Mark and Rusty are flying out to LA this week and then boating across to Catalina Island, possibly in Monday’s strip. Rusty—not up on his geography—thought they would be staying right in Los Angeles, so he was greatly disappointed. For some reason, Mark’s promotional chat about possibly sighting some rare species of animals on the Island did not thrill the lad. Perhaps Mark thought he was in James Allen’s Mark Trail universe, where that Rusty would be salivating at the chance to search for the elusive Catalina Shrew.

Well, that’s the story, such as it went this week. I wonder if we’ll get to spend another six days of Mark and Rusty making their way to Catalina Island. Or will Rivera follow tradition and simply time-jump Mark and Rusty right to the lion house?

As she commonly does, Rivera provides a Sunday nature chat linked to the current storyline. Rivera reports the standard public information for this unique shrew, which is not much. As the shrew exists only on Catalina Island, it doesn’t have a high public profile. How can we help save the shrew, you ask? You might be able to help by donating to the Catalina Island Conservancy (https://catalinaconservancy.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/), which is a registered non-profit charity. I don’t know how to designate a donation to any particular program, but the charity could certainly inform you.