Discovering the world around me.
“There’s a dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinkin’ to high heaven.” Isn’t that a song from the 70s? This real-life skunk was probably out hunting last night, crossing the road looking for supper, when it was hit by a car. It will be surrounded by that unmistakable skunk perfume for days. It […]
Continue reading American Sable, Anyone?: Striped Skunk
On a February day, there’s a fresh coat of snow on the ground. About four inches of new snow fell overnight, leaving the world bright and clean. The surface of the snow contains the records of last night’s activity. Every creature that was out and about left its tracks for us to see. Raccoons, birds, […]
Continue reading We Are Not Rodents: Eastern Cottontail Rabbits
Raccoons have captured the fancy of cartoonists, authors, movie makers, comic strip artists, and even video game creators for decades. Rocky Raccoon, for instance, began his cartoon career in 1937, and has outlasted several generations of children and voice actors. Before Rocky hit the big screen, native Americans had created a plethora of tales with […]
Continue reading Masked Bandit: Raccoon
Dave, the resident lab, and I are out for the usual reason in the yard behind the house. Dave is totally focused on a nearby tree, and I know why. A fox squirrel is sitting in its branches chattering away, scolding us for entering its world. It’s very noisy, and Dave stands, on point, entranced. […]
Continue reading Scurry: Eastern Fox Squirrel
They’re creepy-looking, really. They have a narrow, whiskery, tapering snout filled with fifty large, pointed teeth, and they drool. They also have a long, naked, scaly tail. People see that pointy face and naked tail and think rat. They’re not rats, though. They are opossums (Didelphis virginiana). Sometimes called “living fossils,” their history traces directly […]
Continue reading Living Fossils
Mice. Did I mention that they are not my favorite inhabitants of Owl Acres? Along with the field mice, we have that ubiquitous invader from Europe; those little gray mice with naked tails—the house mouse (Mus musculus). They’re not living in the house, but they have been in the shed where they literally destroyed the […]
Continue reading Mighty Mouse, or Bryan’s Walnuts
Mice! Not my favorite inhabitants of Owl Acres. They have been scampering about all summer, avoiding the owls, raising their broods. And now they’re looking for a warm place to move into for the winter. They can get in just about everywhere, and can chew through wires when they want to. Several times I have […]
Continue reading Little Troublemakers
White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) He stands beside the highway, uncomprehending, as predators flash past at unbelievable speeds. The predators’ eyes are huge and brilliant, shining into the crepuscular darkness, confusing him. 50, 60, 70 miles an hour—a meaningless datum. He has evolved over ten thousand years or more to run and leap, to avoid or […]
Continue reading Wildlife Management?
Eastern Chipmunks Tamias Striatus We have a bumper crop of black walnuts, and Bryan has cleaned the hulls off two five-gallon buckets full. The shells are very hard, so I crack them on the front porch with a specially made walnut cracker. It works pretty well, but it flings bits of shell and nutmeat all […]
Continue reading Cheeky Little Critters
Coyotes The neighbor’s dog begins barking and howling. What’s up with that? And then we hear it—a jumble of high-pitched yips, barks, cries, snarls. And it sounds fairly close by. Clearly it’s not a pack of dogs. It’s not raccoons fighting. It sounds like coyotes making a kill. Or fighting among themselves. Or whatever coyotes […]
Continue reading The Trickster