Permit for Los Gatos Skatepark Revoked: Now What?

Proponents for the Skatepark in Los Gatos laid out a plan to build, fund and maintain one on Miles Avenue in downtown Los Gatos, but when it went before the voting public in Measure D, was not passed. In fact, Measure D, "the skatepark initiative",  was defeated by a 2 to 1 margin.

But does that mean that Los Gatans don't want a skatepark at all?

Or did they just not want the particulars in Measure D?

This is an important question because there's money being held by the town for the skatepark.

If the town considers the skatepark a closed issue, I believe it could use those monies for other things, but I hope not. There's a lot of residual upset swirling around the skatepark vote, and I would maintain that although Measure D was defeated, the Los Gatos voters remain open to making a skatepark part of the town's services.

Squirrels Are Not A Problem in Los Gatos

Let's be clear on something: squirrels, possums, skunks, racoons and other wildlife are not generally a problem in Los Gatos. Recently a mountain lion was seen on Cypress Way - and sometimes the big cats wander into suburbia. Those events constitute a problem. But by and large, the small furry animals that share our turf are not an issue.

I bring this up because I like to track who's finding "Live In Los Gatos", how they get here, what are the popular search terms, etc. It's all visible to you, too, if you are in the slightest bit interested. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and find the Site Meter button. Click on it. A whole world of info - probably much more than could possibly interest you - about how people find this spot lies in the pages beyond that portal.

What upset me today was seeing that one Google surfer found this site by asking about killing squirrels in Los Gatos. If you go through the Site Meter link and then look at the left sidebar where it says "Referrals" you will find one that reads as follows:

When I clicked on the Google search page, I saw that there seem to be aggressive squirrels in Palo Alto and people are thinking of extermination. Maybe it's beyond that and it's part of a plan. But as far as I know, there's NOTHING like that in Los Gatos.

That said, I just asked my husband, Jim Handy (who is a volunteer parks commissioner in Los Gatos) if there's anything about a plan to kill squirrels in Los Gatos. "No, but there's a problem with gophers at Oak Meadow Park", he informed me. What kind of problems? "Ankle turners..." Jim explained that people have been getting hurt tripping on gopher holes at the Town's Oak Meadow Park. Apparently there is a plan to poison gophers - at that one park.

It used to be against the law to use poison in parks in all cases. Apparently now, under heavy regulation, some use of poison is allowed. I can't say this makes me feel any better that it's a very guarded situation.

What about the historic but still timely Macabee Gopher Trap? It has been in production right here in Los Gatos for about a hundred years. Or perhaps it would be better if they would use a product like my old Saratoga High School friend Bob Bruno's "Gophernator" (or "Rodenator" since apparently it handles more than just gophers). Who ya gonna call?

Visit the Los Gatos Dog Park!

Right at the border between Los Gatos and Campbell, the county has an off-leash dog park - did you know? It's located within the Los Gatos Creek County Park at 1250 Dell Avenue. It features one fenced area for large dogs and another for small dogs, plus pet-friendly water fountains and pooper scooper materials (which are actually available at ALL Los Gatos parks). Call (408) 356-2729 for more information.

Who lives here?

In the sunniest parts of the Belgatos Park trails, the gravely areas just off the paths are filled with funnel spider webs. At first, one family member asserted confidently that these were tarantula webs. But before putting something on my blog, I went to check it out. So I spent (wasted?) over two hours reading up on it today.

Now I'm thoroughly confused, and will probably be having dreams (or nightmares) about spiders all night. Apparently there are all kinds of spiders that make these types of webs. Collectively, they are called Funnel-Web Spiders (Agelenidae). One site says that "aggressive house spiders" (apparently the kind you need to worry about) are a member of this class of spider too.

I did learn that all of these spiders wait until they feel a vibration on their web and then realize that dinner is served - so pop out to grab their prey. I'll keep my distance!

So have a look and see what you think. Any idea who lives in these?