Category: Natural History
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Blinded Sphinx
…wings large and splendid, which were designed to bear a precious burden through the upper air. ~Henry David Thoreau commenting on a pair of moth wings floating down as a bird ate the moth As National Moth Week comes to a close, I found a moth that I definitely wanted to share. I found it… Read more…
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Surprise Visitor
Frogs are strange creatures. One would describe them as peculiarly wary and timid, another as equally bold and imperturbable. All that is required in studying them is patience. ~Henry David Thoreau My plans to post on moths during National Moth Week have been easily waylaid – it appears as though I am easily distracted whenever… Read more…
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National Moth Week
There’s mothing to do. ~from Nature Conservancy promotional article on National Moth Week It is, indeed, the third annual National Moth Week (July 19-27, 2014). National Moth Week’s main goal is to promote awareness of moths, and to encourage people to observe and report their findings on this fascinating and little known (to most of… Read more…
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That Makes Scents
…neither fish nor beast is the otter. ~Ted Hughes Driving down a dirt road last week on the Pungo Unit, I spotted something up ahead. It wasn’t a critter, but rather a distinctive sign made by an animal. As I got closer, I could see it was a very large area that had been marked… Read more…
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Scrambled Eggs
The name “raccoon” is drawn from the Algonquian term “arakun” and roughly translates to “he who scratches with his hands”. ~Samuel I. Zevelof, in Raccoons: A Natural History Between the Bobcat and the Black Bear cubs the other day, I had another interesting wildlife encounter. Most of the dusty miles of gravel roads at Alligator… Read more…
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A Rare Day
…a very secretive animal; you rarely see them. ~Paul Rezendes, in Tracking and the Art of Seeing Secretive indeed. I have been lucky over the years to have seen several (about twenty five or so), mainly at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. A few others at Alligator River and Mattamuskeet, one in Chapel Hill at… Read more…
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The Wilds Close to Home
What makes a place special is the way it buries itself inside the heart, not whether it’s flat or rugged, rich or austere, wet or arid, gentle or harsh, warm or cold, wild or tame. Every place, like every person, is elevated by the love and respect shown toward it, and by the way in… Read more…
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Bison Babies
I hear the soft inquiring grunts of the cows as they talk to their calves, and the gentle grunt in return as the calf answers, “Here I am”. ~Wes Olson, in Portraits of the Bison If there is an iconic animal of Yellowstone, it has to be the Bison. And spring is a great time… Read more…
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Wings Over Yellowstone
Walk in wild places, and you are sure to see, and hear, birds, if nothing else. I am betting that many visitors to Yellowstone pay the birds little notice. It is, after all, the big mammals that draw most of the attention – the bears, the wolves, Elk, Bison, Moose, and Pronghorn. Some of the… Read more…
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Badger Business
Badger hates society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing. ~Kenneth Grahame, in Wind in the Willows Badgers are a solitary lot, except during the mating season, or when females are raising their young. So, last year in Yellowstone, I was thrilled when I saw more badgers than I have ever seen… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 