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Porcupines: Waddling Through Winter
The porcupine is one of the most unique and recognizable mammals in our region, and thanks to its short legs and fat body, it’s also one of the slowest.Of course, a porcupine really has little need for...
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Up On Tick Ridge: Bolton’s Fox Farm
The property would become famous for the fields of sculptures installed by David Smith. It was called the Terminal Iron Works, in honor of the Brooklyn shop where Smith had made his first welded...
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Chipmunks: Friendly Harbingers of Spring
The friendly harbinger of spring has arrived. Our banded friend the Eastern Chipmunk has been making visits to our bird feeder in Schroon Lake. Chipmunks can be very social creatures; even those found...
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DEC Issues Coyote Avoidance Guidance
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has issued guidance on preventing conflicts with coyotes. With the onset of warmer weather, many of New York’s resident coyotes are...
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Avoiding Ticks In The Adirondack Region
Summer should be a carefree season full of picnics and swimming, a time for hikes and barbeques on the deck, not a time to fret about tick-borne illnesses. As few as ten years ago it was unusual to...
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Tree Climbing Adirondack Foxes
When you think of foxes (if you ever do), you likely picture the ginger-coated red fox, like Mr. Tod from Beatrix Potter’s fantastical children’s tales, only without the dapper suitcoat and tweed...
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Climate Change is Altering Nature’s Clock
Scientist Curt Stager walks along the edge of the woods, his flashlight shining into the shallow water of a leafy, roadside pool on a dark night in Paul Smiths. It’s late April, and he’s out looking...
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Adirondack Wildlife: Fisher Families In Fall
Along with the crisp mornings and crimson colors that signal summer’s slide into fall, there are changes occurring in the forests that go mostly unnoticed. Among them is the dispersal of fisher kits...
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Owls Hunt In Winter With High Tech Audio Systems
For several days last winter, a barred owl perched atop a dead white birch tree in our field. As winters go, last year’s was very cold, and the owl puffed up against the stubbornly below-freezing...
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Porcupines: The Original Bark Eaters
What fearless animal has an adorable face, plows snow all winter and has a six-million acre park named after it? One of 29 species worldwide, the North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is the...
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The Lives Of Chipmunks In Winter
While many people consider chipmunks pests, they are one of our more endearing squirrels. I suspect that part of their charm comes from the fact that we don’t see them for almost half of the year....
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Adirondack Wildlife In Winter: Big Brown Bats
Despite remarkable similarities in appearance, flying styles and behaviors, not all bats are created equal. In the Adirondacks, there are approximately nine species of these dark, winged mammals during...
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DEC Announces New “Management Strategy” For Fishers
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of a fisher “management strategy” that reduces the trapping season in the northern part of the state by 16 days and...
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Happy Groundhog Day: The World Of Woodchucks
Researchers are still puzzling over the age-old question, “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood,” but I may have an answer. Re-brand the woodchuck. Like the words...
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Local Bats and White Nose Syndrome
Context is critical, right? Years ago I took a second job loading trucks at night, and a few guys on the dock had what you might call “white-nose syndrome.” All I had was coffee, so they could work...
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Adirondack Wildlife: Weasel Evel Knievels
My friend Gordon Russell sent me a letter recently describing a wildlife encounter. He had been following deer tracks along a stone wall when a movement caught his attention. “Almost before its image...
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Springtime Skunks: Amorous And Odoriferous
Driving home from work the other day, I saw my first road-killed skunk of the year. And if this year is anything like the last few, it won’t be the last one I see this season. While April showers do...
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Elise Tillinghast: A Squirrel As My Co-Pilot
The first red squirrel appeared at about 50 mph. It climbed up over my headrest and landed in my lap. I don’t recall the next few seconds very clearly, but according to my 5-year-old daughter Lucy, I...
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Wild Center Debuts New Baby Animals This Weekend
The Wild Center family is expanding this fall and visitors have the chance to meet the newest members over Columbus Day Weekend. An otter, porcupine, black rat snake and rare, albino wood turtle are...
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How Raccoons Prepare For Winter
Almost every time I checked the game camera last summer – whether it was stationed near the compost, pointed into the field, or hidden at the edge of the woods – I found photos of one of our region’s...
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