Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 11, 2013

11

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 11, 2013 


PET OF THE WEEK

WILDLIFE WEBCAMS-

A VOYEUR’S VIRTUAL PARADISE!

MILO #A4568663

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

I have never considered myself to be much of a voyeur, 
mainly because I have never felt the urge to spy on 
people in the privacy of their own homes, or anywhere 
else for that matter. However, I must admit that I will 
allow myself the privilege of nosing in on the interesting intimate activities of wild animals, when 
given the opportunity. Being a virtual wildlife voyeur is a relatively recent development for me. It all 
started a couple of years ago, when I found out I could tune in to a variety of live webcam internet 
broadcasts that show real time footage of birds and other wild animals carrying on with their day-to-
day activities, and I have been an avid voyeur ever since.

My first experience with spying on wildlife species via the internet was when I visited a website 
(sportsmansparadiseonline.com) that someone had posted on my Facebook timeline. The live video 
was streaming from a hidden camera affixed to the outside of an owl box that a guy in Oceanside 
had erected in his back yard. The stars of this particular “feature film” were a couple of adult barn 
owls named Sydney and Mel. It showed the two huge love birds nesting and mating at first, then 
Sydney laying her eggs, the eggs eventually hatching, the hatchlings growing strong enough to fly 
and ultimately fledging out of the nest, and it all happened right before my very eyes! It was truly an 
amazing thing to witness those baby owls hatch and grow, then fly away as if I were right there in the 
nest with them. To me, this is technology at its very best! I learned so much about barn owls from 
watching that webcam video, and I decided to bookmark the website for easy access in the future. 
Now I find myself checking in on various wildlife webcams at least once a day to see what’s happening 
with my new feathered and furry four-legged friends.

Another remarkable webcam broadcast that I frequently enjoy viewing is that of an eagle nest located 
on Santa Catalina Island. There are actually two eagles’ nests on the island that a virtual voyeur 
can tune in to, and both of them show the enormous, gorgeous adult birds come and go as they do 
throughout the day, while the baby eagles sit waiting for the treats mom and dad bring home after a 
hard day of hunting. Because it is so rare that I ever get to see eagles in the wild, I find this particular 
webcam to be one of the most fascinating. I try to tune in when I think it might be feeding time, 
which is typically in the early morning hours before sunrise, or just after the sun goes down. The 
“treats” those eaglets wait so patiently for are nothing like the kind we humans care to eat, as you 
might imagine, so viewing at feeding time might not be everyone’s cup of tea . I had hoped to see the 
little eaglets fledge last year, but unfortunately I missed out because I was simply too busy to log on, 
but hopefully I will have that privilege this year. There are several other eagle nest webcams located in 
various places throughout the world linked to the website as well.

Other live webcams that are posted on Sportsman’s Paradise Online include a pristine wild Kestrel nest 
in Washington state, showing an adult Kestrel laying on an egg soon to become a baby bird, a natural 
den in Minnesota where you’ll see “Lily” the bear coming and going at various times throughout the 
day, and “Woody” the wood duck nesting in a man-made box waiting patiently for her hatchlings to 
arrive. The list goes on and on, and I can’t seem to get enough of watching those beautiful animals do 
their thing in the wild. 

If you haven’t already had the experience of linking to a wildlife webcam on-line, I highly recommend 
it, although do be warned that you will probably get hooked like I did. It sure beats watching the news 
and getting depressed or wasting time gaming or chatting it up with a stranger on a social network 
website, and by all means it is far more educational. I don’t feel guilty about being the virtual voyeur 
I have recently become, I just feel more connected to the wild world that I may otherwise never be 
privy to, and I thank today’s amazing modern technology for bringing the beautiful beasts from the 
great outdoors into my living room.

Meet the shelter’s resident “cool guy,” Milo 
(A4568663). Milo is a cuddly couch potato - 
a six year old brown male Chug (Chihuahua/
Pug mix) who was found in Baldwin Park and 
brought to the shelter on April 25th. Weighing 
thirteen pounds, Milo walks okay on the leash 
but prefers to travel by lap. He is sociable 
with other dogs and affectionate and cuddly 
with adult humans, but he does not care for 
children. Milo is an adorable dumpling of a dog 
and will be the perfect indoor pet for an adult 
household in any living situation. To watch 
a video of Milo please visit the following link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIBozDBMddU

To meet Milo in person, please see him at the 
Baldwin Park Shelter, located at 4275 N. Elton, 
Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 626-430-2378 
or 626-962-3577). He is currently available now. 
For any inquiries about Milo, please reference 
his animal ID number: A4568663. The shelter 
is open seven days a week, 12 pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. This is a 
high-intake shelter with a great need for adoptions. 

For more information about Milo or the adoption process, contact United Hope for Animals 
Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at Samantha@hope4animals.org. To learn more about 
United Hope for Animals’ partnership with the Baldwin Park Shelter through its Shelter Support 
Program, as well as the many dogs of all breeds, ages, and sizes available for adoption in local shelters, 
visit http://www.unitedhope4animals.org/about-us/shelter-support-program/.