So, what is it? The wild cow of Palo Comado and Cheeseboro canyons! Hugo Martin wrote a delightful article in the Los Angeles Times on 8-2, titled, “Biker’s Quest to Find the Feral Cow.” It tells of his cycling through the Conejo canyons in search of a wild cow or cows, that had been sighted a while back. Martin’s descriptions of his adventure and the canyons, made me realize the treasure we have, practically in our backyards.
To read it:Â http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-tr-cheeseboro2-2009aug02,0,6090481.story
Posted by Janna Orkney
Mary Wiesbrock // Aug 10, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Great story! In search of cattle in Palo Comado and Cheeseboro canyons, this LA Times cyclist “discovers, instead, wildlife, lush landscape, and a sublime sense of escape.”
We thank all the Save Open Space people who helped save these canyons from a huge housing development, golf course, and 4 lane highway! Yes, what a wonderful accomplishment that these canyons were preserved as permanent parkland “with a sublime sense of escape” for generations to come. Mary Wiesbrock, Save Open Space
Janna Orkney // Aug 10, 2009 at 9:30 PM
How Save Open Space/Santa Monica Mountains saved Palo Comado and Cheeseboro canyons from a huge development by Bob Hope is quite a story. Thanks to Mary Wiesbrock, Sue Boecker, and all the rest of the wonderful activists who worked so hard to keep this land as open space for us. I sure wish that someone would write a book about it, so everyone would have easy access to this history.
Drew // Aug 11, 2009 at 10:44 AM
I spend lots of time in there, and the beauty is subtle. One of the coolest things is a large population of woodpeckers in the heart of Palo Comado … and a very boisterous hawk but … alas … no four-legged milk-totin’ bovines.
Bob Coutts // Aug 11, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Not all that long ago I and some friends took a course in tracking Mountain Lions. The workshop leader was from a ranch in Wyoming. There are several ways you can track animals in the wild. One is by ‘scat’ or droppings. You can tell a lot about the animal’s diet from their scat. The only evidence I have ever seen of cattle in the local mountains is ‘scat’, old and dried out. I think it’s been a while since there were any free-ranging cattle in those canyons, particularly with the cost of prime rib.
Jeanne Cope // Aug 13, 2009 at 5:10 PM
I am afraid that this might be an urban legend.
When the canyon was first opened up, The trails were not as clearly marked. I took a wrong turn on my mountain bike and found four cattle skeletons along the trail. After numerous storms, trail buildings and fires, I can not find them again. Sadly, I believe that the cattle perished.
But this does make a good urban myth.