The Island Fox is a small fox that is native to six of the eight Channel Islands of California. It is the smallest fox species in the United States. There are six subspecies of the fox, each unique to the island it inhabits, reflecting its evolutionary history. Introduced diseases or parasites can decimate Island Fox populations. Because Island Foxes are isolated they have no immunity to parasites and diseases brought in from the mainland and are especially vulnerable to those domestic dogs may carry. A canine distemper outbreak in 1998 killed approximately 90% of Santa Catalina Island's fox population. In addition, Golden Eagle predation and human activities decimated fox numbers on several of the Channel Islands in the 1990s. Four Island Fox subspecies were federally protected as an endangered species in 2004, and efforts to rebuild fox populations and restore the ecosystems of the Channel Islands are being undertaken.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Fox

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1913: Death Valley, California hit 134 °F (~56.7 °C) which is the highest temperature recorded in the United States (as of 2004). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley)

1985: After a storm of controversy surrounding a change in its cola's formula, Coca-Cola re-introduced the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke)

1998: Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal: The Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay USD 23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cases_of_child_sexual_abuse_in_the_Roman_Cathol...)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combatted, suppressed— only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle." -- Nikola Tesla (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla)