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The heat wave last week has helped our one of our Hawaii Endemic mamaki plants, which were mere sprouts a month ago, grow an absurd 3 inches of growth, Planted June 22, 2026 the mamaki plants had a rough start. The plants used to grow outside in the hot greenhouse but when the sprouts reached a certain age they would always end up scorched by the heat lamp or succumb to root rot. As the plants can tolerate more mild temperatures, I brought some tiny sprouts inside the house w

This is the first of a monthly series we will be writing to update you on our animals and their enclosures. Hawaiian Exhibit/Plants: Our first ever Endemic Hawaiian plant: the Māmaki germinated this month Planted June 22, 2026, the sprouts are still small and delicate and will not be transplanted for at least a year or too. Mamaki is a large shrub or short lived tree that serves as a fast growing pioneer species that is one of the first to appear after wildfires. Another Poly

Nosy Pill Woodlouse (native to Europe; main invasive stronghold is Eastern US) found in Metro Vancouver by me What comes to mind when you think of British Columbia? Maybe the crystal clear lakes or the lush temperate coniferous forests? Well when I went to Vancouver last month, I was constantly on the lookout for secretive invasive species that were hidden just a couple minutes away from the sprawling metropolis. While thousands of invasive species are present throughout Vanc

I have finished a new short film about the San Francisco Alligator Lizard, a local subspecies of the Northern Alligator lizard that I see regularly near Glen Park Reservoir. It’s a unique, snake-like lizard that people often miss because of its shyness and incredible agility. Beneath the scrub lies a hidden world that few people notice. This unusual lizard looks like a snake with legs, staying close to the ground and moving silently through the undergrowth. It waits patientl

This "comma" that I found in a small creek is actually a rare leech, Helobdella farmeri. What comes to mind when you look at the picture above? Maybe you think it looks like a comma-the punctuation mark we all know too well. Well, that's exactly what some of my fellow teen volunteers at Stulsaft Park thought when I flipped over a rock in Ojo de Agua Creek in Woodside. They had no idea that what they were looking at was actually a rare endemic freshwater jawed leech, Helobdell

Most people hiking in Glen Park pass by rocks without pausing to flip them over and photograph what may be living underneath. Many people who are hiking there are birders - looking up above at Red Tailed Hawks or listening to the calls of Great Horned Owls. Some people are simply enjoying the scenery for no particular reason. But when I visit O'Shaughnessy Reservoir, a relatively undisturbed patch of scrubland next to Glen Park, you'll often find me flipping over rocks in th

this habitat was recently closed :(

Elgaria is a small genus of anguid lizards that are limited to the West Coast of North America. Commonly known as 'alligator lizard's they are characterized by their slender, snake like appearance with small, stubby legs and a tail that usually takes up half of their body. Alligator lizards normally inhabit coastal areas though some subspecies tend to tolerate higher elevations, especially in the Cascade and Sierra Ranges ( https://californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/e.c.palmer

Today we explored Reservoir park for the first time this year - a small part of native ground that used to be connected to Glen park but the two parks have been divided by O'Shaughnessy Blvd. I have completed a map below that shows the microclimates of the park. The Park seems to be in good shape when we visited in March 1, 2026. The invasive flowers typical for this year (Rumex acetosella and Oxalis pes-caprae) were plentiful, which aligns with the 5"+ inches of rain that fe

Almost a year ago i stumbled apon a weird grapsidae crab from the coast of Big island, Hawai'i. At that point in my crab identifying journey I had known most of the grapsoidea (except for genus Percnon, which i constantly fail to identify properly) and all of the extant grapsidae of the islands. Grapsus tenuicrustratus, or the thin shelled rock crab is the largest of them. It has long, spidery legs with a carapace that reaches 3" in length. It is the most common grapsidae of

I was scrolling through iNaturalist observations of Land, shore marsh grapsoid crabs of West Africa this past Monday when I came across an observation of a small crab with weird laterally-compressed chelae. In my mind, I had identified it to the family Sesarmidae. It was so unique - I had never seen anything like that in any sesarmidae species, much less the whole subfamily of Grapsoidea. It didn't seem to fit morphologically any of the known genera from this area that were a

Our last trip of the year was be a weeklong trip in San Diego California. We will spend our time filming native lizards, crabs and other wildlife for a new film. Green anole I caught at San Diego Safari Park Another goal of the trip was to track the many invasive reptiles that have entered our state. These invasive reptiles have entered San Diego from places like Florida or even from the Old World like Asian and Europe. The main cause for this is the pet trade. People who no

We have many plans to improve our Hawaiian greenhouse this winter, including the installation of a heat system and possible introduction of tropical reptile such as geckos or anoles. Yellow 'Ilima, a coastal endemic vine i found in Hawaii last year Though doable, such plans will take time and effort to implement, as they are expensive and might take convincing from my parents (especially letting feral lizards in a backyard greenhouse). For now, we can focus on what’s doable-p

Termites. The bane of a homeowner's existence. Known for their greed and their voracious demolition of wood, termites are often regarded as major pests in the United States and Canada. People often overlook termites as pest insects. That's 100% true - many species such as Incisitermes minor and Reticulitermes hesperus are major pests in California. But termites are much more than just pests. Termites are more intelligent than you think as they make the some of the most ef

We have sadly decided to shut down our biggest marine tank, the Happy Nature Sanctuary, due to a combination of reasons. Algal blooms . Algal blooms were extremely persistent in the tank. No matter how hard we tried, it was near impossible to remove them. Temperature control. Since the tank gets direct sun exposure each day, this contributes to algal blooms and fluctuating temperatures, which damage and kill our animals, who prefer waters below 60ºF. Water chillers were an o

Due to space related complications, we are not continuing our New England tank build. The space that is left will be the Skink habitat...

The Italian Wall Lizard (Podarcis siculus) is a medium sized, colorful green lizard that is native to Italy and surrounding countries....

Hi everyone! It has been a while since we have posted. Today I finished editing our Bronxtin Studos trailer, which is meant to share the...

Short video: trip to Monterey and Big Sur 2025. A few weeks, ago I went on a trip to Monterey and Big Sur where I encountered many...

We've just started creating our New England Tank which is made almost entirely out of plants and animals from New England. Below are...