Visitors can watch the magnificent fish through underwater windows or from above, as the fish leap up the churning waterways. Last year, about 20,000 chinook ascended the ladder into the hatchery, an estimated 20 percent of the river's fall run. Visitors can view hatchery operations between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays. The hatchery will be open on one weekend day only, Saturday, September 23. Don't forget to watch the fish in the river below the hatchery, where they court and spawn naturally in shallow water.
Late summer marks the start of mating season for tarantulas.
These uniformly dark, shaggy spiders with legs that could span a doorknob spend most of their lives in and around their underground tunnels. Males die soon after mating, but females live up to 20 years. In the east Bay Area, the lake at Del Valle Regional Park near Livermore is an excellent place to find the lustful males, which are on the move both day and night. Despite their horror flick mien, tarantulas are gentle and their bite no more severe than a bee sting.