Free Nature Hikes with the Canyoneers

New schedule just dropped!

Have you checked out the 2023-2024 season of Canyoneer hikes yet? If not, trek on over to our website to see where we’re hiking next: 

Sunday, October 15: Gonzalez Canyon Open Space, not too far from the polo fields in Del Mar.  

Wednesday, October 18: Florida Canyon in Balboa Park, where the Canyoneers got their start.  

Sunday, October 22: We’re heading to Airplane Monument in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (crisp fall air, here we come).  

Saturday, October 28: Rattlesnake Benchmark Trail in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (hello, panoramic views!)  

Saturday, November 4: The Canyoneers have special permission from UC San Diego to hike the Elliott Chaparral Reserve, formerly part of the Camp Elliott Military Reservation. 

These hikes are free but advance online reservations are required.  

Sign me up!

Our Arachnid Expert Makes News

Meet Dr. Shahan, lover of weird, rare things.

Our new curator of entomology is already making headlines. Dr. Shahan Derkarabetian joins The Nat by way of Harvard, and likes to “focus on the weird, rare things that are in the back of the field guides."

Intrigued? Learn more in this San Diego Union-Tribune interview or check out the recent story from KPBS (along with some gorgeous photos of Opiliones, a.k.a. harvesters or daddy longlegs).  

Photo by Alejandro Tamayo, San Diego Union-Tribune 

Meet Shahan (on KPBS)

Speaking of Spiders

Orb weavers are out in full force.

Have you run face-first into a spiderweb recently? You can probably thank your friendly neighborhood orb weaver for that.  

These spiders are reaching maturity and spinning their famously large webs (think circular, Charlotte's-style webs). While a web to the face might be unnerving, these spiders are harmless. So, if you walk by one of these massive webs soon, take a moment to thank the universe you didn’t walk into it and then spend some time admiring the intricate work!  

Photo by ghazard on iNaturalist.

More fall phenomena

Parties, Promotions, Programs

Five reasons to visit The Nat this month

Kids visit free all month long, with paid adult. Learn more about Kids Free San Diego (and please download coupon before you visit). Plus, enjoy our Nature Studio maker space on Saturdays.  

Meet our paleontologists and try your hand at fossil preparation on Wednesday, October 11—National Fossil Day.  

Scream—with excitement—because Secret Society of Adultologists returns on Friday, October 13.  

Learn about play behavior in cats at our Nat Talk on Tuesday, October 17. Meow.  

We’ll be open late (for all ages) for Nat at Night on Friday, October 20. Don’t miss bites and beverages on the rooftop.

Studying Bats

With the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Our bat biologist, Drew Stokes, has been partnering with the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to document and create best practices around our native bats, which includes the building and installation of bat boxes at the park while bats are relocated from unfavorable roosting areas. With our help, the park has observed and identified a total of 12 species on the grounds. They are: Yuma myotis, California myotis, canyon bat, western small-footed myotis, big brown bat, Mexican free-tailed bat, Mexican long-tongued bat, western red bat, big free-tailed bat, Townsend's big-eared bat, pocketed free-tailed bat, and hoary bat. 

Bats are keystone species in ecosystems around the world, pollinating plants like cactus and agave, and controlling insects like mosquitos. There are lots of reasons to love native bats! 

More bat facts