No thrones. No crowns. No kings. The NO Kings march on March 28 broke records. More than eight million people turned out to protest the Trump Administration. Protests took place in more than 3,000 US cities, but also on every continent on Earth, including Antarctica. Here in Topanga, residents gathered in the town center for a peaceful but passionate show of solidarity against authoritarianism and tyranny. Topangans are no strangers to speaking up and taking a stand. One sign at the protest summed it up perfectly: “Topanga stops protesting when pigs fly!” Photography by Denis M. Hannigan. Cover design by Urs Baur
Spring is a season of hope. It doesn’t matter if it brings frost or heat, rain or drought, the lengthening days bring the promise of renewal. Here in Topanga, the sycamores and willows are green with new growth and alive with the sound of birds. A month of record heat has dried the hillsides and sent some wildflowers to seed early, but the orange and yellows of monkey flower and deerweed are just beginning to appear, along with the lacy white and pink of buckwheat.
All along the verge of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, clarkia flowers are blooming, their pale pink and mauve punctuated by the vivid red of Indian paintbrush, the almost fluorescent blue of penstemon and the pure bright yellow of golden yarrow. These flowers may appear fragile, but they are as tough and enduring as the bones of the mountains that support them.
At night, there is a spring chorus of tree frogs and the soft, muted calls of the great horned owls, calling to each other from the tops of the neighbor’s trees. Spring in Topanga may be ephemeral but it is also incredibly beautiful.
Less welcome harbingers of spring are also appearing, including an abundant crop of ticks and many rattlesnake sightings. Anyone who lives in the Santa Monica Mountains for long becomes accustomed to the presence of snakes. Encountering a rattlesnake on the trail or on the driveway is always a shock, but the vast majority of bites occur when someone steps on a snake by accident.
In the garden it is important to remember to look where one puts one’s feet or hands and to check for snakes before starting to weed, or move brush, branches, rocks, or even outdoor furniture. When hiking, stay in the middle of the trail—snakes often like to rest in the shade at the edge. That isn’t always an option, especially when hikers encounter fast-moving bikes, but looking before leaping is always a good idea.
Rattlesnakes prefer not to waste their venom on targets that aren’t prey. It’s unusual for them to strike without warning, but that distinctive rattle can be drowned out by earbuds or headphones or even just a phone call. Your editor, who has written these warnings almost every spring for twenty years, nearly stepped on a juvenile rattlesnake when she foolishly took a phone call while walking. Was she wearing her hiking boots and the snake gaiters she recommends to other hikers? No she wasn’t. Was she looking where she was going? No, she wasn’t. Was she bitten? No, she was not, but only because she didn’t step on the snake and had the sense to quickly move away.
Staying alert and remembering to look and listen can help prevent unwelcome encounters. Being aware that rattlesnakes are abundant in our mountains that sooner or later one will encounter one is important, too. The best advice? Don’t step on a snake. The second best advice? If one is bitten, don’t panic but seek immediate medical help. A rattlesnake bite is a critically important 911 emergency.
Dogs and horses are also vulnerable to rattlesnake bites. This is also a serious medical emergency that requires immediate treatment. Rattlesnake aversion training is available for dogs and can help not only prevent the dog from being bitten but may also help prevent human-rattlesnake encounters, since dogs are far less likely to be distracted from the essentials than humans.
They aren’t as dramatic as rattlesnakes, and far fewer people have a phobia about them, but ticks inflict far more misery on humans than rattlesnakes do, and this is a bumper year for this blood-sucking pest. Ticks like to climb to the end of tail brush or grasses and grasp on to the first passerby they encounter. The local population of western black-legged ticks have the potential to transmit Lyme disease and other unpleasant things. It’s important to check clothing and exposed skin for ticks after every hike and to make sure the family dogs aren’t bringing ticks into the home, too.
Rattlesnakes and ticks are just as much a part of springtime in the Santa Monica Mountains as wildflowers and flowing creeks. Being aware of them is a small price to pay for the privilege of being here now, in Topanga, in springtime, with winter behind us and the summer ahead.
Happy Easter, happy Passover, happy Spring. Whatever one celebrates, this is a season for new growth, new hope, and new beginnings.
Stay safe, be well.
Signs of the Times
