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Wendy Langhans

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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Santa Clarita Outdoor Report: Grasping Webs

It sounds like a scene in a horror movie.  Imagine you are walking along a trail.  As you come around the bend, you see a Cobwebby Thistle (Cirsium occidentale) standing at least 6 feet tall.  But you’re not worried – the thistle is at least two feet in from the trail.  You approach…the music swells ominously…suddenly…the plant lurches towards you ...

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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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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Wild and Crazy Bees

This Report is a “Best of Wendy Langhans” Report. Some people are born thrill-seekers.  Every parent knows someone like that:  the toddler who takes off running as soon as you reach the park, the novice bike rider who can’t wait to take off the training wheels.  We watch and smile knowingly at each other, “Just wait until they become a ...

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SCV Outdoor Report: Fire Retardant “Shaving Cream”

We’ve all seen the recent news videos: fixed-wing aircraft swooping down to drop a load of fire retardant alongside the smokey edge of a wildland fire.  But did you ever wonder what those fire retardants are made of and how they work?   First, let’s start the composition of fire retardants.  Fires are classified by the fuels they consume.  Wildland ...

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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Pollen Navigation

This Report is a “Best of Wendy Langhans” Report.   During allergy season , I sometimes wonder if pollen grains have their own navigation system .  If that’s true, then their map for the Santa Clarita Valley must have a fluorescent orange locator pin labeled “Wendy’s nose”.  (Thank goodness for antihistamines.) But locating my nose is not pollen’s true mission; ...

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Santa Clarita Outdoor Report: Breaking and Entering

We learn by observing others.  Not only is that true for humans, it’s also true for other creatures, including certain species of bees.  And in the case of short-tongued bumblebees, what they learned is something we call burglary – “breaking and entering”. For millions of years, flowering plants and insects such a bumblebees have participated in a “backscratching” pact: flowers ...

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