Many of us had been wondering what’s up with OR7, California’s first wolf in nearly a century, who’d attracted some attention by wandering over two thousand miles through Oregon and into California in search of a mate. I mean, you have to give him credit for trying, as damn few of us were that desperate during our own hormoney youths.
Alas, the news is not good. He’d gone back to Oregon for a while but then decided to give California one more try. And did we welcome him back with open arms, maybe even tossing him an occasional lame raccoon? Oh no. Leo Bergeron, of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, has written an ordinance that would, and i quote Mr. Bergeron, “prohibit the presents of wolves in Siskiyou County”.
Now is that cold or what? How can OR7 have any hope of getting a mate unless he’s able to give her a little present or two? Nothing all that grand, just a freshly killed rabbit would probably do the trick.
And as far as the rest of us go, the ordinance is unnecessary because our parents told us as children not to accept candy from strangers, and that warning goes back to antiquity, when the Trojans were advised to beware of wolves bearing gifts.
Meanwhile, so much for the fauna. Here’s some local flora on 15th Street near Guerrero, easily 50 feet tall. Maybe a kind reader can identify it. mattegray.sf@gmail.com.
And the closeup
Turns out that Friends of the Urban Forest has planted a couple dozen of these things on the east side of Church Street between 18th and 14th.
Not that any of my talented botanist friends have deigned to click on the convenient link below and provide us the name of it. mattegray.sf@gmail.com.