YIPPEE it's Friday!!! Here is what the weekend has in store for us!

Hey there folks I have been counting down to this day all week!  I am soo ready for the weekend.  Not really that we have any 'special' plans but I am eager to spend time with my two-legger walking around Golden Gate Park.  If you are not familiar with Golden gate park let me educate you.  This park is not your ordinary park.  It is HUGE! Measuring more than 1,000 acres, the Golden Gate Park has stood as a symbol of natural beauty, easily earning the title as one of the most visited city parks in all of America.  Basically we are staying at a friends house right off of 25th Avenue.  Not even a block away from the park!  We have been heading west these past couple of weekends that we have been visiting there.  Eventually we are going to walk all the way to the beach!

Last weekend we went to visit the Buffalo.  Yes I said Buffalo in San Francisco!  There is a Buffalo reserve in the park. 

In the past, an assortment of animals, including bears, goats, and elk, roamed about a free-range environment. Small herds of bison also called Golden Gate Park their home. In 1890, a distinct bison cow and one bison bull were transported from the rolling Great Plains to the urban paradise of the Golden Gate Park. Hailing from parts of Wyoming and Kansas, the cow was named Sarah Bernhardt, while the bull was called Ben Harrison. The Park Commission beamed with pride as such possessions roamed about their land.

At first, the bison were positioned east of where the new Academy of Sciences will stand. As time passed, some bison were transported to where they can be found today during 1899. Over the years, more and more bison residents began to find their way to the Golden Gate Park Buffalo Paddock, including three from the Yellowstone National Park in 1905. Before you knew it, the herd showcased 30 bison in 1918. Through a successful captive breeding program, more than 100 calves were produced from the group residing at Golden Gate Park. In 1998, this allowed the total number of bison in North America to surpass the 200,000 mark.

I am so very happy to announce that there have been sightings of the Red Fox in Golden Gate Park!  They had disappeared for years but recently there have been sightings!  This is great news as not only are they beautiful to look at but they help keep the gopher and rat population down! Now Chester I am certain that the San Francisco Park & Rec would LOVE to have you come on over and help reduce the population of gophers that has grown out of control recently but for now we will be happy to see these beautiful animals doing that job.  Luckily we no longer poisoning the gophers which in turn poisoned the Red and Grey Foxes whom hunted them.  DUH!  So we will be on the look out for these wonderful animals during our walks.  The sighting was made on the western end of the park. They probably are able to travel back and forth to the Presidio and Land's End fairly easily I am assuming.

Here is a report from Joyce W., who saw a Fantastic Mr. (or Mrs. Fox) on November 19th:
“It was about 4:00 pm and the fox was within 15 feet of JFK BLVD at the far West end.  It was intently watching a gopher hole on a wide open patch of mowed lawn.  Two cars stopped and watched in silence which didn’t seem to bother the fox.   It wasn’t until a jogger came by that the creature dashed into the woods.  I am 90% sure it was a Red Fox and not our local Grey Fox.  Very striking color combination with the red, black and white.  How did these creatures end up in the park? Amazing.  I regret that my cell phone was tucked away.  I was mesmerized by the vision before my eyes and didn’t want to divert my gaze for a second.  I watched it be absolutely still for at least three minutes.”

So there you have it. Coyotes are a similar size, but they run with their tails down and they’re not red in color. So let’s call this a reliable report of a red fox in the west end of GGP at the tail end of 2009. Elusive, aren’t they? (Not at all like San Francisco's raccoons and parrots.)

Here are photos of some east end foxes, from back in the day:

Foxes certainly don’t mind living in and around cities. Near Lincoln Boulevard in the Inner Sunset. Until we get some new photos, these old ones will have to do.

I wish you and yours a joyous and loving weekend!  See you all next week!