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Jumping Mice Hop Along Fields, Meadows

If during warmer weather you’ve ever seen what you thought was a miniature kangaroo hopping across a grassy field, you weren’t seeing things. It was a tiny rodent with huge hind feet and a long tail called a jumping mouse. I’ve only ever seen them while mowing trails through hayfields in the fall. Though their burnt orange fur is distinctive, it was their kangaroo-like hops across the path ahead of me that really caught my eye. The individuals I’ve seen were probably meadow jumping mice, but another species, the woodland jumping mouse, is also a possibility. Without ...

Climate Change and More Frequent Downpours Exacerbating Erosion

The vast majority (97%+) of the scientific community’s experts on Earth’s climate agree that our climate is changing, that this change will be enormously disruptive and that it is centered around humanity’s impacts on the planet. It isn’t just fossil fuel use that intensifies the ...

Adapt Or Die

Life in the natural world can be harsh, especially when environmental conditions change. Species that specialize in certain foods or habitats or require particularly large expanses of land become rare or even die out. Passenger pigeons, Kirkland’s warblers, grizzly bears, and hellbenders come immediately to mind. Adapt or die is the law of the land. Species that can adjust to changes in habitat or food availability can thrive. Think white-tailed deer, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, song sparrows and chickadees. Among the most adaptable species are gray and fox squirrels. ...

Mammals In Winter

When it comes to animals, I have a special spot in my heart for every creature. Whether it is a turtle crossing the road or a spider trapped in my bathtub, I have always been one to help an animal in need. Most of my life, I have interacted with mammals; I am fascinated by their diversity ...

Warming Worries

Evidence of climate change is all around us. The lack of snow and increasingly wetter, warmer winters here in the Chautauqua region are troubling warning signs. I worry about the trees and the creatures dependent upon them, and about our seasonal economies based on recreation, tourism, ...

Into The Gloaming

The grass, stiff with frost, crunches under my feet as I walk swiftly along the dimly lit trail. The sun isn’t due to come up for a few minutes. The birds are just starting to wake up, with lazy tweets and chirps coming from the trees and bushes nearby. A deer, startled by my early ...