Arts & Events

ONSTAGE, ROUNDABOUT

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday March 24, 2010 - 01:46:00 PM

This weekend, one notable music event and several in the theater: -more-


WILD NEIGHBORS: Possums and Parasites

By Joe Eaton
Wednesday March 24, 2010 - 01:59:00 PM

Last week I got a salutary reminder about the consequences—sometimes unforeseeable—of bringing exotic animals and plants to a new habitat. I was interviewing Melissa Miller, a Department of Fish and Game wildlife veterinarian, who studies the pathogen loads of sea otters. Miller happened to mention a die-off six years ago during which up to four sick or dead otters were being stranded every day along the coast between Morro Bay and Pismo Beach. The sick animals exhibited clinical signs of brain damage, and necropsies showed evidence of brain inflammation and enlarged lymph nodes. The casualties tested positive for a protozoan parasite called Sarcocystis neurona. -more-