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Outdoor Report

Best Of SCV Outdoor Report: Sniff Sniff

For those of you who remember the pre-cellphone era: have you ever scanned a crowd to find someone?  Perhaps a friend you were supposed to meet.  Perhaps a child who wandered away from your group?  Can you remember how your eyes transitioned from a “wide area scan” to a narrow focus when you thought you’d found them?  Well, it turns ...

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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Moving Too Fast…

We don’t always see what’s going on around us, especially if it’s moving too fast.  For example, if you’re reading this on a computer screen, what you are seeing is being redrawn at a rate of 60-75 times per second (60-75 Hz).  Yet we perceive a constant image; why don’t we see the screen flickering?  That’s because the rate of ...

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Best Of SCV Outdoor Report: You CAN Be Too Rich

Remember the old saying, “You can never be too rich or too thin”?  Well you can be.  Too nutrient rich, that is.  Especially if you’re a salt-water marsh.  Scientists working at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory recently reported “that nutrients—such as nitrogen and phosphorus from septic and sewer systems and lawn fertilizers—can cause salt-marsh loss.” They conducted a study of salt marsh landscapes at ...

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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Must Go Faster….

When being chased by predators, it’s best to move quickly.  I remember a scene in the movie, “Jurassic Park”, where the characters were being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  As the jeep sped down a dirt road, Jeff Goldblum kept repeating, “Must go faster”.  And then there was a scene in the movie, “Independence Day”, where Will Smith and Jeff ...

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SCV Outdoor Report: Flash Versus Substance

It’s a peaceful August night in Wisconsin.  I’m sitting in a cozy chair, talking with my Dad, when suddenly I see a tiny speck of light glowing through the window.  It was a brief flash, less than a second, but my face lit up with a smile in response.  It was a firefly – also known as a lightning bug.  ...

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Best Of Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: You Can Be Too Rich

Remember the old saying, “You can never be too rich or too thin”?  Well you can be.  Too nutrient rich, that is.  Especially if you’re a salt-water marsh.  Scientists working at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory recently reported “that nutrients—such as nitrogen and phosphorus from septic and sewer systems and lawn fertilizers—can cause salt-marsh loss.” They conducted a study of salt marsh landscapes at ...

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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Wildlife Corridors

This is a “Best of Wendy Langhans” Report. This week the news has been full of stories about Las Lomas and the development that has been proposed there.  Today I want to give you some background about what’s at stake ecologically by briefly explaining the concept of wildlife corridors.  I’d like to do that by weaving together several interconnected stories. ...

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Santa Clarita Outdoor Report: Another Bite Of Pie

It’s not often that I disagree with the City Council.  But I did last night, when they described their vote to aquire Gateway Ranch as a “victory for the entire valley.”  I think they underestimated the acquisition of 302 acres of open space – it’s a victory for the entire region, for the entire state, and for Mexico as well! ...

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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: X-Ray Vision

Q.  What would the “Man of Steel” be without his superpowers, especially his X-Ray vision?   A.  Just another “mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper”.  As a child growing up in the 50’s, I learned that Superman was a “strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.”  But what ...

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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: River Walk

This is a “Best of Wendy Langhans”  Last week I went for a walk along the river.  It was a lovely day for walking – plenty of sunshine – and neither too hot nor too cold.  The embankment was lined by a graceful arch of trees.  I noticed the patchy grey, flaking tree bark and decided these were sycamore trees. ...

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