John Miller CA

Most California homeowners have spotted a bat zigzagging through the evening sky and assumed it was vacuuming up…

By John Miller CA · Aug 12

Spotting a praying mantis perched on a tomato cage or rosebush can stop you in your tracks. These…

By John Miller CA · Aug 12

Most California homeowners never think twice before sweeping down a web stretched across the garden gate, but that…

By John Miller CA · Aug 11

Spotting a small frog clinging to a fence post or tucked under a pot in your California garden…

By John Miller CA · Aug 11

Most California homeowners have chased one off a patio without a second thought, not realizing what they were…

By John Miller CA · Aug 11

Spot a dragonfly making repeated passes over your backyard this summer, and you might wonder whether your yard…

By John Miller CA · Aug 11

Barn owls have hunted California yards and fields for centuries, and a well-placed nest box can give them…

By John Miller CA · Aug 11

Tucked under a sun-warmed rock or perched on a wooden fence post, the western fence lizard is one…

By John Miller CA · Aug 11

Spotting a small frog clinging to a garden wall or tucked under a pot on a warm California…

By John Miller CA · Aug 10

Spot a praying mantis perched on your tomato plant and your first instinct might be to scoop it…

By John Miller CA · Aug 10

Spotting a plump little bird with a teardrop-shaped head plume strutting across your yard can stop you in…

By John Miller CA · Aug 10

Spotting a barn owl near your California yard after dark is one of those moments that stops you…

By John Miller CA · Aug 10

A plain brown bird is already working your garden beds, and most California homeowners have no idea what…

By John Miller CA · Aug 10

Walk through your vegetable beds on a calm morning and you might spot a delicate web stretched between…

By John Miller CA · Aug 10

A small, quick-moving bird with a cocked tail and a loud song may already be working through the…

By John Miller CA · Aug 9

Spotting a praying mantis perched on your tomato cage or squash vine in late summer can stop you…

By John Miller CA · Aug 9

Flip over a piece of firewood on a warm August afternoon in California and you might come face…

By John Miller CA · Aug 9

Spotting several alligator lizards scurrying along your foundation on a warm California afternoon can feel surprising, even a…

By John Miller CA · Aug 9

Most California gardeners swat down the first spider web they spot in the vegetable bed without a second…

By John Miller CA · Aug 9

Spotting a big, thick-bodied lizard draped across your garden wall on a warm California afternoon can stop you…

By John Miller CA · Aug 9

Fresh mounds of dirt appearing overnight in your vegetable beds are a sign that pocket gophers have moved…

By John Miller CA · Aug 8

Most California homeowners who spot a long, rough-scaled lizard near their garage or garden bed grab a shovel…

By John Miller CA · Aug 8

There is a plant sitting in the shrub section of most California nurseries that looks like a tidy…

By John Miller CA · Aug 8

California is home to some of the most unusual plants on the planet, but most of them never…

By John Miller CA · Aug 8

Walk through a California backyard in late summer and you might spot a large spider sitting dead-center in…

By John Miller CA · Aug 8

Something large, tan, and patterned just crossed your vegetable bed, coiled up near the tomatoes, and started hissing.…

By John Miller CA · Aug 8

A blue-gray jay hopping across your lawn might be doing more than looking for crumbs. California Scrub-Jays sometimes…

By John Miller CA · Aug 7

Barn owls have a reputation in California as nature’s best rodent hunters, and that reputation is not entirely…

By John Miller CA · Aug 7

If your crape myrtle has been leaving a sticky, black-coated mess on your patio furniture every summer, you…

By John Miller CA · Aug 7

Most California homeowners know the spiky blue-bellied lizard doing push-ups on the back fence, but there is a…

By John Miller CA · Aug 7

If you have been eyeing your pergola and wondering whether a California native vine could do the same…

By John Miller CA · Aug 7

A long-bodied lizard with a large head and short legs sometimes shows up in California yards, garages, and…

By John Miller CA · Aug 7

A tiny bird is working through your shrubs right now, and most California homeowners have never noticed it.…

By John Miller CA · Aug 5

Every California gardener knows the heartbreak of checking on new seedlings in the morning only to find ragged,…

By John Miller CA · Aug 5

Somewhere in a California yard tonight, a barn owl is gliding silently over the grass, hunting by sound…

By John Miller CA · Aug 5

Every spring, California gardeners grab a broom and knock down the small webs strung across their raised beds…

By John Miller CA · Aug 4

A small, bright-chested bird called the Western Bluebird has been quietly hunting insects across California yards, parks, and…

By John Miller CA · Aug 4

Walk through your yard this fall and you might brush past a small, papery lump stuck to a…

By John Miller CA · Aug 4

A small lizard sunning itself on your backyard fence might be doing something remarkable inside the ticks that…

By John Miller CA · Aug 4

Spot a long, scaly lizard moving through your garden beds and your first instinct might be alarm, but…

By John Miller CA · Aug 4

Spot a thick, patterned snake moving through your California garden and your first instinct might be to grab…

By John Miller CA · Aug 4

A small, warty toad sitting under your porch steps might be doing quiet work in your garden beds…

By John Miller CA · Aug 3

Snails and cutworms can hollow out a seedling overnight, and most California gardeners have reached for bait or…

By John Miller CA · Aug 3

That bold, blue-and-gray bird hopping through your raised beds is not just making a mess. The California Scrub-Jay…

By John Miller CA · Aug 3

Spotting a praying mantis perched on your tomato cage feels like a small win, and it is. These…

By John Miller CA · Aug 3

A small, dark, spiny creature crawling through the aphids on your rose bush may look alarming, but squashing…

By John Miller CA · Aug 3

A scaly, quick-moving reptile slipping under your garden gate might look alarming, but it could be one of…

By John Miller CA · Aug 3

A striped or banded snake slipping through your garden beds might look alarming, but that snake could be…

By John Miller CA · Aug 2

A small, warty toad sitting still in your flower bed at dusk might not look like much, but…

By John Miller CA · Aug 2