I’ve always thought of badgers as crabby, ill-tempered little creatures willing to consume anything in sight, including snakes. They are pugnacious little beasts, I assumed after observing a few of them in the wild. They have their place in nature, of course, but are devoid of personality, I believed, and would never display a playful …
“Should I carry bear spray?” is a frequent question we get from visitors to the Tetons. They fear attacks from bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, or just about any animal with four legs. Bear Bells Many hikers carry “bear bells,” jingly bells that supposedly warn an animal that a human is approaching. Locals call those …
“Call me when you’re finished,” the Tres Rios employee offered as he closed and locked the gate behind us at the Tres Rios Wetlands, “and I’ll come let you out.” As the gate closed behind us, we entered a birder’s paradise.For the next four hours, we would be locked away from civilization, driving around some …
“We saw a bear running up the butte on our way home tonight!” some other volunteers told us recently. The butte rises next to our camp area on the National Elk Refuge, but we rarely see animals on it during summer. Two days after the bear sighting, we climbed the mile up to the top …
“Don’t tell anyone,” a man said with a smirk as he sidled toward me, “but you’re holding a snake!” “No, I’m not,” I replied. The man turned serious and scowled. “You sure are!” “No,” I said again. “This is a lizard.” Volunteering Chuck and I were volunteering with the Phoenix Herpetological Society (PHS) at the …
Stumbling upon elk carcasses in the Tetons is not difficult, as hunters harvest the meat of their kills and leave behind bones. Harsh winters take a few lives, as well, leaving carrion for scavengers and bones for rodents to gnaw. Hunters remove skulls with antlers for display, while shed antlers are collected in Spring to …
Before leaving Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge a few weeks ago, I encountered a Great Horned Owl that appeared to fly toward me intending harm, as I wrote in the last blog entry. But was the owl swooping in my direction for an attack, or did it have another objective in mind? Was it looking …