- They absolutely love climbing, just on anything.

So they'll jump on the hay bales, on the stumps, they'll go from one to another.

- [Piper] These birds are really ambassadors for their cousins out there in the wild to show folks they need help.

- I find possums to be extremely adorable, contrary to what a lot of people might think, seeing them in their backyards.

- Having lambs, that's just like, part of springtime.

- [Narrator] Bay Area Bountiful is about agriculture.

It's about feeding us.

It's about land and water.

It's about the health of our planet.

It's about stories that matter.

Bay Area Bountiful.

Cultivate.

Celebrate.

Connect.

- [Female voiceover] Bay Area Bountiful is made possible in part by Rocky the Free Range Chicken and Rosie the Original Organic Chicken, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, Made Local magazine and Sonoma County GO LOCAL, and the through the generous support of Sonoma Water.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] Rain has fallen.

Flowers are blooming.

New life is coming into the world.

What could be more reminiscent of springtime than baby animals?

Join us as we meet some tiny creatures who are taking their first steps, and seeing the world through new eyes.

First, we'll say hello to some baby African penguins at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

What is it like when these chicks are born?

And how do their penguin parents find a mate?

Let's visit the Academy to find out more about ongoing conservation efforts to protect this endangered species.

[Country Music Begins] ♪ I'm getting closer to ♪ falling in love with you ♪ ♪ So before I do, ♪ ♪ am I your one and only one?

♪ ♪ Do you think I know ♪ the way you feel?

♪ ♪ Is it real ♪ ♪ or should I turn and run?

♪ (music fades) - [Male voiceover] It's been a long and lonesome pandemic year.

Biologists at the California Academy of Sciences have continued to care for the African penguins housed at the museum and bring new life into the world.

Sparks Perkins and Piper Dwight work with the penguins.

- You know, birds are still hatching, birds are still laying eggs.

That's a huge thing that we do behind the scenes.

- [Male voiceover] The Academy is among 51 institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the AZA, that take part in the African penguin Species Survival Plan - All of our African penguins here, and in the AZA institutions, are captive bred, so no birds are caught from the wild.

And that's one big thing that people don't always know.

The point of Species Survival Plan is to make sure that we have a sustainable population within our zoos and aquariums, so that hopefully one day we could actually release them into the wild.

That's the point of it.

- [Male voiceover] It's a backup plan in case penguin populations in the wild were lost.

African penguins, which are found in the waters off Southern Africa, are endangered.

Over fishing, climate change, and habitat loss are among the threats to these penguins.

Sparks explains how the Species Survival Plan matches penguins to foster genetic diversity.

- We have something called a breeding matrix.

Every zoo and aquarium in our country is linked to this breeding matrix.

And over the course of a couple years we have these meetings where we kinda pair up birds based on genetic matchup.

You know, just because they're a match on paper doesn't mean they're going to be a match, you know, in person.

It's almost like it's a matchmaking service but like, on a spreadsheet.

- [Male voiceover] The Academy biologists provide the penguins with a variety of enrichment activities to keep the animals happy and healthy.

For Valentine's Day, the penguins were provided heart-shaped nest-building materials as part of an educational event live-streamed to the public.

When the coronavirus pandemic forced the Academy to be closed to the public, the penguins received a visit from macaws.

And the biologists began doing yoga in front of the penguins.

The public outreach these penguins perform plays an important role in conservation work.

- We're not just here feeding the birds.

They're not doing tricks.

These birds are really ambassadors for their cousins out there in the wild to show folks they need help.

♪ Just say it's love ♪ ♪ You're really feelin' ♪ ♪ Make up my mind ♪ ♪ Like you've made up yours ♪ ♪ Make up my mind ♪ ♪ Like you've made up yours ♪ (music ends) (guitar strumming) - [Narrator] Full Circle Wool, a grazing operation run by shepherd Marie Hoff, uses a flock of primitive sheep to graze cover crop on agricultural land, as well as reduce wildfire fuels around small properties.

We are introduced to this unique flock during lambing season, and we'll come face to face with some tiny, plucky, but sometimes sleepy lambs.

(guitar strumming ends) (sheep bleats loudly) - My neighbor named that one Foghorn, but I also, I named her Psycho Killer.

- [Interviewer] Why?

- That's just kinda my naming style with sheep.

I don't know, I just feel like these sheep, they're not actually that cute in terms of their spirit, you know?

Like they think of themselves, I think, as much tougher.

That sheep is just not named Sprinkles, or whatever it is that you want to name it, that sheep is tough, that sheep survived a mountain lion attack, she's the defender of the flock, (heavy metal music starts) she's a killer.

(heavy metal music stops) Sheep, sheep!

Not you guys.

(Marie chuckles) I think the overall mission of what I do with sheep is just kind of fitting them back into the landscape.

On a daily basis it really changes with the season, so at this time of year, you know, there's fresh green grass growing, and the ewes are very, very pregnant.

In addition to grazing vineyards, and in addition to grazing around people's homes for weed abatement, they're also doing fuels abatement.

All the sheep that I raise are Ouessant sheep.

This breed that I use is really good for that because they're a more primitive breed.

So a lot of the more domesticated sheep breeds will kind of only eat grass.

But this breed, they can graze grasses, they can graze different kinds of shrubs or vines or things like that, that might relate to fire fuel.

The sheep do a really good job, both at reducing that fuel load for that season, but they're also improving soil health while they're doing it because those grasses and plants and things are kind of going through this sort of, probiotic fermentation chamber in the sheep's guts.

And then it like comes out the back end as being this really nutritious soil enhancer.

And then, you know, there's other benefits, like the way the sheep graze the plants kind of, unevenly, helps stimulate root growth, and so, when you're using sheep, you're not just mowing the lawn, you're also sort of preparing the garden bed for the following year.

(sheep bleats loudly) Where's your baby?

Gotta find your baby.

(sheep bleats loudly) (Marie chuckles) I think as a, sort of a first-generation young rancher who's kind of working outside the box, I think I kind of necessarily fall into this, regenerative agriculture category, which I have kind of complicated feelings about, honestly.

You know, for me, I have many friends that are working in agriculture that, the work that they do is regenerative and they come from, families or cultures that have had these sort of different principles or practices.

And those principles and those practices often come from really old, indigenous, ancient cultures.

And there's sometimes there's a sort of a whitewashing that happens.

That there's, I think like this impression that sometimes is given of regenerative agriculture being this sort of, new thing that was just discovered by scientists, and it's not giving credit where credit is due, and I think right now that's something that the movement around regenerative agriculture is really lacking in.

(lamb bleats) Ouessant sheep are very seasonal breeders, like a lot of the more heritage breeds, so they decide when they're gonna breed.

Tends to be between, late October through December, and so that means that then we get lambs in March and April.

Sheep in general are known for having lambs kind of in the early morning hours between 2:00 to 4:00 AM, typically when there's some heavy rainstorm, where you really don't want to be out in it, and they're like, "Hmm, this is a good time to give birth."

And the reason being is that the air pressure is really low, and that makes it easier for them to give birth.

But you know, I've also seen them give birth at like, you know, 5:00 PM on a sunny day, so it kind of varies.

We lamb here at our home site, in part because it's that much safer, in terms of predators.

The most pressure they have is kind of, from each other, or from like the one-year-old ewes that didn't have a lamb this year.

They're just kind of troublemakers, they get in there and they try to play with the lamb.

They stress the moms out (Sheep bleats) they try to steal the lamb.

The yearling ewes are like the cool aunt that tries to get the lamb to like, go out and have adventures and play, be mischievous.

(Marie chuckles) So at nighttime I tend to keep them separate, so the ones who are new moms all pen up in the barn here so that they can just have some bonding time with their lamb and not be bothered.

It's very satisfying to see the relationship that grows between the mother and the baby, and to see the lambs grow and develop, and to see the lambs play with each other and have fun together, and I now can't really imagine not having lambs, that's just part of springtime.

Like what would I do with myself?

I'd just have a vacant hole inside of me or something.

(Marie laughs) - [Narrator] If you look closely, you can spot some charismatic critters in the wild.

(happy music plays) Maybe you'll see some baby opossums riding in mom's pouch.

Or if you're lucky, you might even see a bobcat kitten.

But be warned.

These animals are off the charts when it comes to cute.

(happy music ends) - Did (inaudible) get her fish today?

- Oh I'm just getting her food all ready - Oh okay perfect - [Narrator] For over 30 years in Morgan Hill, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, WERC, has known that springtime is baby season.

- Unfortunately the babies are going to find themselves in some odd places, like on the road, somewhere where they just don't look safe, and that's where we come in.

So people can give us a call, and we can help further assess the situation as to what needs to happen.

So it can be a community member that's found an animal, Animal Control also does work with us, and they drop off animals as well.

Sometimes that is, they bring them into us, and sometimes we don't need to intervene at all, and they stay out in the wild.

- Sometimes people will find a mom opossum that got hit by a car, and she was lucky enough that someone actually checked her pouch.

We currently now have eight baby opossums (soft happy music) Right now they would be in mother's pouch, and so the blankets kind of represent the mom's pouch.

They get fed once every three hours.

(music continues) We weigh them before we feed.

(reading out measurements) And if we see that there's a big drop or a big difference in weight, we can give it more feedings if we need to.

This is how they would've latched on in their mom's pouch.

- I find possums to be extremely adorable, contrary to what a lot of people might think, seeing them in their backyards.

- [Anna] There you go.

- Professional opinion on how cute opossums are.

I would say one out of 10, they're probably a 15.

They're pretty stinking cute.

- [Anna] This next one's 61.

- [Narrator] WERC says that opossums have an undeserved image problem.

- I think opossums, a lot of people don't really like them because they have a rat-like tail, but they're not even in the same family as rats, They're not a rodent, these guys are marsupials, (fiddle playing) But they are beneficial, and their favorite thing to eat is carrion or dead animals, which helps to stop the spread of diseases.

Their body temperature is lower than most mammals, they're not a transmitter of the rabies virus, these guys eat ticks, they also eat snails and slugs, if you kind of leave them alone, they'll leave you alone.

Opossums have the most teeth of any land mammal, and they use these teeth to not only eat meat, but they also eat vegetation, they're omnivores, just like we are.

- Hi Eureka!

- [Narrator] Baby animals are not the only ones staying at the center.

- We take in injured, native, sick, and orphaned wildlife in our area.

We rehabilitate them and release them back out into the wild.

- [Anna] We do have big flight aviaries It gives the opportunity for birds, maybe they have an injury to their wing and we have to keep them, unfortunately, cooped up until that wing heals so they can build their strength up before release.

- [Narrator] Animal ambassadors live here full time.

- Ambassadors are a term we use for our non-releasable animals that we get in.

They have some type of injury that prevents them from being let back out into the wild.

They are used for our educational programs.

- The education portion helps educate individuals, especially young children, about how they can better co-exist with their natural environment.

So we're hoping for some sort of really excited response when people can see these animals, cause they really are very cool.

(fiddle playing ends) - [Narrator] WERC is most well-known for developing a unique method to foster orphaned bobcats.

- In 1994, we received a single bobcat kitten.

Unfortunately at the time there was no way to rehabilitate a bobcat successfully and release it to the wild, and not have it be imprinted.

We took a program that we use to feed baby birds of prey, so we'll actually use a puppet to feed them, so they don't imprint on humans and we guard our human nature.

We took this and implemented it into a bobcat.

Full-blown bobcat suit - [Narrator] The innovation?

Masking their true identities from the kittens.

- So we hide our scent.

We rub ourselves with a bunch of different scents.

We put on this bobcat suit and we go in, and we act like a bobcat mom (bobcat kitten purring) - [Narrator] Before release, the center must be sure that young bobcats are still afraid of people.

(bobcat roars) - This was extremely successful with our first bobcat, his name was Rocky.

We released him out into an area, and it was actually documented.

He was seen multiple times avoiding humans.

Four years, at least, there were sightings of him after the fact.

So that's what we're really known for, is raising those single bobcat kittens.

We've been given a beautiful landscape and environment in this area, and I want to conserve it and preserve it as much as possible, be it through rehabilitating animals, or through educating people on how we can better co-exist with them.

(uplifting music playing) - [Narrator] Redwood Hill Farm, also known as Capracopia, is a family farm and a goat dairy.

During the pandemic, as restaurant demand for goat cheese went down, the farm ramped up yogurt and kefir production.

But the stars of the farm are certainly the baby goats, and Capracopia has been able to resume their goat tours by keeping attendees distanced and COVID-safe.

- My parents started the dairy in 1968.

So we've been doing it over 50 years now as a family farm here in Sonoma County.

We are a certified humane dairy.

We were the first certified humane dairy in the United States.

So that's always been a important part, even before we were certified, we always did very humane practices with our dairy goats and all the animals that we've had on the farm.

We used to make cheese, but nowadays the creamery's focusing on the yogurt and the kefir and those are more staples in people's diets, and it is sold nationwide.

- Colton loves the goat milk, right?

- Yeah.

I have it with cereal sometimes, and sometimes just by itself.

- Yeah.

And I love the yogurt and the kefir It's really good.

- We do practice a lot of sustainability here.

- One of our many projects is the rainwater catchment systems.

When the rain falls on the roof, it goes through the pipes and then a filter, and then we have a rainwater catchment tank right here and it fills up, and then we use it to water all of our different crops of the year - So we can collect 100,000 gallons of rainwater on a good year to use for summer irrigation.

Unfortunately, with the drought right now we're not quite to capacity of the tanks, but hopefully we'll get a few more rains this season.

We use all the barn clean-outs for mulching in the hop yard, the olive field, the flower field.

We make all of our own compost here on site.

We will do weed suppression using the straw that we clean out from the kid pens and other barns.

So we're, we're very much into using stacking functions here on the farm and, you know, reusing stuff.

We do grow a crop called tagasaste, which is a drought tolerant legume that we use to feed the goats as well.

Another sustainability practice we're proud of, the farm is solar powered.

So we have these panels that track with the sun throughout the day for full optimization, and throughout the year, it makes, or uh, generates more power than we actually use down at the farm.

We also have a cut flower field, about a quarter acre, right now we have Icelandic poppies and ranunculus blooming.

It is a new side business that we're working on.

We do have a lot of acreage here, and we only can keep so many goats, and want to keep so many goats, so we're looking at other areas to diversify, to bring more income into the farm, and doing things that we love.

I love growing flowers, and there is a big demand for local flowers again, instead of ones that are shipped halfway across the world.

So we have a lot of great local flower farmers here in Sonoma County that are providing super fresh, organically grown flowers to the local florists.

- When the goats have babies, you call it kidding.

So they'll give birth.

I don't really handle the births, Dad usually handles them.

When they're born they're really alert already, and they're walking within the first hour, just alert and ready to go.

They absolutely love climbing, just on anything, so they'll jump on the hay bales, on the stumps, they'll go from one to another.

- Yeah.

We like to take the little ones, and bring them into our house, and just love them in there.

It's fun.

It's like having a puppy all the time.

- [Male Interviewer] Are goats very easy to house train?

- No, they're not.

So you gotta be very observant.

When COVID hit, that was right at the beginning of our spring tour season, so we essentially shut down the spring tours last year but we did have a small round in the fall, and we are starting our spring tour season now, we just had our first tour of the year, this last weekend, and it turned out really well, because a lot of folks they want to get outside, of course, and get out more in nature, and there's always been a big push, I think, to learn where your food comes from, but our tours have been selling out.

We do do COVID measures, you can see some pens back here in the back of us, so each group will have their own pen with their baby goats to play with, and how do you think they've gone so far, Nicole?

- I think they've gone really well, people really enjoy coming out and visiting the babies.

It's like therapy, just getting to hold them and relax here.

- Last year COVID hit, and all of a sudden everything shut down, and they said, "Okay, everybody, you need to stay home."

And I thought, well, that's all we do anyway, and so if anything, I feel like it has brought our family closer together.

I think that we could really bond and work as a family on the farm.

You have to look at the blessings that come with the hardships for sure.

(upbeat music) (bright string music)