Susan Valot
December 10, 2008
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As part of KPCC's "Season's Givings" series, Susan Valot visits the Starr Ranch Sanctuary near San Juan Capistrano. Volunteers at the ranch help track animals and birds.

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Susan Valot: I'm Susan Valot with "Season's Givings."

Debbie Gley: So that's a juvenile brush mouse and an adult desert wood rat.

Susan Valot: Volunteers empty rodents from traps into Ziploc bags at the Starr Ranch Sanctuary about 10 miles northeast of San Juan Capistrano.

Gley: OK, got the bag? [clink of trap] These guys often like to hold onto the trap. [clink of trap] There he goes.

Valot: The volunteers weigh each animal and note their gender and species. For 35 years, the National Audubon Society has managed the 4,000 acres that make up Starr Ranch.

It's a sort of natural laboratory for the study of flora and fauna, which is why volunteers are here counting critters. Wildlife biologist Scott Gibson leads the group.

Scott Gibson: We're trying to basically instill a love of nature in people through programs that actually get people out here participating in wildlife research. And so for us, the volunteers go even beyond just being really important for us to be able to carry out the work, but kind of a central component of our mission.

Gley: Look at his little feet! Isn't he cute? (laughs)

Valot: Volunteer Debbie Gley holds up a mouse in a bag.

Gley: These little guys – the reason we do this is they're a good indicator of the health of the ecosystem. So, to see them moving back in, it's like our restoration efforts are, are good. It's doing what it's supposed to do.

Valot: Barbara Bruce of Cota de Caza lets a mouse loose.

Barbara Bruce: Come on! Go baby! Where you gonna go? Go.

It's always changing. It's always exciting. You never know what you're going to come across. You never know what you're going to see. And being a lover of nature, that's the perfect combination for me.

Valot: Bruce says the biologists teach you what you need to know.

Bruce: The biggest surprise is, you know, running across cougar tracks or having a cougar running after deer in the middle of the afternoon and you're standing right there watching it happen, you know. That's a surprise! (laughs)

Valot: Scott Gibson of Audubon California's Starr Ranch says volunteers help track animals and birds, and even pitch in with weeding.

Gibson: It's a great opportunity for people to come out and actually see and experience what it's like to be a wildlife biologist. Anybody who has an inclination to do it should come check us out.

Notes:

Starr Ranch Small Mammal Monitoring Volunteers Contact: Scott Gibson at 949-858-0309

Star Ranch Bird Banding & Weeding Volunteers Contact: Dr. Sandy DeSimone at 949-858-0309