Summer 2023

168 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 tain lions or simply lions. A lion is rarely seen, but, when glimpsed, is most often a brief flash illuminated by a vehicle’s headlamps while bounding across the roadway, occasionally seeming to stretch across an entire lane because they can be up to 9 feet long with tail fully extended. Whatever one chooses to name them, though, it’s uncon- scionable to think any of these stunningly beautiful wild felines would aspire to being identified as roadkill. Sadly, a very heavy toll contin- ues along the busy stretch of four-lane Carmel Valley Road facing the park, a long-established natural wildlife migration corridor (one that’s current- ly posted with a 55 mph speed limit). A move- ment is sweeping California and other west- ern states to create safe wildlife corridors and road crossings. The news on this front at Palo Corona is mixed, with a modest culvert under the roadway providing some degree of func- tion. Yet, during the winter of historic atmos- pheric rivers just past, this channel was often filled with a torrent of water and didn’t pro- vide much, or any, safe passage. In their mission statement, upon acquisi- tion of the Rancho Cañada unit, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Parks District pitched this parcel as a critical connector and nursery between the greenbelts sur- rounding Monterey like Jacks Peak Park, coastal State Parks and the Ventana Wilderness, with the aggregate total forming a contiguous wildlife pathway to San Simeon. This appears more aspirational than a firm binding commitment. Happily though, a convergence of events is coming to pass that could conceivably lead to a new aerial wildlife overcrossing being built across busy four-lane Carmel Valley Road. County and state agencies have just this spring inked a new agreement to reconfigure and lower the lev- eed embankments to restore a large portion of the historical lower Carmel River floodplain in the eastern portion of the park. This represents an enormous earthmoving project that will create huge piles of dirt and riprap; as a prac- tical matter the spoils must remain on site. What better use than to build berms on either side of the roadway to enable the con- struction of a wildlife greenbelt overpass? Ivan J. Eberle is a Monterey County based wildlife and nature photographer. For over 20 minutes, this bobcat was content to lounge, remaining relaxed, though alert, while I captured photos at 10 frames per second with a motor driven camera and long lens from a 30-foot distance, until disturbed by approaching dogs. In fact, these riparian meadows are home to a burgeoning bobcat population, arguably more approachable than anywhere else in North America.