Museum and Sea Center open daily, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM

Vertebrates

Browse our Q&A about birds, eggs, nests, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals of the Central Coast and Channel Islands.

“We have had a bat visiting from time to time over the last month in a small space in our ceiling. I've found the opening in the wall through which it is making its way into the house and would l...”
David, Santa Barbara - August 24, 2022

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“Found about a dozen eggs, (small about 1/2 inch or smaller) while cleaning out a clay pot that had a dead plant. Digging in the soil to remove roots, my hand tool came up with a few eggs, more s...”
Sandra, Santa Barbara - July 20, 2022

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“I photographed this dead woodrat on San Marcos Foothills Preserve on May 2, 2022. I'm wondering if it is a Dusky-footed Woodrat.”
Barbara, Santa Barbara - June 15, 2022

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“Hi, This guy was at our patio during a drizzling earlier morning Riviera area. Thank you, Ann”
Ann, Riviera, Santa Barbara - May 27, 2022

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“Good Afternoon, I discovered these bones near the top of a seacliff off the Santa Barbara Coastline, near UCSB. They look like vertebrae to me, but I truly have no clue. ”
Shahmeer, Santa Barbara, CA - February 23, 2022

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“We found this at campus point. Do you know what animal it came from? ”
Terri, Goleta - January 30, 2022

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“Hi, Thsi question is for both your Ornithology and Chumash Artifacts curators. There is a well documented flock of local parrots that have roosted in Montecito for many decades. Yo...”
Christopher, San Roque - October 28, 2021

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“Is anyone concerned about invasive foxes? I have had animal cameras running continuously for about 5 years and watched a few generations of grey foxes grow up on our bit of wilderness on our pro...”
Joel, Ojai - September 17, 2021

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“I was wondering if any of your vertebrate zoologists could comment on this skunk. I caught it on my motion camera in my backyard. It appears to have a large growth on its head, visible in both v...”
Rebecca, Goleta - July 30, 2021

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“On June 16, 2021 I walked onto our concrete patio at about 9 PM and saw a snake in residential Santa Barbara for the first time after living here for just over 50 years. The neighhood net is rep...”
Brian, Santa Barbara - June 18, 2021

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