So Long, Miska, The Silver Red Fox "One ought not to care So much as you and I Care when the birds come round the house To seem to say good-bye..." --Robert Frost By Jami Shoemaker and Mollie Hogan Animals have always been my favorite teachers. They remind us of the important things, keep us in the moment and teach us about unconditional love and loss. I have had the privilege to know many animals over the past 30 years and Miska, the silver red fox, was one of my greatest teachers. I first met her at the Los Angeles Zoo where I have been an animal keeper for many years. She was about two months old and had been recently confiscated from an owner who rescued her from a fur farm (thank you, whoever you are!). In "The World in the City Show" Miska was one of our show animals. Miska was complex and beautiful--the most extraordinary animal I have known. She taught me that animals and people can connect in a way that I had never experienced before. I used to bring her home at night when she was a baby to get her used to being handled. Make no mistake, she was not anything like a domestic dog! She ripped up everything in sight, she dug holes in my carpet and she chased my toes under the covers every time I moved during the night, displaying one of her tremendous pounces at midnight to "catch" those toes that were moving. Like most canids, Miska loved to socialize with other "dogs." She would approach them with tail wagging furiously, making her high-pitched "fox noises." My dogs would retreat in horror at her demands to play, not quite knowing what to do with this energetic creature who looked like a dog, but wasn't really and they would race under the couch to escape her. Miska had problems with her vision. She developed cataracts and in time went completely blind. Some very generous supporters (like you!) donated toward the expensive surgery and her vision was restored. However, she continued to have difficulties and soon after glaucoma developed. One eye was removed and replaced with a false eye. During this lengthy and certainly uncomfortable process the veterinarians who cared for her all agreed that our little fox was more tolerant than most domestic dogs would've been. Not to mention most people! I wish all of you could've known Miska like we did but maybe you were lucky enough to meet her in a wildlife presentation. Little Miska was quite a teacher! She and her dog friend Hopi traveled everywhere to show us that dogs make good pets but foxes never do. People could see for themselves that red foxes aren't always red--they can be silver as well--although all have a fluffy white-tipped tail to keep their nose warm in cold weather. Miska screamed for us (much like a woman in distress!) so that we might better recognize fox sounds in the night. And most important of all, she showed us first-hand that a beautiful silver fox fur coat looks a lot better on the original owner than it ever could on any of us! Miska died quietly on May 29th with Hopi by her side. I will always remember her...fur soft as silk, her wild scent, her irrepressible playfulness, her unrelenting spirit. She's gone from our lives now but her lessons live on and it's up to us to continue them for her. We humans take so much from this fragile world of ours. What if we could all try and live our lives more like Miska did? Sacrifice to serve others, be true to a cause and never give up, work and play, be happy and funny (maybe even scream if we feel like it!), make lots of friends and make a real difference that will live on in the hearts and lives of all who know them.

June Birding in Topanga By Gerry Haigh Ken Wheeland and I live across the street from each other so we are able to support each other, covering the bird life of our properties in a fairly intensive manner. We were particularly active in covering avian activities in the month of June. This is probably the busiest time in the life of most birds--the time for mating, laying eggs, incubating, feeding young and teaching them to live independently. This year has been particularly exciting for us. Our first bonanza was to have a pair of Red-tailed Hawks nest within easy binocular viewing so we could watch daily progress. A pair (perhaps the same ones) nested in the hills above us last year but we only discovered them when the noisy fledglings left home and went cruising around, chasing after their parents to get fed. Another first was a Phainopepla nesting family. Phaino and peplea are Greek words for shiny robe, alluding to the magnificent plumage of the male who has been called the "black prince of the chaparral." This species is fairly common, nesting in our uphill meadows, but this was their first foray into our neighborhood. This is the one bird I know that habitually carries on its family functioning in a ménage à trois. Two males share with one female the chores of building a nest, incubating the eggs and raising the young. They also have the distinction of habitually raising two broods a year in two very different places. In January they nest in the deserts of Arizona and California and in the spring they come up to the mountains to do it all over again. This relatively stressful schedule may be why the female requires two males in attendance. Dark-eyed Juncos have been abundant winter birds throughout the Santa Monica Mountains but a rare breeding bird in Topanga. An exception when I arrived 40 years ago was a pair which was nesting every year in a flower pot at Camp Wildwood. Breeding in our neighborhood was certified for this year when Ken found two fledglings in his vestibule. Two other first-time nesters on our property have been Acorn Woodpeckers and Band-tailed Pigeons. There has been a colony of the woodpeckers across the road from the Inn of the Seventh Ray for many years. They have preempted a utility pole on Old Canyon Road on which they maintain their tradition of keeping a collective supply of acorns for the whole colony. The species has been expanding and there is another group at Trippet Ranch as well as the beginnings of one in our neighborhood. The introduction of the Band-tails is also part of an increase of the species in California. Other species we have nesting on or near our property include the following: Song Sparrow, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Oak Titmouse, Hooded Oriole, Bullocks Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lesser Goldfinch, Robin, Starling, Crow, Mourning Dove, Nuttal's Woodpecker, Downey Woodpecker, Flicker, Black Phoiebe, Pacific Slope Flycatcher, House Wren, Bushtit, Wrentit, Starling, House Finch, Anna's Hummer, Allen's Hummer, Mockingbird, Huton's Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, California Quail, Red-shouldered Hawk, Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Scrub Jay and Cowbird. Check over this list and see which species you have discovered in your own neighborhood. If you see any birds not on this list which seem to be breeding on your property please call me and let me know at (310) 455-1696.