Animals

The Triumphant Return of Bernal Hill’s Lost Garbage Can

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Important news for Bernal Hill dog walkers and/or enemies of errant fecal matter: The Lost Garbage Can of Bernal Boulevard has returned, now in a stylish new location across from our glamorous new Vista Pointe minipark.

Newbie Neighbor Rally provides the photo above, and the straight poop. (Sorry, couldn’t resist):

Good news for those who care about the mundane, yet mysteriously glamourous details of life in lovely Bernal Heights. The trash can that had gone in missing at the bottom of Bernal Hill is BACK! This caused quite the stir around here, even the awesome Bernalwood blog talked about it.

Here we see its glorious return, now repositioned across the street from its former location.

Woo hoo! Less poo! Meanwhile, Neighbor Renee adds:

PHOTO: Stolen with gratitude from Rally P/Going West

Dog Owners Love New Park But Lament Lost Garbage Can

/ Todd_Lappin / 16 Comments

No sooner had the ribbon been cut at the new Vista Pointe mini-park on Bernal Hill than some dog owners began complaining in the comments that although the new park is grand, somewhere along the line the City removed the garbage can that used to sit at the northeast corner of the lot.

That left pet owners with no place to deposit their doggy-doo, so some have apparently launched a poop-in to protest the disappearance of their beloved trash receptacle. New neighbor RallyP — a dog owner — created the graphic above, and he summarizes the scene:

We’re already seeing evidence of either civil disobedience, or just plain laziness and rudeness (or both?). Hopefully they’re just replacing the old garbage can with something newer and better. Otherwise, this may become a more common sight here 😦

So, paging our friends at City DPW. Heeeeeelp!!! Any chance we can get that garbage can back?

UPDATE: 7 July, 2011

This just came in via the Twitter:

Translated: According to Julian Wyler, the local celebrity who organized the Vista Pointe minipark project, the City Department of Public Works planned to install a new garbage can across the street from the park, but that hasn’t happened. So now it’s time to nag. Please place a call via the 311 telephone hotline to express your desire to have the replacement trash can installed.

IMAGE: goingWest

High-Tech Governmental Organic Autonomous Trimming System Deployed to Manage Overgrown Bernal Property

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

Bernalwood is pleased to report that the City has deployed an innovative, high-tech solution to maintain the grass around Bernal Reservoir.

These new units are biofuel-powered, and they come pre-loaded with navigational subroutines that enable fully autonomous mulching and trimming operation within preset geographic boundaries. City bureaucrats call it the Governmental Organic Autonomous Trimming System (GOATS), and by all indications, these units deliver significant value to taxpayers.

Reader Tony brings the details (and a video):

The SFPUC has been using goats to clear the weeds and grass in the adjacent lot at the reservoir on the corner of Appleton and Elsie, for fire prevention. It is something my wife and dogs look forward to, as my wife had goats growing up in Ohio and my dogs get a kick from them. They are really smart and very friendly like a dog — just stay away from the scent glands on their heads, because they smell like goat milk cheese x1000.

It’s really great when your City can use a simple sustainable technique for doing a necessary job instead of the typical smelly & loud two stroke weed-wacker that fouls the air and disturbs the peace.

Awesome. Here’s a video of GOATS in action.

VIDEO: Courtesy of Tony

Lost Dog Alert!! Lost Dog Alert!! (UPDATE: Doggie Found!)

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

Several neightbors called the Bernalwood red phone today to help spread the word about a missing dog named Nip who normally resides in North Bernal. Assistance wanted. Be on the lookout. Calling all units, etc. etc.

Neighbor Reyhan writes:

This is Nip, with his owner. I live on Treat Ave., next door to Nip, and came home around midnight last night to see a bunch of neighbors outside, talking about Nip’s disappearance. Apparently, he sprinted down the Treat Ave. hill into Precita Park in the late afternoon and was last spotted running up Folsom, towards Bernal Hill. Seems a neighbor down the street was dogsitting, as Nip’s owners are out of town. No word this morning on whether he’s been found.

Nip is a skittish little guy who no one thinks went far but is very hard to catch; anyone who sees him should call Animal Control.

UPDATE: Dynamutts adds…

She was last seen near Hwy 280, near Alemany Exit. Call Bill at 415 307-1080 (ONLY IF SIGHTED) or Animal Care and Control (415) 554-6364.

UPDATE2: Found doggie! Whew! Reader Korney writes:

Reports of “sightings” came in that led them to McLaren Park.  When Bill got to the park, Nip was waiting for him.

7×7 Gives Bernal Hill Dogs the Dis

/ Todd_Lappin / 16 Comments

Look, No Bernal!

What does Bernalwood have in common with our friends at 7×7 magazine? Obviously, we’re both ridiculously obsessed with glamour and style. So with that as our shared touchstone, we encountered an unpleasant surprise when we opened the July issue of 7×7 to find an article inside about the San Francisco’s “favorite dog parks.”

Favorite dog parks! Bernal Hill! Favorite! Bernal Hill! A slam dunk! Right??

Apparently not.

The gang at 7×7 gave props to Fort Funston, Corona Heights Park, Glen Canyon Park, and Chrissy Field. But Bernal Hill didn’t make the list. Yes, yes… Stray Bar got a shout-out in the sidebar as a canine-friendly place for humans to get plastered.  But Bernal’s canine wonderland on the hill didn’t warrant inclusion on 7×7’s favorite list.

Sam, on Bernal Heights

At first, we took some offense. “What, even a 4.5 star rating among the crankypants on Yelp isn’t enough to put Bernal Hill on 7×7’s  fashionista map? 

For example, after giving Bernal Hill five-star marks, here’s what one Yelper had to say on behalf of a doggy named Mochi:

We love this dog park and so does little Mochi!! We love the fact that it isn’t like any other dog park, where your dog is kept in a fenced off area…what fun is that?!

Dogs are free to run off leash here, and lots of running they do! The paved pathway is closed off to vehicles, so you don’t need to worry about that. There’s always lots of dogs here; small, medium and large and all very friendly.

With testimonials like that, what else does Bernal have to do to get the love? Do we need to offer an ergonomic doggy water fountain? Got it!!! Must we provide hipster minstrels who serenade dogs with song??? Will THIS suffice?????

Sheeesh.

But further reflection revealed that our omission from 7×7’s list is actually a blessing in disguise. Because, really, do we want all those hoi-polloi hounds from all over the City bounding around on Bernal Hill? Traipsing across our terrain with their dirty fur and slime-coated tennis balls? Frankly, no. We don’t. So it’s just as well that we didn’t make the list. Better to keep Bernal Hill an insider-only secret. In fact, we might even consider installing velvet ropes at both Upper and Folsom gates on Bernal Heights Boulevard.

Otto in Bernal's secret garden

Meanwhile, and totally coincidentally, Bernalwood is currently accepting nominations for our first-ever list of “favorite consumer-oriented San Francisco lifestyle publications,” which will appear in an upcoming post. Have at it in the comments.

Arf! Arf!

PHOTOS: From top: Telstar Logistics, Dunstan Orchard, k8itts, and Ed B

Some Lovey Dovey on the North Slope

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

A North Slope voyeur sent us a tale and a photo of avian romance:

Lovey Doveys were out today. This pair nests here every year, sometimes right in the flower pot, but I’ve not seen this kind of a show before. Those darn birds were at it for hours and hours while I worked in the room next to that deck.  I definitely will have to scrub that table. Yuck.

Now sing along!

Lovey Dovey

I said you’re the cutest thing that I’ve ever seen
I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

I tell you that I love you and you ought to know
I love the way your father slammed the back door
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

I get a high when you kiss me and I’m on the ceiling
My knees get weak, my heart beats, my head starts dreaming
I love you pretty baby, place no one above
Give it up, IYou’re the cutest thing that I ever did see
Love those peaches, got to have that tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

I get a high when you kiss me and I’m on the ceiling
My knees get weak, my head starts dreaming
Give it up, I just can’t wait because

You’re the cutest thing that I ever did see
I really love your peaches, got to shake that tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

And I’m walking and I’m talking but I feel alright
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind
Lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

Otis Redding: Lovey Dovey Lyrics
Songwriters: Ahmet Ertegun;Memphis Curtis

Masked Bandit Plunders Bernal Backyard

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

backyard bandit

Meri Page caught this feral creature plundering her garbage cans in search of a free meal. Word on the street is that the suspect was searching for cat food.

Meanwhile, here are Seven Fun Facts About Raccoons we all should know:

  1. Raccoons understand the abstract principles of locking mechanisms, and their learning speed is equivalent to that of rhesus macaque monkeys.
  2. Raccoons can remember the solutions to tasks for up to three years.
  3. The word “raccoon” was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the Virginia Colony. It has also been identified as a Proto-Algonquian root ahrah-koon-em, meaning “[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands.” Speaking of which…
  4. The most important sense for the raccoon is its sense of touch. They have “hyper sensitive” front paws, and two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in the raccoon’s cerebral cortex is specialized for the interpretation of tactile impulses.
  5. A raccoon’s top speed over short distances is 10 to 15 mph; they can swim at 3 mph.
  6. Raccoons are highly omnivorous, with a typical diet that includes about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant material and 27% vertebrates. When food is plentiful, raccoons can develop strong individual preferences for specific foods (including cat food from Meri’s back yard).
  7. The baculum (penis bone) of male raccoons is about 4 inches long. Oh my.

PHOTO: Meri Page

Beachcombing Birds Vacation in Bernalwood

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

As we all know, Bernalwood is basically a landlocked mountain. It’s great for rugged hikes and soaring vistas, but it’s not so ideal if you want to hang out on the beach. Nevertheless, our neighborhood still attracts some waterfowl tourism, as evidenced by these photos of Great Blue Heron captured by reader Phern Hunt:

These are the Great Blue Heron who visit my yard with a pond on Peralta Avenue.  This bird visits frequently! The first one is at the pond… waiting for the goldfish to surface… she has definitely scored in that department.

PHOTOS: Phern Hunt

Remembrance of Hootenannies Past: RIP Bernal Hill’s Great Horned Owls

/ Todd_Lappin / 12 Comments

ready for his closeup

great horned owl, now appearing daily in bernal heights

Four years ago this week, Bernal Heights lost some of its most remarkable residents — a pair of Great Horned Owls. The owls lived in a tree along the western side of Bernal Heights Boulevard, and for a time they were a popular neighborhood attraction. Then one died, on April 9, 2007. The second died soon thereafter. And then they were gone.

Their memory continues. Apart from the fact that one of the trails at Ski Bernalwood was named after the owls, they have also been immortalized in a short film, and in a series of excellent photographs taken by Art Siegel. Art’s wife, Carol Gould, wrote a remembrance about the owls for Bernalwood to mark the fourth anniversary of their death:

When the great horned owls were spotted in the trees at the top of the Esmeralda Steps in the fall of 2007, something magical happened in the Bernal Heights community.  People were captivated by the birds — their silent majesty and ferocity were so compelling!  People came to the hill just to stand and look at them.  No one could believe these wild birds had adopted our hill as their home, and they couldn’t resist hanging out with them for even just a few minutes every day.

As a result, the community of walkers, joggers, and dog-owners on Bernal Hill came together more intimately than ever before.  People congregated under the trees where the owls lived and exchanged stories of their first owl sighting.   Connections were formed as people exchanged names, petted friendly dogs, and jiggled the little fists of babies in the arms of their parents.  A baby born during the owls’ visitation was named after them.

My husband Art is a photographer, and the owls provided endless photo ops for him.  We went to the hill almost every day to see the owls and take photos of them.  Art became known as “Mr. Owl Man” and I was “Mrs. Owl Man.”  I would sit by the side of the path, asking passersby if they had seen the owls yet.  It was always fun to point out the birds to someone who’d never seen them, and witness their complete surprise and delight upon spotting them camouflaged in the trees.  They were very hard to see if you didn’t know what to look for, but once you saw them you were amazed at how big they were yet how easily you could miss them.  Soon we began coming up to the hill at dusk to watch them take off to go hunting.  First they would call to one another and jump around in the tree for a few minutes—one would fly off, and then the other.  We followed them around the hill until it got too dark to see them.

The Hill is still a friendly and welcoming place, but it hasn’t bee quite the same since the owls have been gone.  I miss them and the sense of communal wonder they inspired.

RIP

PHOTOS: Art Siegel

This Bernal Resident Ate a Mouse For Lunch

/ Todd_Lappin / 8 Comments

I have a mouse and you don't

While we’re on the subject of birds, Dyche captured some fantastic photos of a Bernal Heights resident enjoying a free-range protein snack last weekend. Hearty!

Let’s zoom in:

UPDATE: There’s been some debate within the Ornithologist Committee over the question of whether this hungry bird is a Sparrow Hawk or an American Kestrel. The answer, apparently, is: Yes.  Reader Jeff explains:

The American Ornithologists Union has officially recognized American Kestrel as the name instead of American Sparrow Hawk since 1983. In reality, the Kestrel got its colloquial name because it hunts sparrows; the bird itself is actually from the falcon family.

PHOTOS: Dyche


Bernalwood’s Wild Kingdom, or How To Deal With Unwanted Guests

/ David Gallagher / 6 Comments

We’ve had mice, we’ve had rats, we’ve had raccoons living between the house and the neighbor’s house, we’ve had a falcon standing on our back deck, we’ve had friends who just hang around too long at the end of a party… but maybe I’ve said too much.

Here’s our latest run-in with a frequent visitor to our backyard who likes us so much he’s taken up residence in our crap-filled garage. I hope you can learn something from this.

So Many Wild Creatures in the Neighborhood!

/ Molly Samuel / 8 Comments

Bernalwood has all kinds of awesome creatures and plants all over the place; you just have to look a little bit, and learn how to figure out what you’re seeing.

It also helps if you have an awesome camera or lens. I don’t know anything about cameras, but luckily, Logan Bartling seems to have one. Also luckily, in addition to writing an excellent blog about birding on Alcatraz, he lives in Bernal Heights, and kindly shared some recent photos with us.

The very top photo is a Western scrub jay. This shiny guy is an Anna’s hummingbird. They have a funny little wheezy squeak, like an over-loved dog toy. I hear it all the time on Bernal Heights Blvd., and can usually find the source sitting on a sunny branch.

Red-tailed hawk. You know when there’s a movie set in a crazy jungle or somewhere super-exotic and wild and you hear the high-pitched terror-inducing cry that tells you, “this is a crazy location?” That’s a red-tailed hawk.

A pocket gopher. Gardeners and dogs know these guys.

The fearsome Jerusalem cricket. Ew!

A pair of kestrels. Logan claims that the kestrels follow him. My hunch: he just knows when and where to look for them. He says he’s seen them lately along Bayshore and up on Powhattan and Bernal Heights Blvd.

Photos: Logan Bartling of Maganrord.