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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Must Go Faster….

When being chased by predators, it’s best to move quickly.  I remember a scene in the movie, “Jurassic Park”, where the characters were being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  As the jeep sped down a dirt road, Jeff Goldblum kept repeating, “Must go faster”.  And then there was a scene in the movie, “Independence Day”, where Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum were fleeing from the bowels of the alien mother ship.  Jeff’s words of advice to Will Smith:  “Must go faster.”

But human beings are not the only creatures who are chased by predators.  So are frog tadpoles; they are hunted by a number of predators such as racoons, fish, snapping turtles and birds and even dragonfly larvae.  To stand any chance of escape, the tadpoles must swim faster. 

frog must go faster

 

turtle must go faster 

And what will help frog tadpoles swim faster?  How about larger tail?  In their experiments with tadpoles, University of Michigan researchers found “that prolonged exposure to a stress hormone enabled tadpoles to increase the size of their tails, which improved their ability to avoid lethal predator attacks.”

dragonfly must go faster 

Here’s how they conducted the experiments.  Researchers placed tadpoles in a tank of water.  Then they placed dragonfly larvae (tadpole predators) in small cages inside the tank.  Inside the cages, the larvae were fed live tadpoles.  “When under attack, tadpoles, release chemical signals called pheromones that travel through the water to alert other tadpoles to the presence of predators. The researchers found that tadpoles repeatedly exposed to the alarm pheromone over several days showed elevated whole-body levels of corticosterone.”

Meanwhile, in the laboratory, “other tadpoles were exposed either to the alarm pheromone, to corticosterone or to a chemical that blocks the synthesis of the stress hormone. Over the course of several days, tadpoles treated with either the pheromone or the stress hormone developed deeper tails and shorter trunks than control animals, while tadpoles treated with the pheromone and the hormone inhibitor had shallower tails and longer trunks than those exposed to the pheromone alone.

The stess hormone produced by tadpoles, corticosterone, is chemically similar to cortisol, the stress hormone produced by humans.  So it appears that no matter whether you’re being chased by dragonfly larvae, T-rex’s or space aliens, the body’s chemical stress response is similar and the goal is the same:  must go faster.

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Upcoming Outdoor Events: 

Trail Maintenance Schedule.  Come join our volunteers as they help maintain our trails.  Contact Steve at machiamist@aol.com for time and place.

Wednesday mornings, September 4, 11, 18 & 25.
Saturday mornings, September 14 & 28.

Wilderness Survival Workshops.  Starting October 5, the MRCA is offering a series of day-long workshops at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas.  Click here for more details and to register.

New trail maps available.  If you’d like to explore a bit on your own, the City of Santa Clarita has a website with trail maps of our local open spaces.

There’s also a new website for bicycle riders.  

Ask Dr. Norm:  Do you have questions about the flora, fauna, animals, rocks, etc. in our Santa Clarita Valley?  Here’s a place for you to ask your questions.  Dr. Norman Herr, Ph.D., is a professor of science and computer education at California State University, Northridge.

Tell Us About Your Hike:  Here’s a new website where you can post pictures, provide feedback and make suggestions about the City of Santa Clarita’s trails and open spaces.

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You can listen to stories like this every Friday morning at 7:10 a.m. on “The SCV Outdoor Report”, brought to you by your hometown radio station KHTS (AM1220) and by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

For the complete MRCA hike and activity schedule and for trail maps, click here or go to www.LAMountains.com.    

Or check out our Facebook page  – L.A. Mountains.


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Santa Clarita Valley Outdoor Report: Must Go Faster….

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About KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220

As Santa Clarita’s only local radio station, KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, along with your favorite adult contemporary hits by artists such as Rob Thomas, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Maroon 5. We are vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community. Our broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. We stream our talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience.