 2025, late April 2024, and mid-April 2023, and social media documentation of these events started ramping up around 2014.

One fascinating fact about these small, semi-transparant hydrozoans: some lean left, and some lean right.

Per the National Park Service:

Some sails on Velella angle to the left and propel the animal left of downwind; others angle to the right and propel the animal right of downwind. Due to the prevailing winds in different parts of the world, left-handed Velella are usually found·in the Northern Hemisphere, while right-handed ones are usually found in the Southern Hemisphere.

Also, their remains don't linger long after these beachings. Per the Park Service, they dry into something that resembles "a cellophane candy wrapper," become brittle, and typically just blow right back into the ocean or get caught in the next high tide.

Previously: Jelly Creatures Stranded En Masse on North Bay Beach

Top image via National Park Service

A pair of California condors who were part of a group released into the wild several years ago appear to be nesting in a redwood tree in remote Humboldt County, and tending to an egg.

It may be the first egg in a wild condor nest in Northern California in about 100 years, as a pair of the endangered birds look very much to be tending to an egg based on their tracked flight patterns. Scientists with the Yurok Tribe who are monitoring the birds announced the milestone this week.

"Based on a series of behavioral changes and an analysis of flight data, the Northern California Condor Restoration Program determined that condors A0 (Ney-gem’ ‘Ne-chween-kah) and A1 (Hlow Hoo-let) may have started tending to a newly laid egg in early February, although actual confirmation of an egg is impossible due to the remoteness of the nesting site," the tribe's press release says. "A0 would have deposited the egg within a cavity of an old-growth redwood in the Redwood Creek drainage after months of searching for the ideal location."

The nesting pair are both six years old, and were part of a group of 26 that were raised in captivity and released into the wild as juveniles in 2022, in Redwood National and State Parks. Because of the high mortality rate of condor chicks born in the wild, conservationists in the last several decades have been keeping hatchlings in captivity for a period of time before releasing them into the wild, to increase their chance of survival.

The condor egg was first reported by the Lost Coast Outpost and the San Francisco Chronicle.

As the Chronicle reports, the GPS data being tracked by the scientists shows the male and female taking turns sitting on the egg in the nest — sitting so still that their lack of activity prompted mortality alerts.

"I have been waiting for this moment since the first condors arrived in 2022,” said Yurok Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen in a statement. “As a scientist, I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up too high, but that doesn’t mean I can’t cheer for these young parents’ success."

Chris West, the Northern California Condor Restoration Program manager and Yurok Wildlife Department senior biologist adds, "This is a huge moment for our Northern California flock. It is important to remember that these are wild birds. We trap them occasionally for health monitoring, but if they nest, and how successful they are, is totally up to them, with as little interference from us as possible."

The chances are statistically pretty low that this first egg being laid by these inexperienced parents will produce a viable hatchling. But, says West, speaking to the Chronicle, "I do know the odds. [But] I am optimistic."

While the northern part of California has not seen a condor egg in the wild in a century, there was a successful birth in the wild in Big Sur in 2009, a condor named Miracle. (Big Sur seems to not be considered Northern California in the various reports about this new nest.) Miracle and her mate Nomad then gave birth to the first second-generation chick in 2017. Sadly, their offspring Vincent only lived to the age of 8, and was found dead in December — illustrating the fragility of the state's condor restoration project.

Condors, which are considered the largest North American land bird, can live to be 60 years old. The San Diego and LA zoos play a part in the restoration project, helping to hatch and raise condors in captivity — with the LA Zoo setting a record in 2024 of 17 successful condor births. There are around 565 condors alive today, with around 350 living in the wild — split into two populations, one in Arizona and one in California. The remainder live in captivity.

This is an improvement from the mid-1980s, when it was believed there were only 22 of the birds still alive.

One factor that threatens the stability of the population is that condors typically only lay one egg per breeding season, and the birds take six years to reach sexual maturity. Once living in the wild, condors can suffer from lead poisoning due to ingesting hunters' bullet fragments when scavenging and eating the carcasses of dead deer and other animals. The Oakland Zoo is one facility that helps to treat condors suffering from lead poisoning.

One condor with lead poisoning died in the zoo's care last July.

Photo by Kacie Long

A young mountain lion made a surprise appearance in San Francisco Monday, in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, and as of Tuesday morning it had been found by Animal Care & Control.

A mountain lion was spotted Monday traipsing across the street in Pac Heights, in the vicinity of Octavia Street and Pacific Avenue. At least one resident caught the big cat on video, and a text alart went out to the entire city via the SF Department of Emergency Management at 9:19 pm, telling people that if they came upon it, they should "slowly back away" and not start to run.

The mountain lion was said to be young, and SF Animal Care & Control suggests that the animal may be lost and intending to travel south of the city.

There was an additional sighting in Lafayette Park, a few blocks from the original sighting, as NBC Bay Area reports. And another resident snapped a photo of the cat at Sacramento and Gough streets early Monday morning, per the Chronicle.

Angela Yip, a spokesperson for Animal Care & Control, said the mountain lion appeared to be "scared and hiding" near Lafayette Park, and was not a threat to the public.

As of 6:20 am Tuesday, the agency said it had located the mountain lion and a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was on their way to tranquilize the animal so it could be transported to a better habitat.

Update: The mountain lion was found on California Street between Laguna and Octavia streets, and the street was closed down by the SFPD while the rescue operation took place. As of 11 am Tuesday, the mountain lion had been loaded up into a van by animal handlers.

As the Chronicle reports, the lion had taken refuge in the backyard of an apartment building

"It is a male around 2 years old and 77 pounds. He is doing OK. Fish and Wildlife will take him and release him to a natural habitat,” said SFFD spokesperson Mariano Elias, per the Chronicle.

This is the first recorded sighting of a mountain lion in the city of San Francisco since 2021, when one of the big cats made an appearance in Bernal Heights.

A young mountain lion was also spotted wandering Russian Hill and the Embarcadero in the early days of the pandemic, in June 2020, and at the time, a spokesperson for Animal Care & Control said that this sighting was a first in downtown San Francisco.

That mountain lion cub or adolescent was also said to be likely "lost."

Another sighting of a mountain lion occurred that September in Pacifica.

Experts say that young male mountain lions often meet tragic ends in the Bay Area, getting hit by cars and the like, when they go off wandering seeking out their own territory.

Photo by Robert Thiemann

In this week’s Field Notes: A 4-year-old meets 1,000 dogs, kids get a free tree book, and Sutro Baths summons ghosts. There's opera for Dolores Huerta, Deaf-led dance, an inclusive art fair, rooftop skating, coastal wineries with views, and a Novato Eames museum in the works.

A boy, a teacher, and 1,000 dogs

At Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Point, 4-year-old Quinn Drake is on a mission to meet 1,000 dogs before kindergarten — with help from his devoted day care teacher.

Armed with treats and a notebook, the pair spend weekends logging canine names and spreading joy. — NBC Bay Area

Free tree guide helps kids explore Bay Area forests

The Peninsula Open Space Trust has released a free Tree Explorer’s Handbook to help kids connect with nature. Designed for print or mobile, it includes bark rubbings, tree ID tips, and notes on the wildlife trees support.

POST’s Zionne Fox calls trees an accessible entry point for fostering curiosity. — KGO

Rituals, raves & ghost stories at sutro baths

The crumbling tunnel near San Francisco’s Sutro Baths has inspired ghost stories and satanic panic since the '80s. Once a quarry access route, it’s now a canvas for graffiti, a backdrop for punk shows and raves, and a magnet for occult rumors — none verified, but the energy still lingers.

Hikers still stumble upon candle stubs and burned-out circles of salt. Whether it’s urban myth or a low-profile ritual site, the place practically dares you to look over your shoulder. — SFGate

Literary rebels and psych rock with Pat Thomas

Historian and longtime Bay Area music producer Pat Thomas brings his dual passions home next week. He'll be launching his new anthology Evergreen Review: Dispatches from the Literary Underground (1957–1973) at Clio’s in Oakland on August 4, then performing with his 1990s-era improv psych band Mushroom at the Make Out Room on August 5.

The book highlights the influence of Grove Press’s countercultural literary magazine and its boundary-pushing contributors, including William Burroughs and Amiri Baraka. — Mission Local

Dolores Huerta gets her own opera, and she’s attending Saturday night

West Edge Opera in Berkeley kicks off its season with Dolores, a world premiere inspired by labor icon Dolores Huerta and the 1965 Delano Grape Strike.

The new work — by composer Nicolas Lell Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch — spotlights Huerta’s early organizing years and her partnership with figures like Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong. Huerta herself is expected to attend tonight’s opening night, August 2, at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center. Runs through August 16. — Oaklandside

Bay Area’s Deaf Dance Festival brings bold new work and global talent

Now in its 13th year, the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival brings together Deaf and Hard of Hearing artists from around the world — Botswana to Bogota, Jamaica to the Bay. Led by Oakland-based dancer and choreographer Antoine Hunter (Purple Fire Crow), the festival runs August 6–10 with performances and workshops in SF and Berkeley.

It’s a rare space where Deaf artists can fully express themselves, both onstage and behind the scenes, supported by Deaf-led production and layered accessibility — from sign language in multiple languages to audio descriptions and vibrating seats. — 48 Hills

New art fair to spotlight neurodivergent artists

Creativity Explored is launching a new national art fair in downtown SF next January. Funded by a $100K grant from the Svane Family Foundation, the Creativity Explored x Open Invitational will bring together neurodivergent artists from across the country during San Francisco Art Week 2026.

Admission will be free, and booth fees waived. The project expands the cultural conversation around who gets exhibited and collected, and strengthens SF’s role as a leader in inclusive art. — SF Chronicle

Mid-century Novato landmark to become Eames Design Museum

A quirky 1960s-era building once home to publisher McGraw Hill — and later Birkenstock — is being transformed into a new art and design museum by the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity. The 88-acre Novato property will celebrate Charles and Ray Eames, the mid-century design legends behind the iconic molded chair and more.

With architecture from the firm behind SF’s de Young Museum, plans include showcasing emerging artists as well. The current Eames space in Richmond has a 1,000-person waitlist — and the Institute hopes this new site will become a world-class destination. There’s no timeline yet, but the purchase price was $36 million. — SFist

Rooftop roller rink brings summer skating to Market Street

Skate under the stars at SVN West’s rooftop rink, open Thursdays–Sundays through mid-September. With views of the San Francisco skyline, themed 21+ nights (like disco, hip-hop, and Bay Area beats), and kid-friendly events (like Character Day), there's something for everyone.

Tickets include skate rentals, and season passes offer unlimited access and food discounts. — Bucketlisters

Wine with a view

If you’ve ever wanted to sip pinot while watching waves crash below you, this roundup delivers. From redwood-flanked patios in Jenner (Fort Ross Vineyard) to Highway 1 breezes in San Simeon (Hearst Ranch Winery), these five California wineries pair coastal views with chardonnay, rosé, and even pinotage.

You can just drop in — or, if you’re the plan-ahead type, book food pairings or guided hikes between sips. — 7x7

Top Image via West Edge Opera House

Previously: Field Notes: Possums, Pixies, Plays, and Power Tools

In this week’s Field Notes: A tween skate star, a giant whale sculpture, floating saunas, a community hub in the making, indie legends at the Greek, and kitsch in San Luis Obispo. Plus, opossum rescues, Fringe Fest weirdness, easy hikes, and Jane at SFMOMA.

One to watch on the ramp

At 11 years old, Oakland’s Anna Shea Reynolds-Madsen is making an impact on the skate world. She first picked up a board by borrowing her sister’s in secret. Within a year, she was skating vert ramps and learning to drop without any lessons or coaches — just trial, error, and a lot of determination.

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A post shared by Anna Shea (@anna_shea_skates)

Vert skating is rare and demanding, especially for kids. But Anna loves the height, the speed, and the pure physics of it. She’s now competing in national events like Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert, catching air in massive arenas one week and skating DIY parks in the East Bay the next.

She’s got style, and she’s not afraid to be herself. According to a 2023 interview, off the ramp, she draws, plays piano, and crushes it in soccer. Her dream is to go pro, travel the world, and one day snowboard in Iceland. But for now, she’s just a Bay Area kid chasing the next drop-in, fearless and fully in her element. — S1 Helmet Co. / Old Bones Therapy

Golden hour sounds at the Greek

The Greek Theatre’s hillside setting and breezy eucalyptus canopy make it one of the Bay Area’s most atmospheric venues, especially on late-summer nights. This season’s lineup feels tailor-made for the grown-up indie crowd.

Father John Misty headlines there tonight with Lucinda Williams and Hamilton Leithauser — a mellow, melancholic triple bill that suits the venue’s golden-hour glow. Still to come: My Morning Jacket returns August 22 with their signature blend of psychedelic rock and Southern soul, known for long builds and explosive crescendos. On August 28, the Pixies bring their raw, off-kilter alt-rock to the stage alongside Spoon’s sharp, clean hooks and Fazerdaze’s dreamy fuzz-pop.

September 7 promises maximalist spectacle as the Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse team up for a co-headlining show likely to include giant props, bubble machines, and cathartic singalongs. And October 16 brings a long-awaited reunion from Rilo Kiley, with Jenny Lewis leading the band’s bittersweet indie-pop back onto the big stage for the first time in over a decade. — Broke-Ass Stuart

A 24-foot whale and the power of tools

A 24-foot wooden whale just surfaced at Berkeley’s Adventure Playground, thanks to 85 youth builders from Girls Garage. The climbing sculpture — complete with baleen mouth and 3D-printed handholds — was the centerpiece of a month-long summer camp blending carpentry, design, and confidence-building.

First-timers learned to use jigsaws and drills; returning teens mentored and imagined. Instructors say it’s about more than construction—it’s about showing young people their strength. And the whale’s just the latest. Girls Garage also builds free installations like garden beds and tiny homes for community orgs across the Bay. — Berkeleyside

Weird on purpose: The Fringe lives on

Theater veteran Christina Augello has been keeping San Francisco weird since 1983 — and at 77, she’s not slowing down. As founder of The Exit, she’s produced thousands of experimental, often chaotic, and occasionally brilliant shows in the Tenderloin. These days she’s down to just one stage, but her annual San Francisco Fringe Festival marches on from August 8–25, showcasing 15 original productions drawn by lottery.

Expect clown shows, pole acrobatics, spoken word, and a few total flops — because that’s the point. For Augello, creating space for small, strange stories is an act of resistance, and The Exit is still a place where something unforgettable might happen… even if you walk in expecting nothing at all. — Mission Local

Low-effort, high-reward trails near you

No need to trek too far from home for a great hike. This roundup highlights ten top user-rated easy trails, from San Francisco’s coastal Lands End and Oakland’s redwood-filled Redwood Regional Park to Marin’s Dipsea Loop and the peaceful Purisima Creek near Half Moon Bay.

Each trail offers something unique — whether it’s ocean views, towering trees, or quiet forest paths. Best of all, they’re all accessible for a casual stroll with plenty of payoff. — Chronicle

Opossum season in full swing

At Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue, it’s peak opossum season. The all-volunteer nonprofit, based in Oakland, is putting out the call for fosters — especially for babies who need care before they can be released back into the wild.

Volunteers should have backyard space for an outdoor enclosure, plus a little open-mindedness when it comes to these misunderstood marsupials. “They eat rats. They’re gardeners’ friends,” says founder Lila Travis. Between wildfires, fireworks, and summer disruption, the rescue often sees up to 60 opossums at a time, alongside a rotating cast of raccoons, squirrels, and hummingbirds. — KGO

Nordic heat, bay views

A new retreat in Richardson Bay blends Nordic tradition with Bay Area flair — Fjord, a pair of hand-built floating saunas, opens next month along Sausalito’s waterfront. Designed by Marin locals Alex Yenni and Gabe Turner, the twin cedar structures feature 190-degree Finnish-style heat and icy plunge decks—all bobbing gently in the bay.

Each sauna fits six people, with pre-sales now open for the unique “sea-spa” experience. Come for the detox, stay for the view. — Mill Valley Patch

A new Jane in town

SFMOMA is teaming up with local favorite Jane the Bakery to open Jane on Third, a new ground-floor cafe and brunch spot debuting this August. The menu promises fresh salads, quiche, sandwiches, and French toast — with indoor and outdoor seating available and no museum ticket required.

A new mural by Chelsea Ryoko Wong, known for her vibrant scenes of everyday joy, will welcome diners and museum-goers alike. — Secret San Francisco

Coffee, zines, and conversation on College Avenue

Opening this fall in a former Rockridge storefront in Oakland, Local Economy is part coffee shop, part general store, part community clubhouse. The brainchild of couple Alexis Madrigal, of KQED, and writer and editor Sarah Rich, the space will feature a Painted Leopard coffee cart up front, shelves of handmade goods by local makers, and a pair of 8-foot communal tables anchoring the room.

Events like zine workshops, food pop-ups, and author talks will unfold just steps from East Bay Booksellers. Inspired by La Peña and Womb House Books, Local Economy invites neighbors to co-create a shared antidote to Bay Area isolation — one conversation and one cup of coffee at a time. — Chronicle

Kitsch, castles, and light in San Luis Obispo County

Tide pools and sea lions by day, glowing hillsides and speakeasies by night — San Luis Obispo County (aka SLO CAL) has all the ingredients for an extended weekend destination.

Venture from the bubblegum pink fantasyland of the Madonna Inn to Pismo’s ocean bluffs, sip Edna Valley wines (maybe by sidecar), and wander Hearst Castle’s gilded halls before heading north to Paso Robles. There, a tapas dinner sets the stage for Sensorio, a surreal, 15-acre wonderland of light and sound best explored under the stars. — 7x7

Top image: Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips perform in support of the band's "At  War with the Mystics" release at the Greek Theater on July 22, 2006 in  Berkeley, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Previously: Field Notes: 'Black Spaces' at OCMA, East Bay Skyline Trail Hike, and Tenderloin Museum Turns 10

SF Animal Care and Control was called out to the Chase Center Sunday after a report of some baby raccoons trapped behind some exterior paneling.

It's not clear where the mama raccoon went off to, or if the three baby raccoons were seeking food, shelter, or both. But they managed to squeeze themselves through a gap in some wall panels at the Chase Center and then couldn't get out.

"Lt. Steph Ryer got the first 2 babies, but the third was still stuck," says SF Animal Care and Control in an Instagram post. "Officer Keefe and Officer in Training Borg got a call that the third baby was mostly out, only the head was stuck. Officer Keefe changed the baby’s body position and Officer in Training Borg pulled the tile piece out as far as possible, and together they got the baby raccoon free."

A commenter on SF Animal Care and Control's Instagram post suggested that their dog Phoebe was responsible for discovering the three small raccoons.

The seemingly orphaned raccoons were then taken to Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue, where they'll be cared for.

This may have been a den, or a near a den, that these babies were born into, and they simply outgrew being able to get in and out.

SF Animal Care and Control advises city residents and businesses to make sure all gaps and holes in exterior walls, especially those that are low to the round, are sealed in order to prevent animal intrusions like this.

A young couple from Chico bragged of having an endangered turtle’s skull and several illegally hunted animals to state wildlife agents, even though they knew these were state wildlife agents. Those agents raided that couple’s home the next day.

The New York Times has the story today of a couple from Chico taking a flight from San Diego to Sacramento, and happened to be seated on that flight in front of two California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) agents. Striking up a conversation, the agents were perfectly clear that they were CDFW agents. And yet the couple still felt comfortable bragging they had illegally hunted endangered animals, spouting off that they were illegally transporting the skull of an endangered green sea turtle, and gleefully showing the agents pictures of a “trophy room” full of illegally hunted mountain lions, wolverines, and deer.

The agents asked to see the turtle skull, which the couple showed them (it’s seen above). They clearly knew it was illegal to possess, because they were careful to check there were no TSA officers around before showing it to them. The CDFW officers promptly raided the couple's Chico home the next day.  

Search warrants in hand, they found the couple had just hunted a deer that day, though it was not deer season. Per the CDFW, “Also inside the residence, wildlife officers found mountain lion claws, a ringtail cat, a barn owl mount, an illegal spike buck and several unlawfully taken deer with tagging violations.”

24-year-old Byron Lee Fitzpatrick and 28-year-old Shannon Lee Price were charged with wildlife code violations. Agents also raided the Napa home of their 64-year-old uncle Harry Vern Fitzpatrick, which had the trophy room with full-bodied taxidermy mountain lions and a wolverine, both of which are endangered an illegal to possess.

“Like human and narcotics trafficking, wildlife trafficking of both live animals and animal parts is known to fund transnational criminal organizations and their violent activities all over the world,” CDFW Chief of Law Enforcement Nathaniel Arnold said in a release. “The individuals involved exhibited a flagrant disregard for laws governing natural resources and are now being held accountable for their actions.”

So yes all three were prosecuted, but the penalties seem like kind of a slap on the wrist. After a plea deal, the couple Fitzpatrick and Price were fined about $2,000 apiece and got a year’s probation during which they can not hunt, the uncle was fined $605 and got six months probation. All of them had to give up their illegal animal acquisitions.

Related: Monkey in a Onesie Seized in Madera County DUI and Pot Bust, Transported to Oakland Zoo for Care [SFist]

Image: California Department of Fish and Wildlife

For the first time since the 1800s, the Farallon Islands will no longer have a year-round human presence. Due to federal budget cuts that predate the current administration, as well as $10 million in needed repairs, biologists from Point Blue Conservation Science will now leave in September, returning only seasonally from mid-March to mid-September, according to the Chronicle.

This change threatens decades of conservation efforts that helped species like common murres and northern fur seals recover. Without researchers on site, key data on elephant seals, white sharks, and whale migrations will be lost, and the islands will be more vulnerable to human disturbances. The reduced presence also means fewer resources to combat invasive species like house mice, which disrupt the fragile ecosystem.

Officials estimate that scaling back will lower annual maintenance costs from $600,000 to about $106,400, but essential infrastructure, including the island’s crane and water systems, remains in disrepair. Point Blue is urgently seeking funding to maintain a year-round presence in some capacity, hoping for a last-minute solution to avoid abandoning the islands entirely.

Previously: Two Dozen Killer Whales Spotted Off Farallon Islands, Likely There To Chow On Seals And Baby Whales

Image: Sharon Mollerus/Flickr

Since late December, a pack — or at the very least a pair — of coyotes have been making regular nighttime noise in and around Alamo Square, even though sightings of the wild dogs remain few and far between.

While coyote sightings in Alamo Square Park are not new, the chorus of coyote howls coming from an unknown number of animals is new — and I can say this having been a resident of the area for over a decade.

One Xitter user posted a blurry photo of a coyote on one of the paths in the park on December 27, and three nights later, I recorded the sounds you can hear on this video around 11:30 p.m.

Like clockwork now, several times a week, presumably the same coyotes make noise like this — especially if there is a distant or not-too-distant siren going by, just like siren-loving dogs.

"They don't have TV so, they have to entertain themselves somehow," jokes Deb Campbell of SF Animal Care & Control. "They like to sing."

The number of animals can't really be assessed, and multiple officers at Animal Care & Control referred me to the "beau geste effect," in which the sound of just one or two coyotes can sound like many. Let's just say it's definitely two, but sounds like at least four or five.

A bit of alarm has been raised, naturally, on Nextdoor, with one commenter saying, "These wild animals do not belong in an urban environment. Somebody sooner for later is going to get hurt."

Well, the coyotes are pretty harmless to humans and tend to stay away from us, but people with small dogs certainly have reason to be concerned.

Campbell says that coyotes' "assertive" behavior can sometimes be mistaken for aggression, and the animals tend only to get aggressive or protective around pupping season, when they have a den of pups to protect.

It's not clear whether these coyotes have established a den in or near Alamo Square, and the distinctive howls have moved around a bit. Animal Care & Control says it is trying to discourage den activity, especially in residents' overgrown yards.

There is, notably, an off-leash dog park on the western side of Alamo Square Park.

"People should not be alarmed about the coyotes, but they should be aware of the animals, avoid the areas where there is known activity when walking dogs, and read and follow instructions on signs placed in active coyote areas," says SF Animal Care & Control.

Coyotes also don't often stay put until pupping season — and they have a huge range. Animal Care & Control has tagged and collared some animals and observed them traipsing from Bernal Heights down into San Mateo County and back again all in one night.

And even Sam Altman, the millionaire CEO of OpenAI, was complaining last month about a coyote who wouldn't leave his yard in Russian Hill. So, they're getting around.

Because it is coyote mating season right now, Campbell says, the coyotes may be especially visible, and the department has received "several calls and sightings" from around Alamo Square recently.

Campbell tells SFist that anyone who has a coyote sighting should report it here, on Animal Care & Control's website — and they can call the emergency number at 415-554-9400 if they see a coyote looking sick, distressed, or injured.

Photo by John Thomas

The wildlife tunnel under Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz Mountains got a new, much-awaited visitor last month: a puma.

The crossing, which was completed in January after several months of construction and 15 years of research from the Santa Cruz Puma Project, is located at Laurel Curve, per the Mercury News and  KSBW. It’s a joint project by UC Santa Cruz, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and the California Department of Transportation.

Video surveillance has reportedly been capturing footage of all the animals using the linkage since, and several species love it: skunks, squirrels, bobcats, deer, coyotes, and foxes. But this is apparently the first mountain lion using it, 10 months after the opening.

The Land Trust put the footage up on YouTube, and you can watch it here:

Land Trust staff reviewed the footage and saw the mountain lion earlier this month, as Mercury News reported. He's an untagged male traveling through the tunnel around 2:30 a.m. on November 28.

The Land Trust’s executive director, Sarah Newkirk, told Mercury News that the goal of the linkage is to “promote biodiversity by connecting different groups of species with each other” and avoid wildlife-car accidents, which frequently occurred when they tried to cross busy Highway 17. Four mountain lion collisions were reported in the past decade. Plus, she said that mountain lion groups that couldn’t cross the highway had started inbreeding.

The Land Trust had reportedly bought the land where the crossing is in 2014, and purchased 790 acres over time around the highway, and a local measure was passed around the time to support the construction.

The lead researcher for the Puma Project, Chris Wilmers, said there are approximately 50 mountain lions in Santa Cruz, per the Santa Cruz Lookout, a small proportion of the approximately 4,500 mountain lions in the state. CDFW also classifies the species as 'specially protected' in California, and they might soon be listed as endangered.

Feature image via the Land Trust of Santa Cruz.

In a rare sighting, nature photographer David Kramer discovered a striking pale American badger during a hike in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Kramer recently took a picture of the unusual animal before it quickly darted out of sight in the park, as SFGATE reported.

The Point Reyes National Seashore recently shared this unique find on its Facebook page — explaining that because the badger’s eyes are brown or black, not pink, and that its nose also has some pigment, it’s likely leucistic rather than fully albino. That partial loss of coloring is thanks to a genetic mutation. (Dave Press, a manager with Point Reyes National Seashore, also told SFGATE that alternatively, the animal might have erythrism, which means an animal's fur or skin are abnormally pigmented red.)

The badger is part of a robust population in West Marin, which has expanded into new areas over the past decades, as the Mercury News reported. Press noted the park's ideal conditions for badgers, with open grasslands and coastal scrub habitats rich in prey, and that while badgers are primarily nocturnal, they may emerge during cold days for sunning.

Despite the large badger population, this would be the first known member with leucism, according to park rangers — although a family of leucistic raccoons has been spotted across the Bay near Oakland’s Lake Merritt for years.

Feature image via NPS Point Reyes.

A mother raccoon who was reportedly trying to rescue her kits from the other side of a hole in a Santa Cruz home's roof got herself comically stuck, ass up, and a local animal shelter publicized the photo.

The raccoon was probably making quite a racket after getting herself into this predicament, and as Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter explained on Facebook, the homeowner contacted the nonprofit Wildlife Emergency Services for help.

"Knowing that time was critical, they instructed the citizen how to push the raccoon through the hole so it wouldn't suffocate," the shelter says.

So I guess the homeowner did the rescuing?

Rebecca Dmytryk, the director of Wildlife Emergency Services, explains to the Chronicle that she was too far away to respond quickly so she instructed the homeowner to somehow widen the hole to allow the raccoon to drop through. And she suspected that the raccoon had chewed the hole bigger in the first place because her kits had already gone in there — but the situation isn't clear.

The mother raccoon was also lactating, and a white liquid (milk) can be seen spilling out of her on the roof.

The animal shelter only said, "Now that the mama raccoon is back safe with her babies."

The homeowner had apparently recently removed a vent on the roof, and the hole hadn't been sealed.

Dmytryk tells the Chronicle that all homeowners should exercise caution when repairing such holes, so as not to trap any creatures inside. "Nocturnal animals, whether it’s a mouse or rat, a raccoon, a cat — there could be something in there," she said.

Have you seen owls out and about in San Francisco? Well we have them. And three barn owls recently found their way into the Church of 8 Wheels roller disco on Fillmore Street — formerly known as Sacred Heart Parish.

It's not clear when the owls arrived in the church. But roller-skating impresario Rev. David Miles, a.k.a. GodFather of Skate, posted some video to Facebook on Feb. 12 of two owls in the rafters of the building appearing to "dance" to the music he was playing during an evening of roller disco, and this very much alarmed some owl experts.

"I just couldn't believe what I was looking at then when I saw him land, he landed next to another owl, they had perched themselves right near the DJ booth. It was amazing," Miles says, speaking to ABC 7.

But Alison Hermance, director of communications for WildCare Wildlife Hospital in San Rafael says, "That is not an animal dancing or enjoying himself. That's a very stressed wild animal trying to use his senses and triangulate and figure out what is happening."

The owls seem to have become trapped in the church after likely entering through holes in the stained glass, and then spent five to seven days there without food or water. ("They will really enthusiastically investigate anything that looks like a hole that could be a potential nesting site," Hermance explained to ABC 7.)

As WildCare explains, in a blog post:

Barn Owls have incredibly sensitive hearing and eyesight. A Barn Owl can hear the patter of a field mouse's feet up to a football field's length away! The disc of feathers around the owl's face funnels sound to his asymmetrical ears, allowing him to triangulate on prey.

The owls’ head-bobbing might look like dancing, but it is actually the owls trying to make sense of their surroundings while contending with the assault of the loud disco music, voices and flashing lights. The birds had been stuck in the building for at least five days, possibly longer, making the need to rescue them all the more dire.

As ABC 7 reports, Bay Raptor Rescue assisted with catching the two owls — and then a third owl who showed up later, or was previously hiding. The whole process required seven trapping sessions, as these guys were difficult to trap. And despite being given IV fluids and immediate veterinary care, one of the first two owls died within two days of the rescue.

After three weeks of recuperation, the two surviving owls were recently released back to an owl house that's been installed up on the church's bell tower — and the holes in the windows have since been patched up. And Melanie Piazza tells ABC 7 that her team is hoping they've made a "love match" between these two, given that this is breeding and nesting season for the birds.

The saga of Gerald, the wild turkey who had taken to attacking humans in Oakland's Morcom Rose Garden but seemed to have a specific hatred of older women, has seemingly come to an end. A wildlife capture expert snared the bird Thursday and removed him to the wilds of the deeper East Bay where he can live out his days among other turkeys.

We first heard about Gerald and his reign of terror in the rose garden back in May. SFist's initial story about him inspired a great deal of passion from animal lovers who wanted us to know that Gerald was simply protecting a brood of baby turkeys and his mating partner, and they didn't want media reports like ours to bring any harm to him.

But the bird was, by most accounts, unusually aggressive. A 76-year-old woman in the neighborhood described a surprising attack by Gerald in which he "got me with his talons and his wings," and she said the experience was "traumatic."

Other female victims described the turkey "stalking" them when they were trying to picnic, and getting violent when he approached.

In June there was a public argument playing out in the Grand Lake neighborhood over the possibility of euthanizing Gerald, but now four months later it seems the he has escaped the death penalty.

As ABC 7 reports, Rebecca Dmytryk, director of Wildlife Emergency Services, took care of the task of kidnapping Gerald on Thursday, first luring him with "blueberries, kibble and sunflower seeds." She had her husband hide nearby, and she disguised herself as a frail, older woman — Gerald's preferred victim profile. She tells the station she played into his aggressive needs, backing away and acting scared as he puffed up and prepared his attack.

"I saw his reaction to me and I said, 'Oh, you want a piece of this? I'll give it to you," Dmytryk relays to ABC 7.

She then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck like you would with a misbehaving puppy, and shuttled him into a cage for the short drive east, to Orinda.

He's reportedly been released in an undisclosed location, somewhere where others like him roam.

Anne Dunn, director of Oakland Animal Services, tells ABC 7 that this is the happiest possible ending for Gerald — the result of a months-long effort in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"After being at this for five months... to be on the other side and to know the turkey is now in a wild area, situated with other turkeys where he will be safe, it feels like the best possible outcome," she says.

Previously: Oakland Residents Divided On Saving/Euthanizing Aggressive Wild Turkey In Rose Garden

Photo: Mike Taylor/Twitter