Category: Natural History
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Opossum “Tales”
Making your bed is a simple way to start your day off on the right foot. ~Martha Stewart Ever since my friend Jerry posted some videos about the ‘possums in his back woods, I have been fascinated by the goings-on of our local marsupials. Because of Jerry’s fascinating footage of his critters, I bought a Read more…
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Mothing 2023
Life begins at night. ~Charlaine Harris National Moth Week (NMW) is now officially over for 2023. This celebration of the insects of the evening was last week, July 22-30. It is meant to bring awareness to the incredible diversity of the nocturnal insects that many of us only see as something flitting around our windows Read more…
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Hidden Beauty in a Crazy World
Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. ~Anne Frank This past weekend, I drove down to Myrtle Beach State Park (yes, there is such a thing) to visit our good friends Scott and Ann. Ann is a ranger at the park and they both are superb naturalists. The park was Read more…
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Refuge Run
From wonder to wonder, existence unfolds. ~Lao Tzu Last month, I dropped Melissa off at the airport at a ridiculous hour (4 a.m.) for her Yellowstone workshop. The upside was that I could make it to my favorite place, Pungo, by sunrise. So, off I went on what was to be a hot sunny day, Read more…
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The Youth of Summer
And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Things have been relatively quiet on the trail cameras the past month. No Read more…
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The Long Road Home
I only achieve simplicity with enormous effort. ~Clarice Lispector This is the final post about our trip in May. After leaving South Dakota, we headed for another favorite – the Sandhills of Nebraska and the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest (still seems surprising to find a national forest in the sandhills!). We had camped in Read more…
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South Dakota, a New Favorite
It looks a bit like the inside of a cave that has been turned inside out and warmed by the sun. ~Stefanie Payne After our quiet stay in Medicine Bow NF, we were going to drive to the Badlands of South Dakota, but a new brown sign made us do a slight detour. Melissa charted Read more…
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A Ribbon of Green in the Desert
If the earth is a mother, then rivers are her veins. ~Amit Kalantri After Bear River, we knew it was time to point the truck eastward and start the long trek home (but with plenty of stops still). We charted a course for Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming where we had camped on previous Read more…
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Dinosaurs and Birds
Birds are the last of the dinosaurs. Tiny velociraptors with wings. Devouring defenseless wiggly things and, and nuts, and fish, and, and other birds. ~Neil Gaiman Picking up again on our May road trip…after Denver, we headed to Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah, a huge national monument at over 210,000 acres (and a Read more…
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Brown Signs and Birds
Wherever you meet this sign, respect it. It means that the land behind the sign has been dedicated by the American people to preserving, for themselves and their children, as much of our native wildlife as can be retained along with our modern civilization. ~Rachel Carson on our national wildlife refuges (referring to their logo Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 