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Welcome to Kadin's Korner - that's me in the picture. Follow along as I report on the various wildlife and activities in and around Whiting Ranch. I can't type very well so I get some help from my "Mom" Shirley
Foxtail and Needlegrass
Written by Kadin
Tuesday, 06 April 2010
Hi, friends
What a blessing that the winter rains bring the beautiful lush, green grass. You’ve probably seen me eating a lot of it….it doesn’t last long unfortunately. (My vet says that any horse can eat 15 minutes daily of very ‘lush’ green grass without harm).
Just about now is the time when the ‘seeds’ can be seen on the various kinds of grasses. A few weeks ago, all that grass looked alike, but now we can tell what kind of grass it is, by what the seeds look like.
Some of our wild grasses are nutritious – we have domestic oats, wild oats, rye, sometimes a little wheat. But I wanted to make sure to tell you about a couple of ‘nuisance’ grasses: the Foxtail and the Needlegrass. The ‘seeds’ of both have sharp points on one end, and bristles like ‘quills’ on the other end. The quills push the sharp point end into the flesh of us animals – between the toes of dogs and cats, where the skin is soft and thin. If eaten by cats or dogs or even horses, the seeds can become stuck in the throat and burrow through the flesh of the neck, causing abscesses. My mom even saw a little cat that was killed by them – the needles traveled through the kitty’s body and lodged in the kitty’s liver, causing abscesses in the liver. One of my aunts got one stuck between her teeth and it burrowed into her gums and caused an abscess there.
The Purple Needlegrass is the easiest to spot – the seeds turn ‘burgundy’ in color as they ripen. The foxtail’s seeds turn golden, just like the rest of their plant. Here are a couple of pictures (I hope your computer will let the pictures come through.)
Any of the grasses of the genus Stipa (family Poaceae), consisting of about 150 species with a sharply pointed grain and a long, threadlike awn (bristle). In some species, such as porcupine grass (Stipa spartea
), the sharp grain may puncture the faces of grazing animals. (Encyclopedia Brittanica.)
This one is a picture of Foxtail:
(Photo courtesy of : File:Hordeum murinum in Voorhis Ecological Reserve,Cal Poly Pomona.jpg)
Happy Trails,
Kadin
Helmet Reminder!
Written by Shirley
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Hey, Colts and Fillies :-)
Kadin here. Remind your humans to wear their helmets...even when just 'horsing around'. Even professional human riders can get hurt if one of us horses makes a mistake. Noone's fault but the news story (below) is about Courtney King's injury of last week when her horse fell accidentally.
examiner.com: Last week 2008 Olympian Courtney King-Dye was critically injured at a farm in Loxahatchee. Courtney had asked for a leg yield; the horse got tangled up in his own legs, tripped and fell. Courtney hit her head, fractured her skull causing bleeding in her brain. She was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach and remains in a coma. Courtney was not wearing a helmet.
I wanted to let you know that there is a poisonous plant growing on our ranch. It is called Castor Bean and is now growing in the 4-H area along the creek. Below is a photo of it. The seeds of this plant are used to make rat poison and if a human eats just three seeds, it is fatal.
The castor is a native of Africa. The story goes that some years back, someone in America thought it was a pretty plant and brought it to American to plant in their garden. Since it has no known pests here, and anything that eats it dies, it thrives here.
We could use everyone’s help to kill it and to keep it from coming back. My mom periodically cuts it down to keep it from seeding and making more baby plants, but cutting it down doesn’t kill it. Perhaps we might spray it with weed killer and maybe eradicate it completely. Mom and I are too poor to be able to afford to purchase weed spray – maybe someone would chip in?
Here is a short article from the encyclopedia:
The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis is a plant species of the Euphorbiaceae and the sole member of the genus Ricinus and of the subtribe Ricininae. Its seed is the castor bean which, despite its name, is not a true bean.
Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. They also contain ricin, a poison, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.
The potentially lethal doses reported for children and adults are three beans and eight beans respectively. Recent experience with two cases provides added insight into the expected course of toxicity. In both cases, repeated vomiting and diarrhea occurred. Dehydration was much more pronounced in the second case. Both patients recovered uneventfully.
Castor Bean Plant
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Written by Shirley
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Hi, pals !!
Kadin here.
The monarch butterflies are migrating to their winter ‘home’. Our “western” population spends the winter in various sites in central California, notably in Monterey, Pacific Grove and Santa Cruz. They cluster together on pine tree limbs during the winter months by the thousands, looking like leaves, with their wings closed. They hibernate for several months. The females are the first to leave after hibernation, in February or March, flying inland looking for early sprouts of milkweed plants where they’ll deposit their eggs. The monarch is the only butterfly that migrates both north and south as birds do, but no single individual makes the entire round trip. My mom grew up in Monterey and used to get to see them each November. The town also has a fun parade to celebrate.
During the rest of the year Monarchs can be found in a wide range of habitats such as fields, meadows, prairie remnants, urban and suburban parks, gardens, and roadsides.
Monarch butterflies are poisonous or distasteful to birds because of milkweed poison stored during the caterpillar stage; their bright colors are warning colors. The Monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a “milkweed butterfly” (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Their wingspan is almost 4 inches wide. (There is also a local ‘impostor’, the Viceroy butterfly which looks very similar but is smaller.)
You can read more at Wikipedia and Monarchwatch.org.
Happy Trails till next time.
Kadin
Bluebellies !! They're Everywhere !!
Written by Shirley
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Hi All,
Have you SEEN all of the new baby lizards around the ranch?!?!?!...I’ve seen at least 20 of them this week. The body is barely one inch long, and their tail adds about another inch to their length. They’re so cute!
They are sometimes called ‘bluebellies’ because there are two blue stripes on their underside. If you’re quick enough to catch one you can see for yourself – they’re also called ‘SWIFTS’ and for GOOD reason…those puppies are FAST!!.....,
The babies don’t have their blue color yet – their bellies are just all white. When they grow to be adults the blue on the males will be darker than the blue on the females. Below are some photos…
Happy Trails,
Kadin
Western Fence Lizards
(swifts or bluebellies) The Sceloporus occidentalis longipes or Great Basin Fence Lizard
is found in the coastal Orange County area including Whiting Ranch
This is one of the most commonly-seen lizards in California. Found in a variety of habitats throughout the state during daylight. Frequently seen standing on top of rocks, boulders, fences, walls, beach driftwood,
trees, as well as on the ground. Often found around suburban houses and yards.
Looking at the underside of males is a good way to differentiate this species from the Sagebrush Lizard. The rear of the limbs are orange or yellow on the Fence Lizard, but not on the Sagebrush Lizard. Also, the male has a more solid blue patch on the throat.
Kadin's Korner 
