Friday, August 1, 2008

Fauna of Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is teeming with wildlife and we saw lots of animals. The one animal we didn't see was a bear. Thank goodness. Humans have created quite a problem around Lake Tahoe because they leave their rubbish out, the bears smell it and try to get it, frequently causing damage to homes, vehicles, and campers. We heard that a bear walked right through the yard in broad daylight the week before we arrived. Glad we missed that!

Here's a nice visitor. This robin came to our patio early one morning searching for bugs.


The kids enjoyed feeding these golden manteled squirrels at the beach. They were so tame, they took the chips right out of your hand. Look how big its cheeks are - full of crisps!
Teen2 caught this grasshopper on a hike.
These Canada geese are quite common all around the lake.
We also saw this evening grosbeak on our hike. I'd never seen one before, and it took me a while to figure out what it was. I used my favorite bird site: Cornell's All About Birds.
Teen2 also found this wounded dragonfly in the water and carried it out.
And I found this bug on Queen Anne's Lace but I don't know what it is. Maybe one of you know?

That's it for animals, Sunday I'll share the Flora of Lake Tahoe.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your photos are super---the robin is my favorite! I tried to take a photo of a humming bird yesterday---it was a little ball of blur on my camera! Those little sweeties just don't hold still!

Unknown said...

What lovely photos -- I love the robin -- everything's just bursting with summer over there, while here it's cold and windy!

Mary said...

Nice photos. Looks like fun!