The Science Behind Nature - in Layperson Speak
First a full disclosure: I have had both an indoor cat, and an outdoor cat who used to bring me ‘goodies’.
Yesterday I came across a half-eaten bird kill caused by a cat I’ve seen stalking our bird-friendly property. It made me think of some research The Secret Life of Roaming Cats I heard on NPR in August. Working with the National Geographic Society, University of Georgia researchers strapped small video cameras on 55 cats as they roamed [Read more...]
We recently stayed at a timeshare (Hacienda del Mar) in Cabo with friends — and discovered a bountiful nature scene following the heavy rains that hit the area the last few weeks. The answer: in addition to the rich marine life among the rocks, go find the native plants, which we found next door to the resort, nestled around the golf course. The photos below tell the story about what I’ll remember most:
Vultures taking advantage of the hundreds of sphinx moth caterpillars crossing the road, Colorado River toads, noisy grasshoppers and gorgeous sunsets….
I took a trip to Arizona last week, and happened to time it with the last days of Arizona’s monsoons. When I lived in Flagstaff I relished the annual monsoons, those afternoon showers that hit every July though September. [Read more...]
This is from a friend of mine, Denise Morse, a fellow defender of the environment. We served together on a land trust board in Alpine CA. She writes about Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountain Sky Island – a wildlife haven outside Tucson that is facing a new copper mine
by Denise Morse
I parked facing west looking at a heavily vegetated tall mountain region that was crowned by ominous storm clouds. I pushed back my seat and rolled down the windows and began to listen for nature. It wasn’t long before I heard a woodpecker tapping diligently on what looked like an Arizona White Oak. [Read more...]
We were up at a Big Bear concert a couple weekends ago, which was sponsored by the San Bernardino National Forest Association (great time – one more concert Sep 1st), and director Sarah Miggins told us they removed a rattlesnake during the concert that was coiled up under the sound stage. Oblivious to the hundreds of attendees, a U.S. Forest Service biologist successfully captured the snake, placed in a garbage can, and released it some distance away.
It was likely glad to get away from all the noise. And thank goodness, as one security person was about to use a fire extinguisher on the snake. [Read more...]
We were at our San Diego home and one of our renter’s cats caught a baby snake (which we of course saved) – and it got me thinking about the baby snakes joining the baby birds, rabbits and other mammals being born as spring ramps into full-time. I checked in with Dr. William Hayes, a herpetologist at Loma Linda University [Read more...]
My goal is to educate about the science of nature in layperson speak, through my writing, science and education background. I grew up in the Chicago area, loved living in Minneapolis before gravitating to the West, which is now home. The search for … [Read More...]
