This book tells stories of restoration at all scales, “from a small plot between sidewalk and curb to areas large enough to be labeled on a world map.” She spends time with people who, faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, look to nature for solutions.
What was not at at all normal: The group was launching an international network to detect pathogens that can jump from wildlife to the human population, a field of inquiry that’s become politicized since the coronavirus pandemic began—and they were doing it with federal money, even though the United States government has been the source of the politicization.
But the southeastern United States has the diversity of freshwater fish species (and other wildlife) to make a trip comparable to saltwater snorkeling.In the Northwest, there is a fish viewing window at Bonneville Dam. Salmon can be watched, from a distance, spawning in a number of rivers.
Before every scout camp, the older kids would serve up questionable nature facts meant to show their expertise and perhaps instill a bit of fear.I could only roll my eyes when, prepping for a group stay at a cabin, I heard stories regarding porcupines that visited outhouses at night.
And herein lies the premise: if drivers are moving slowly enough, they will have time to avoid hitting large animals, such as deer and pronghorn, on the road.
Photo © Eric Aldrich Camera trapping has become a common research and monitoring tool used at many Nature Conservancy projects and preserves.Photo © Eric Aldrich His camera trapping in New Hampshire has assisted several citizen science initiatives and inspires many online with the photos and video clips he’s captured.
Fortunately, wildlife biologist and science communicator David Steen has taken the most common snake myths, tall tales and snake safety rules and applied real science to them in his wildly entertaining Secrets of Snakes: The Science Beyond the Myths (Texas A&M University Press).A lot of our wildlife myths are about creatures that we believe we know.
Abundant, intelligent, able to squeeze through a nickel-sized hole, seeking spots to nest or cache food and stuff to chew, squirrels cause almost half all power outages from wildlife, by some industry estimates.
Photo © Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Fish and wildlife recovery can be unpopular, especially when it inconveniences the public.Great white shark predation on seal off Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge at the elbow of Cape Cod. Photo © Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Is the recolonization of gray seals helping with white shark recovery?
Lozada, technology manager for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado , knows that many people that increasing drone use will only harass and terrify wild animals.Gustavo Lozada “Many people just want exciting video footage, and don’t think about how it may be affecting animals,” he says.
Today, there’s a new movement afoot known as natural landscaping: using native trees, shrubs, and low plants to add textural diversity to a yard while attracting and benefiting wildlife.
Included in the family are such charismatic critters as badgers, otters, ferrets and martens.Marbled polecat © ZooFanatic/Flickr under a creative commons license This may be the most beautiful of the mustelids, with striking color and spotting patterns.
An American Elm. Photo © Diane Cook and Len Jenshel / TNC A hot August sun punched through rain clouds as my wife Donna and I exited our truck at the Fannie Stebbins Wildlife Refuge, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, now part of the Silvio O.
Photo © Kevin Grunewald/TNC Camera traps reveal mountain lions walking down popular trails and on the canyon rim.Photo © Kevin Grunewald/TNC Bears are quite curious about camera traps, though, and can be very hard on them.
Photo © John Hall Seeing 1,838 species of mammals takes an incredible level of trip planning, dedication and willingness to suffer.While mammal watching may never rival birding as a wildlife pastime, it is certainly growing – in no small part due to Jon Hall.
Caused by psittacine circovirus — also called beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) — this disease is most common in parrot and cockatoo species from both the Old World (Australia, Africa) but can affect parrots from the Americas.
Photo © Lauren Peeler Brice This book is focused on the eastern United States and has everything you need to understand different habitats, restoration, what to plant (and what not to plant), and how to attract specific types of wildlife.
“In 1995 we sold 12,000 acres of the preserve to the BLM; and we’ve been working cooperatively on the whole area, using an integrated approach.” This, she explained, included herbicides, hand pulling where possible, and biological control via introduced insects that coevolved with the weeds (and which, when caged, had passed rigorous “starvation tests” by dying rather than eating related native plants).
With a shrug of resignation, the officer explained that harvesting firewood in forest reserves and national parks was illegal and incidents like the one I had just witnessed were increasing tensions between the community and the Department of Forestry.
“We injected macaques with extremely high levels of CWD-infected deer and elk brains without any evidence of CWD,” says Race, who cautions that it only takes one mismatch in an amino acid sequence to create a species barrier.
Photo © Gustavo Lozada/TNC Some call it a green hell: As the invasive cactus species Opuntia engelmannii spreads in Kenya, it covers everything. Photo © Gustavo Lozada/TNC Mapping Cactus Just as Lozada surmised, the cochineal insects are an extremely effective biocontrol.
Related Stories Of course, owning and managing a social media account for an exotic or wild pet doesn’t necessarily mean you’re only in it for the likes.
Check Out This New Guide Flying squirrel caught on camera trap © Janet Pesaturo Trail cameras have become a common tool for wildlife biologists. That’s why Janet Pesaturo’s Camera Trapping Guide: Tracks, Sign, and Behavior of Eastern Wildlife (Stackpole Books) will be invaluable for both novice and experienced camera trappers.
And that’s why it was a bit jarring to read about a leading wildlife conservationist and wilderness advocate feeding grizzly bears. These bears are largely found in the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area, a wilderness region five times larger than Yellowstone National Park.