Harmful Beauty

Mute swan (Fish and Wildlife photo)

For thousands of years (see Greek mythology) swans have been regarded as creatures of beauty. It therefore seems incongruous that California Fish and Wildlife has declared open season on mute swans. [bold added]

Individuals with a California hunting license will now be able to “take,” or kill, invasive mute swans starting Jan. 1, a Monday news release from the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife says. According to officials, the S-shaped bird, famously used as a symbol of beauty, elegance and grace, is an aggressive species capable of critically injuring children and pets, and must be reined in.

...Mute swans are kind of like “aquatic feral pigs,” CDFW spokesperson Melanie Weaver told SFGATE over the phone Wednesday. Despite their striking physical appearance, the birds pose a serious threat to Northern California’s marine ecosystem, and homeowners now have the authority to shoot them if they’re on their property, regardless of whether they have a license, Weaver said.

That’s because mute swans unapologetically consume up to 8 pounds of aquatic vegetation per day, destroying crucial food and habitat for native species.

In California there are restrictions against shooting wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. For property owners to be given carte blanche to kill an animal must mean that mute swans cause harm, have no constituency, and are truly valueless.

A Rare Sighting

(Raifman/Chronicle)

A white fawn has been spotted in an East Bay park.

The odds of spotting a white deer might be slightly better than that: Around one in 30,000 deer are born with albinism, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Krysten Kellum. She identified [photographer Matthew] Raifman’s sighting as a black-tailed deer, which number around 500,000 in California — meaning roughly a dozen are albino.

Wildlife biologist Ellie Bolas hopes that the fawn and its mother and siblings stick close to East Bay populated areas, where there are fewer mountain lions. Good advice for us all.

The Bishop Visits

Today the church celebrated the Feast of St. Francis (the official date was yesterday, October 4th). Coincidentally it was also the date of Bishop Austin Rios' biennial visit to our Foster City parish.

After reflecting on Francis' life of service, the Bishop greeted the beloved animals of the parish as they were brought to him for a blessing.

As two-legged and four-legged creatures mingled during an informal lunch, the tribulations of the world were forgotten.

Dog City

In the City dogs eat better than a lot of people (Wilson/WSJ)

The Bay Area is a dog-friendly place, but San Francisco appears to have crossed the line.

Virginia may be for lovers, but San Francisco is for dog lovers. It has sprawling green spaces, treats behind every shop counter and beaches where canines can run and splash in the surf. But dog lovers, dog haters and the dog-neutral are finding themselves in an uncomfortable alliance against a contingent they say is exploiting the city’s tolerance.

Paws are up on the counters of coffee shops and no one flinches. Croissants are being stolen out of the hands of hungry diners by hungrier black labs. The aisles of Target and Trader Joe’s are full of “service animals” that can’t seem to recall much, if any, of their training.

Dog owners ignore posted leash laws, bring their dogs into restaurants and stores, and chuckle when their animals steal food from diners. For a City that prides itself on its civic-mindedness many of its residents don't display the community values that supposedly make it superior to those who live between the coasts.

The San Francisco Garter Snake

These baby San Francisco garters will be one foot long in
a year, when they will be released in SM County. (Chron)

With an estimated population of over one million, garter snakes are a common sight throughout the continental United States. However, one of the thirteen (13) subspecies--the San Francisco garter--is classified as endangered.

The San Francisco garter snake, with its brilliant hues of deep red and turquoise, is widely considered one of the most beautiful snakes in North America. It’s also one of the rarest, with maybe 2,000 living in the wild today, all in San Mateo County.

In a bid to ensure a future for the endangered snake, Bay Area scientists are teaming up on a first-ever effort to rear a captive colony of the colorful crawlers, with plans to start releasing the newborns and rebuilding their populations at local ponds and hillsides.

“If we don’t have more snakes out there, they could disappear in our lifetime,” said Rochelle Stiles, director of field conservation for the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens, where the captive group is being raised. “The snakes serve a very important role in the ecosystem.”

...The snakes have historically lived in wetlands and grasslands only in San Mateo County and northern Santa Cruz County. (They’ve never resided in their namesake city.) Much of their limited habitat has been developed for housing and farming while invasive predators, such as bullfrogs, have proliferated, all squeezing out the native reptile.

Also, the striking appearance of the snakes once made them a premium target of the illegal pet trade. The snakes are characterized by a wide, bluish dorsal stripe that stands in contrast to jet-black and reddish-orange stripes and a blue-greenish underbelly.

Their vivid coloring, unusual for North American snakes, is likely a defense mechanism, signaling to predators — falsely — that they’re venomous or poisonous. The San Francisco garter snake, like the many other types of garter snakes, is not a danger to people or pets.

The snake was listed as a federally endangered species in 1967, setting the stage for protections that have fallen short of securing its recovery.

Although the "San Francisco garter" only lives in San Mateo County, leave it to the City to hog the glory, as it often does, for goings-on in other parts of the Bay Area.

These Geese Will not be Cooked

Ryan Park in July, 2022

We've been writing about Foster City's Canadian-goose problem for years. The NY Times covered it in June. Here's the Chronicle's take: [bold added]

Welcome to Foster City, home to 24 parks and more than 160 acres of open space that collects some 300 pounds of goose poop a day.

Foster City has received national attention for its troubles with Canada geese. Each goose — the city estimates it has between 300 and 400 of them — can produce one or two pounds of droppings a day, turning a park into a minefield. The goose poop requires regular power washings and has contributed to high E. coli levels in parts of the local lagoon. During nesting season the birds can become aggressive, even chasing off small dogs and children.

Non-lethal solutions are being tried.

Earlier this month, Foster City took its most comprehensive action yet, with the city council approving a roughly $400,000 contract with a wildlife company to deter the geese at seven “high impact” parks. Starting sometime in the next month, the company will begin using drones, lasers, balloons and — eventually — dogs to scare or “haze” the birds. The contract, which is active through June 2026, approved nonlethal measures only.

Foster City residents and officials alike are waiting to see whether their latest efforts will make the geese think twice about nesting at a local park. Previous attempts have been mixed. When the city tried strobe lights, residents seemed more bothered than were the geese. Adding fencing around the lagoon kept geese out for a while, but the geese eventually found ways around it. Egg addling — shaking or otherwise damaging newly laid eggs to prevent the embryo from developing — keeps the population from growing too rapidly, but that doesn’t affect the living geese, which can survive for more than 20 years.

I don't have much hope that these methods will put a dent in the problem.

The geese aren't scared of us, though most geese still fly away when humans or dogs chase after them (I speak from personal experience). However, the cost of live geese patrols is prohibitively high. Robot hunters offer promise, but that solution is years away. Meanwhile, Foster City residents should keep looking down when they walk.

Blue News

Wild pigs near South San Jose (Mulligan/Merc)

Wild pigs are causing increasing damage, but one obvious solution--hunting and eating them--carries risks: [bold added]

A wildlife trapper in Monterey County made an unexpected discovery after capturing a series of wild pigs in March of this year. While processing the animals, the trapper found several with blue-tinged muscles and fat tissues. The bizarre discoloration is a result of exposure to diphacinone, an anticoagulant rodenticide that is often dyed to identify it as a poison, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In an email to SFGATE, Fish and Wildlife pesticide investigations coordinator Ryan Bourbour said that the trapper observed the wild pigs eating directly from rodenticide bait stations. The scope of the contamination appears extensive across the southern part of Monterey County and along the Salinas River, according to KSBW-TV.

...While California banned diphacinone for most uses in January 2024, agricultural operations have exemptions due to their pest control needs. That loophole has broad ecologic implications. A 2018 statewide study found rodenticide residues in 8.3% of wild pig tissue samples — and in an alarming 83% of bear samples — mainly in animals frequenting agricultural zones. Wildlife officials warn that this contamination can ripple through the food chain, since wildlife can be inadvertently consuming poisoned prey.

After confirming the presence of diphacinone in the liver and stomach contents of wild pigs with blue tissues, Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Laboratory is advising hunters to not consume meat from any animals showing discoloration. Visible signs aren’t always reliable, however. “As demonstrated by findings of exposure in nongame animals, the discoloration is not always present and is not a reliable indicator of AR [anticoagulant rodenticide] residues in meat,” the 2018 study said.

Diphacinone is already in the food chain and we can't always trust visual inspection to reveal its presence through the tell-tale blue. Wild pig will be off our menu for the foreseeable future.

When Hot-dogging is not a Metaphor

The Bay Area is home to special events, but none more unique than the World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica (note--all photos from the Chronicle were taken by Richard Grant):

This year’s competition was foggy and cold, with messy chop that made wave-riding more challenging, several competitors said. Several surfers swam their dogs far out into the surf to find better waves, their pooches confidently perched on their boards as they sped through waves that reached 4 or 5 feet tall.

I liked Iza's story because I'm partial to bulldogs:

Iza, the French bulldog, competed in the Pacifica championship for the fourth time, said her owner, David Fasoli.

Iza is an unlikely surfer, Fasoli said. He adopted the Frenchie during the COVID-19 pandemic. With little to do, he frequently took her to the beach.

She loved running in and out of the waves, and later, while boating, he watched as a friend’s daughter took the pup tubing.

Fasoli, who works at Costco, decided to see how she’d take to surfing.

Carson

He bought a surfboard and gradually taught Iza to get comfortable riding it in his pool, then returned to the beach, bringing Iza out into the surf, holding the board until a wave caught it.

Soon, Iza was riding small waves into shore.

“To see this 1-year old French bulldog piece it all together, take a little wave in, run to shore, turn around and come back and want to continue to learn … it was a magical moment,” he said. “I was super proud.”

Charlie

On Saturday, Iza won the medium division and competed for a shot at the top prize.

Some animal lovers may regard surfing as cruel, but most of the dogs seem to be eager to go out to catch the next wave. More than that, they derive happiness from making the people they love most in the world happy, another trait they share with human beings.

Gulls: Ticket to Thrive

The gull nests in the Farallons and hitches
truck rides on land (Shaffer/SFGate)

A GPS-tracking device traced a seagull's 94-mile journey from Candlestick Point to Modesto at the incredible speed of 60 miles per hour. [bold added]

[Biology professor Scott Schaffer] scrolled and zoomed in, tracing her 80-mile journey that appeared to start at the San Francisco Recology site near Candlestick Point. She went over the Bay Bridge, down Interstate 880 and onto Highway 580 before reaching a composting center in the Central Valley near Modesto. What threw him was her speed, which averaged 60 mph — clearly too fast for her to be flying herself. He soon confirmed she had backup, having hitched a wild ride on an 18-wheel garbage truck and staying overnight before flying back to her colony in the Farallones.

But this was no Pixar movie plot. Shaffer suspected the bird most likely became trapped under the layer of wire mesh lining the top of the truck while foraging for scraps. Yet, even more remarkable was the fact that she repeated the voyage the following day: going to San Francisco Recology to hitchhike down to the same composting facility, this time taking the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge while her mate watched over the nest in her absence.

Seagulls are protected by law, and their population in the Bay Area has exploded from 24 in 1980 to over 50,000. Their intelligence and adaptability--and lack of natural predators---augur for a population that has a long way to go before reaching its ceiling.

Wild Turkeys in our Future

Stopping traffic in Alameda (Oda/ Bay Area News Group)

In addition to the wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bears, and pigs that are returning to the Bay Area, let's not forget about the wild turkeys.

Today, there are around 250,000 wild turkeys throughout California. They can be found in 49 states across the country – the only state without wild turkeys is Alaska.

“They are a species that can adapt for really anywhere,” said Sebastian Garcia, the California regional director for the National Wild Turkey Foundation.

Several factors may influence the movement and presence of wild turkeys in urban and suburban areas.

For one, when female turkeys nest, they often search for places that are easily concealed by bushes or other vegetation, according to a University of Minnesota study. This may attract them to urban parks or leafy neighborhoods with ample undergrowth.

Additionally, the turkey diet ranges widely, including insects, seeds, fruits, and even mice. Wild turkeys in human-populated settings were documented using available resources for food, such as bird feeders, food plots, acorns, or fruit trees.

The study also found that despite female turkeys’ need for natural spaces, many turkeys actually rely on human-populated, developed areas during the autumn and winter.

Another key factor that draws wild turkeys to urban settings is a sense of safety.

“If they have less bobcats or mountain lions or coyotes – other predators – chasing them, they notice they’re a little bit safer in these neighborhoods,” Garcia said.

March, 2023: "Tom" on Foster City Blvd.

2¼ years ago Foster City was home to a wild turkey. We never did find out what happened to him, but no worries: we are likely to see more of his relatives in the near future.

The Deep Lagoon

It was unusual for the lagoon to be deep enough for water skiing at the beginning of summer, but one speedboat was going back and forth yesterday afternoon. The dog had never seen a skier before and stopped to watch for ten minutes.

It was also deep enough for a pod of pelicans, which is a rare sight in an often-dry area that has no fish. Ducks and geese are common, but these were pelicans, so it was my turn to watch.

We got back to the house after an hour had elapsed. The family said the dog was probably tired after all that walking. I looked at him, and he wagged his tail. I gave him a treat. It would be our secret.

Into the Sea

(Image from gluthermonson)

Today's Gospel from the Lectionary:

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. --- Luke 8:30-33

Comments:
1) Jews do not eat pork, so why was there a "herd of pigs...on the hillside"? Answer: non-Jews (Gentiles) lived in the region of Gerasenes, where the "Miracle of the Swine" occurred.

2) If I were one of the swineherds, I would have been angry at Jesus because my livelihood had been wiped out. But fear was the stronger emotion: "all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear."

3) The demons recognized Jesus, who had power over them. Then, as now, humans are blind to the forces that affect the world.

Rewards are High but Intangible

Starburst, a pit bull/husky mix with
lopsided ears and one blue and one
brown eye, was adopted when she
was 6 months old

For people who love animals this headline is a tragedy:

San Francisco is euthanizing more stray dogs [bold added]

These shelter records are full of heartbreak — stories of people abandoning their dogs because they couldn’t afford veterinary care or housing. Last year, such cases propelled Animal Care and Control, the city’s public shelter, to the highest rate of euthanasia since 2013, and it’s on track to worsen this year.

The problem is playing out across California. When veterinarian clinics closed during the COVID-19 outbreak, spay and neuter surgeries stopped, creating generations of surplus puppies. Huge numbers of people adopted pandemic pets, but now demand for dogs, especially large ones, has plunged.

As might be expected, dogs that are larger or older or have health or behavioral problems have a tough time being adopted. Taking responsibility for such an animal can be a heavy commitment.

Speaking from personal experience, however, I can attest to the rewards being high if one takes the plunge.

The Pigs are Out of Control

Wild pigs near South San Jose (Mulligan/Merc)

Wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, and bears are all encroaching on human habitats (some argue that we are encroaching on them), but wild pigs appear to be causing the most damage.

A steady increase in the population of wild pigs — a marauding, non-native animal that can grow sharp tusks and weigh 250 pounds or more — is causing growing problems for parks, water districts and homeowners across the Bay Area.

The hogs wallow in streams, dig up lawns and gardens, eat endangered plants and animals and occasionally charge at people. They carry diseases like swine fever and can spread pathogens like E. coli to crops in farm fields.

“We’ve seen the impacts increasing,” said Doug Bell, wildlife program manager at the East Bay Regional Park District in Oakland. “They are omnivores. They vacuum up California quail, Alameda whipsnakes and other wildlife. They eat everything. They’ll come in and destroy lawns and all your landscaping overnight. Sometimes people can be hurt by them. We had a hiker who was run over by a wild boar and injured her leg. A firefighter was knocked down by one in 2020. They can be frightening.”

Unlike other animals, the pigs don't have any defenders, and counties and agencies are allowing hunting and even paying to have the pigs killed.

The animals are legal for sport hunters to shoot, like deer or ducks. Last year, 3,327 wild pigs were reported killed by hunters in California, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But their population keeps growing. Females can have up to two litters per year, with as many as 10 piglets per litter...

In December, East Bay Parks published a plan it compiled with other agencies to do more. The study showed that the animals, found commonly around Mount Diablo, Calaveras Reservoir and the Dublin Hills, would grow tenfold without a hunting and trapping program.

It recommended agencies work together to use drones with thermal imaging to track the pigs at night, fit some with GPS collars, put fencing around sensitive areas — although that can cost $20,000 a mile and block other wild animals — collect better data, and enlist the public’s help through a hotline or website to report sightings.

“We are trying to go from being reactive to proactive in the wider region,” Bell said.

In the South Bay, the Santa Clara Valley Water District in December signed a five-year, $125,000 contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to trap and kill wild pigs on land it owns at Anderson Reservoir and Coyote Ridge east of San Jose.

Perhaps some day there will be sufficient demand for wild pig meat to cause profit-seeking game hunters to keep the population at equilibrium. Control will require more than delicious dishes, however; California diners need to believe their food choices are saving the planet. Let the PR campaign begin.

Its Hair Was on Fire

The SF apartment fire in March, 2024 (Mercury News)

Removing ticks from a dog set a five-story apartment building on fire.

Giancarlo was just trying to help. But he set the dog on fire, the dog set the couch on fire, the couch set the curtains on fire, and before long, residents of a five-story, 114-unit apartment building in San Francisco were fleeing for their lives down a fire escape amid a blaze that sent two people to the hospital.

That’s according to a fire department report filed as an exhibit in a wrongful-eviction lawsuit against the building’s owners.

“He tried to remove the ticks using a lighter, which accidentally lit the puppy on fire,” the report said.

The lawsuit was filed May 14 in San Francisco Superior Court by a couple who claim the building’s owners delayed work to repair their apartment after the fire, forcing them to live in a home-made trailer on streets around the Bay Area. It seeks unspecified damages.

A second-floor tenant told fire investigators she had adopted a puppy in Modesto, and after she brought it home, noticed it had a tick. The woman, whose name is redacted from the fire department’s report, said her friend Giancarlo decided to use a lighter to remove the blood-sucking parasite. It was just before midnight on March 12 last year.

Giancarlo — who is not identified by a last name in the report — told investigators he found many ticks on the dog’s stomach, and that he had experience using heat to get rid of ticks.

The dog, which Giancarlo said combusted as if something flammable had been applied to it, ran over to the couch, where the tenant tried to grab it, the report said. Her clothing and the sofa both caught fire, and the sofa set the curtains ablaze, the report said.

If you are a San Francisco landlord, not only can your tenants set the building on fire but you can be sued for "wrongful eviction" if you don't make repairs fast enough. Another reason to get out of San Francisco with all deliberate speed.

Just Do It

Hazard when walking the dog in Foster City: coyotes

After breakfast I go over to my son's place to walk his dog. It's a win-win: my son has more time to get ready for work, the dog can tend to his business, and I get to spend 30-45 minutes in the Peninsula sunshine.

Walking, as has been known for many years, confers health benefits, especially for the Social Security crowd who can't run anymore (c'est moi). Among these benefits is one that's not mentioned in polite company: the freedom to relieve flatulence.

It began as a joke on social media, but medical experts say there’s real science behind the viral “fart walk” wellness trend.

Coined by 70-year-old Canadian cookbook author Mairlyn Smith, the term refers to a brief stroll taken after dinner, often to relieve gas.

“Going for a ‘fart walk’ after dinner is something that’s going to help you age wonderfully,” Smith declared last year in a now viral Instagram post.

Since then, the hashtag #fartwalk has earned millions of views on TikTok, fueled by a mixture of humor, personal anecdotes and surprising medical support...

“From a medical perspective, what it can really help do is promote digestion. It promotes intestinal motility, which is to squeeze and move things forward,” said Dr. Max Brondfield, an assistant professor of gastroenterology at UCSF. “It helps keep the entire digestive tract happy and balanced.”

Brondfield and other physicians are publicly endorsing the practice, not just for digestive comfort but for deeper systemic benefits.

Among them: blood sugar regulation. After eating, glucose enters the bloodstream, triggering a rise in blood sugar levels. Over time, especially in those with insulin resistance or sedentary lifestyles, this can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

But walking, even for just five to 10 minutes, appears to blunt this spike.

"Fart walking" outdoors is not only good for your health, but the people who live in the same home will appreciate it too.

If You Walk on Four Legs It's OK

Last month we noted how coyotes were responsible for decapitating baby seals. No action is being taken against the culprits, although "coyotes are not threatened or endangered in California" and estimates of the population range between 250,000 and 750,000.

I suppose the killing of baby seals by coyotes is regarded as just the natural order of things. What is not part of the natural order is the killing of seals by humans.

The government is above anthropomorphizing seals to
get your sympathy (CA Fish & Wildlife--Bodega seals)

Headline: Authorities investigating sea lion beheading offer $20K in rewards

Federal authorities are offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information about who may have decapitated a sea lion that was found on a Bodega Bay beach on Christmas Day...

An eyewitness told law enforcement that they saw a man decapitate the dead sea lion using a black 8-inch knife, place the head in a clear plastic bag and then ride away on a black fat-tire e-bike, NOAA Fisheries Public Affairs officer Rachel Hager confirmed to SFGATE in an email. The suspect is described as being approximately 30 to 40 years old, dressed in all black.

Sea lions, like all marine mammals, are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits the harassment, hunting, capturing or killing of these animals. Violating the act can result in hefty fines and even jail time.

Despite their protections under federal law, California sea lions continue to face threats from human interactions. In October, a man in Monterey was caught on video whipping sea lions with caution tape, causing them to stampede down a ledge along the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail. The NOAA previously confirmed to SFGATE that it was investigating the incident for harassment.

Earlier that month, a 2-year-old sea lion was shot on Bolsa Chica State Beach in Orange County. The sea lion was taken to a rescue center, where it later succumbed to its injuries and died. NOAA spokesperson Michael Milstein previously confirmed to SFGATE that sea lion shootings are a regular occurrence in California, with an estimated 20 killed each year.

Your humble blogger could point out that the logical conclusion of the new hierarchy of values is that coyotes have more rights than human beings (who can't kill or even "harass" seals) or that seals have a greater right to life than human fetuses (whose killing is not a crime in California), but that would not change the mind of any one who subscribes to the new values.

Maybe we can agree that what's happened to English grammar is abominable? "An eyewitness told law enforcement that they" avoids using "he" or "she" but clearly can't be "they" because there's only one eyewitness. "They," however illogical and grating, was chosen to avoid the toxic masculinity of the "he" in traditional English.

By the way, I do agree that some action should be taken against the man who decapitated the seal, especially if he killed the animal. If it was dead already, then public exposure IMHO would be sufficient.

What Coyotes and Zombies Have in Common

Coyote with freshly killed harbor seal pup
at Bolinas Lagoon (Graves/SFGate)

Fourteen (14) months ago we wrote about the discovery that coyotes were responsible for decapitating baby seals on California coasts. Scientists now think they know why:

Going for the brains first might seem unusual, but it’s probably a matter of convenience — and a behavior that’s been observed in other carnivores before, [UCSC PhD student Frankie] Gerraty said. Hyenas on the coast of Namibia have been seen killing seals by crushing their skulls and consuming the brains, and wolves in Alaska and British Columbia have been known to chew off the heads of salmon, potentially to avoid tapeworms and other parasites found in the rest of the fish’s raw flesh.

With coyotes and harbor seals on Northern California beaches, “it’s likely that they’re trying to eat through the head because it’s not only the easiest part of the body to access with the thinnest layer of blubber, but the brain also has the highest nutritional value,” Gerraty explained.

The skull of a harbor seal pup isn't much thicker than an eggshell when they are born, and a coyote can easily crack into it with its teeth in several places, sometimes accessing more of the pup's flesh by tugging on the head with its jaws and holding the carcass down with its front paws, he said.

“The fact that some of the skulls are going missing could be because they can easily carry them back to their dens for their young to consume," he continued. Much of this is happening during peak pupping season for coyotes in the spring.”

Gung Hee Fat Choy

Cute, with big eyes and a smile

Happy New Year! It is the Year of the Snake, which is a symbol of wisdom, intuition, transformation, cunning and stealth. Snakes are also linked to wealth, good luck, and prosperity.

The lunar New Year is the most celebrated holiday in Asia, yet the snake is a difficult animal to make appealing.

It’s the biggest holiday on the calendar, and a time to ring up big sales.

But it’s tough to build a marketing campaign around a coldblooded, sometimes venomous creature with no arms or legs...

The years of the Dog, Sheep and Rabbit offer huggability. The pig has Peppa Pig to lend it cuteness and star power. Even the rat can bask in the reflected glory of Mickey Mouse. Cows have eyelashes.

For designers, the only options are extreme: Present the snake as a different, cuter animal dressed up in a snake outfit. Or go all the way and give the snakes arms, legs or ears. Lose the forked tongue. And definitely tone down the scaliness.

One aspect of the lunar New Year that never seems to go out of style, regardless of one's feelings toward the zodiacal animal, is the receiving of money-filled red envelopes (Cantonese: lai see; Mandarin: hong bao). Now that our elder status has put us on the giving end of the red-paper custom, I have a partial answer to that age-old question: can money buy affection? The answer is yes, if one is content with a superficial, short-lived expression of the same.

Gung Hee Fat Choy!

Mange: the Last Straw

In California citizens with a license can hunt coyotes. However, the general rule is limited because firearms, including archery equipment, cannot be discharged within 150 yards of occupied structures. An exception to the exception is that an owner or his agent may hunt coyotes on the owner's property.

Coyote hunting may be further restricted by local ordinances. San Francisco, not surprisingly, bans coyote hunting and their trapping and relocating. Coyotes have been steadily encroaching on humans, and it would not be surprising if people who are worried about attacks on pets and children start pushing back.

Coyote with mange (Presidio Trust/Chronicle)

There's another reason to stay away from canis latrans:

Wildlife officials in San Francisco are warning that a rise in sarcoptic mange among local coyotes could pose a threat to domestic pets.

The highly contagious skin condition, caused by microscopic mites, can easily spread from coyotes to dogs, the Presidio Trust said in an advisory to residents. While rare, the disease could also affect humans.

Wildlife experts are advising pet owners to leash dogs and keep them away from wild animals and to report any sick or injured coyotes to authorities.

Your humble blogger senses that the pro-wildlife anti-urban branch of wokeness has peaked. The Santa Cruz wharf collapsed because repairs were not permitted during the nesting season of unendangered seagulls. Protection of the endangered delta smelt has been blamed by President-elect Trump for Los Angeles not having the water needed to fight fires. With their human advocates soon to be in retreat, wild coyotes' days appear to be numbered.