Roads End Naturalist

Exploring the natural world as we wander at the end of the road

Author: Mike Dunn

  • More Bang for the Buck(s)

    The life of the wood, meadow, and lake go on without us. Flowers bloom, set seed and die back; squirrels hide nuts in the fall and scold all year long; bobcats track the snowy lake in winter; deer browse the willow shoots in spring. Humans are but intruders who have presumed the right to be Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Deer Play

    White-tailed deer were observed throughout 1,711 hours on the Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas. Only 11 events considered to be forms of play were witnessed, seven by fawns and four by adults. It is concluded that white-tailed deer are not typically playful animals. ~Edwin D. Michael, 1968 publication I did some research online after looking at Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Fly Like an Eagle

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    I know he’d be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly. ~John Denver A couple of weeks ago I made a trip over to the B. Everett Jordan Dam about 25 minutes from our house. I had seen a lot of images recently on social media of the Bald Eagles that tend Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Opossum Afterlife

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    Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. ~Lao Tzu One day earlier this month I discovered a recently deceased Virginia Opossum out by one of the wood piles. No idea what might have happened to it though it was not long after some severely cold weather. I decided to Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Mustelid Moments

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    We need the tonic of wildness, — to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. ~Henry David Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Sharing with Friends

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    To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand in the cold. ~Aristotle This is the second post from our January trip to Yellowstone. After spending a few days scouting the northern range of the park and hanging out with some Montana friends, a group of eight NC friends flew out to Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • A Winter’s Journey

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    Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration. ~Anamika Mishra Melissa had another wonderful educator workshop to Yellowstone last month with plenty of extraordinary sightings including a Pygmy Owl, Ermine, and a Bobcat feeding on a Mule Deer carcass (jealous, me??). We planned for her to take some time off afterward and have some friends Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • The Forest Unseen

    Forests will always hold your secrets, for that’s what forests are for. ~Victoria Erickson We’ve been gone for a couple of weeks (more on that adventure in the next post) and the trail cameras were busy keeping up with the goings-on back home while we were away. Lots of the same sort of behaviors we Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • Critter Condo

    Be as useful as a tree! Give life to others; be shelter to everyone; grant fruits to all! Be good like a tree! ~Mehmet Murat Ildan Just beyond our deer fence is a huge old Tulip Poplar with a split at the base forming a hollow that stretches up 20 feet or so. This is Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn

  • A New Year, and New Happenings in the Woods

    Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. ~Vernon Howard The first days of the new year have brought a few more surprises and lessons from the trail cameras scattered in our woods. Several cameras have remained in one spot for many months because they tend to record Read more…

    Written by

    Mike Dunn