Today I went for the hike on the Paintbrush Trail in Rancho Palos Verdes. The hike leader of our group was Russ. He is very knowledgeable. He showed us a Cochineal, a kind of white scale insect, which he crushed on his hand and it turned red. (See the VDO at the bottom.) It is used as dye in many things including yogurt. So beware vegetarians, you may be eating yogurt with insect dye! To learn more about this wonderful insect, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal.
We saw many kinds of wild flowers and native plants such as purple sage and yellow poppy. We also saw a rattle snake, lizards and some ravens. The views from the trails are spectacular.
On the second Saturday of each month in 2008, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy organizes guided hikes at different locations for different months. Land Conservancy Nature Walks are broadcast on local RPVTV channel 35 on Friday evenings at 6 PM. Click here for 2 page flyer of 2008 Nature Walks and directions for parking: http://www.pvplc.org/2008%20Walk%20Flyer.pdf
For information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/
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