A day in the life of an incubating hen turkey
At about 7:15 Monday morning I settled into a comfy spot about 20 yards from the edge of the woods. My intent was to...
Listen: Spring migration is finally underway
Finally, spring has arrived. Forsythias, hyacinths and daffodils are blooming, lilacs are budding, and the grass soon needs mowing.
And of course, spring migration is...
Cabela’s: A retail store and a destination
When the Cabela’s store in Wheeling, W.Va. opened in 2004, it was billed as a “destination.”
Give it a few months, I thought, and it...
Ruby-throated hummingbirds will soon be back
Their tiny size, acrobatic flying ability, and eagerness to use nectar feeders make hummingbirds one of America’s favorite backyard birds. This fascination always triggers...
Red-backed salamanders rule Appalachian forests
Vertebrate animals are those with backbones — fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. As a group, they are much less abundant than invertebrates such...
Rabbits or rodents? Meet the lagomorphs
Thanks to cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, the rabbits we see in our backyards, eastern cottontails are familiar to almost everyone.
And yet I...
How can we get more interested in fishing?
According to statistics from the National Surveys of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which are published every five years, the number of anglers in...
Sky dance: The woodcock’s courtship routine
In his classic, A Sand County Almanac (1949), wildlife biologist Aldo Leopold described the male American woodcock’s courtship display as a “sky dance.” I...
It’s time to hang spring nest boxes, and here’s how
Last week, a day after the morning low temperature plunged to nine degrees, the sky cleared and the thermometer rebounded to 45 degrees.
That balmy...
It’s mating season for mammals in North America
It’s common knowledge that wildlife breeds in the spring. When it comes to medium and large mammals, however, common knowledge is often wrong. Mating...
