Fire season seems to be arriving early this year as crews battle several in the area. Just a few weeks ago, a fire started at White Tanks Mountain Regional Park and charred over 100 acres across one of our favorite trails in the Park. Collecting Seeds Shortly after the fire was extinguished, Chuck and I …
On Thanksgiving morning we drove into Desert National Wildlife Refuge to hike a trail up a wash into rugged, mountainous terrain. We encountered no one else all day on this remote refuge, but we did stumble upon evidence of human activity. Trash Pickup At the first area we stopped on the way to our trail …
“I have a surprise for you today!” some teachers announce to their class as we enter the room carrying a cooler containing snakes and a box loaded with reptile biofacts. At that point, we realize that this teacher has not prepared the students for our visit, and they are not as likely to absorb as …
Is a Gila monster a monitor lizard? This question was posed to me recently when we worked at a festival with our snakes and skulls. “No, they’re not monitors,” I told the visitor who had been inspecting the Gila monster skull. “Monitor lizards are defined by their forked tongues.” Because I hadn’t really studied up …
I’ve always heard that the rainforest is not as dense within its boundaries as it is on the edges where vegetation receives more sunlight. We were able to witness this recently when we accompanied Dr. Terry Farrell (biology professor at Stetson University) and two graduate students, Sarah Smiley and Ethan Royal, as they thrust through …
“Wildlife First” is the basic premise behind national wildlife refuges. So why is it important to reach out to school children, visitors, hunters, birders, and others who might decide to come to a refuge either out of curiosity or for recreation? What purpose does interpretation serve on lands set aside to protect and perpetuate animals …
“Do you want to see the moose head?” A fellow volunteer escorted Chuck and I out behind the workshop of the National Elk Refuge to see the head of a large bull moose, complete with enormous rack, that had been removed from a carcass earlier that day. The moose had been gored by a fellow …