Ant Ranchers.

This is a short clip of ants farming aphids on a willow branch at Sagehen.

The ants protect & herd the aphids so they can "milk" them for their honeydew.

As bizarre as this idea seems, several other species of ants are also farmers. For instance, Leaf-cutter ants march those bits of leaves back to the nest where they chew them up for use as mushroom-growing medium. They don't eat the leaves, just the mushrooms.

00:19 [.MOV-548 KB]

Spawning native California Catostomus Tahoensis

Here's a quick video we shot last summer of spawning native Tahoe Suckers.

What a bad name for such a cool fish! They really should call the Brook Trout "suckers" because they vacuum up the native fish eggs, whereas these guys just eat things like worms & mollusks.

01:33 [.MOV-4.4 MB]

Or watch on YouTube at lower resolution:

Sagehen Researcher discusses snow-water measurement.

Sagehen researcher Chris Skalka of the U. of Vermont talks with Vermont Public Television about his work measuring snow-water equivalents using gamma radiation.

Sagehen Videos Available for Amazon Download

You can download videos from Amazon, or order a DVD here.

Big storm cycle ends.

A big winter storm cycle just ended.

Here's a clip of us mountaineering on the house to do "cornice control". Pretty tricky getting up the icicle without crampons, but jumping the "bergschrund" was easy!

See more pics from the storm at our blog.

Orphaned bear cub released at Sagehen.

The California Dept. of Fish & Game released another orphaned bear cub at Sagehen yesterday. Learn more about this cub's story & all of Sagehen's other bear research on our blog.

Read story & watch video on KGO-TV ABC7, San Francisco. Or download the video here:

PC [WMV-6.6MB | WMV-4.1MB]
Mac or iPod [MP4-7.2MB | MP4-5.1MB]
Flash [5.8MB]

There's another story & video on KOLO8-TV, Reno. Or download the video here:

PC [WMV-8MB | WMV-2.9MB]
Mac or iPod [MP4-8.2MB | MP4-3.1MB]
Flash [6.9MB]

KGO-TV ABC 7 News revisits Sagehen, Part II

The Bay Area's ABC affiliate, KGO-TV 7, visited Sagehen last year to report on the new Experimental Forest. Last month they returned for a follow-up.

You can read &/or watch the second report of this series, ARC Program Helps Teenagers Thrive on the KGO-TV website or use the links below.

00:04:26

PC [WMV-6MB | WMV-16MB]
Mac or iPod [MP4-7.5MB | MP4-17.1MB]
Flash [11.5MB]

KGO-TV ABC 7 News revisits Sagehen

Last year, KGO-TV--the Bay-area's ABC affiliate--ran a series of spots on the new Sagehen Experimental Forest & various research projects underway. This month, they returned for a follow-up. The first of the stories: Sierra's Experimental Forest Is A Scientist's Dream aired last night. You can watch the segment on the KGO-TV website or use the links below.

00:03:54

PC [WMV-5.2MB | WMV-14.9MB]
Mac or iPod [MP4-6.1MB | MP4-15.1MB]
Flash [10.3MB]

Why are there so many butterflies around all of a sudden?

UC Berkeley Ph.D. Candidate Ryan Hill explains the sudden appearance of butterflies in the Sierras every spring.

Copyright: 2007, UC Regents

04:30

Watch on YouTube [below], or download a higher-res version here: Mac [.mov-9.6MB]