ALLIGATORS & CATS: When it comes to animals Californians love wild tales (and tails). Alligator sensation, Reggie, a 6 ½-foot creature who escaped his owner and lurked in a Los Angeles city lake for two years, was wrestled into captivity in 2007, and in 2010 received a new partner at the Los Angeles Zoo where Reg lives today. Eight years later as we drive by Lake Machado where Reggie was captured we think of the media frenzy and mad gator hunt each time we pass by.   Reggie may soon have new mates, two alligators confiscated by animal control authorities from Los Angeles County homes this week. One eight-foot female gator named Jaxson who's apparently lived in the back yard of a home for 37 years is causing a sensation because of  several cat carcasses found in the yard.  Authorities are asking area residents to get in touch if their small pets have gone missing in the past 40 years. This case will no doubt enter a new realm in forensic science, eventually appearing on the popular TV show, Forensic Files.

SEA LIONS: Up and down the coast marine mammal care facilities are feeding emaciated sea lion pups. Pictured is Barnaby, found in Seal Beach recently and now facing a three month rehab at Laguna Beach Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The stories are similar from Santa Cruz to Malibu to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. In a good year, a sea lion pup has a 70% chance of reaching its first birthday. In 2013 only 30% of pups survived along the Monterey Bay - California coast. National Marine Mammal Laboratory says 2014 saw a record number of sea lions washed up on Central and Northern California beaches, and 2015 may be a repeat. California sea lions, whose numbers skyrocketed for decades, are now smacking up against the limits of their environment, according to some marine biologists. Meanwhile San Diegan residents and merchants in upscale La Jolla are coping with what's believed to be sea lion stench, ruining the ambiance the tourist destination previously enjoyed.

DOGS: A San Franciscan animal rights activist is holding a protest rally Feb. 19 (Chinese New Year) in Union Square to stop people in Guangdong, China from eating dog meat as they have done for centuries.  Gov. Jerry Brown signed a sister state agreement with Guangdong last fall to strengthen economic ties.