The Outside Story

Autumn is closing fast. Right now, my lawns and fields are sere, and snow will soon blanket the scene. Whatever summer life they held has vanished, and all is quiet. But come spring, when the…

A generation or two ago, buying locally was the only option. Before the interstate system and shopping malls, and way before 800 numbers and Amazon.com, the goods that people needed in their…

For people in New England who grew up with only Bullwinkle to remind us that moose existed, the proliferation of Alces alces in this region over the past 25 years is an exhilarating lesson in…

I once had a college professor who said he could predict the weather by playing woolly bears like dice. He would pick up a woolly bear, which immediately curled up, then shake the fuzz-ball,…

I’ve seen this mountain many times before, but only from across the Connecticut River. From Bellows Falls, Vermont, Fall Mountain is a wall of trees, towering over the falls that give both…

If you haven’t been thinking much about maple sugaring these past few months, well, who can blame you. This is the season of McIntosh apples, golden pumpkins, and venison stew – not…

The other day I performed one of my favorite autumn rituals: watching migratory hawks above the Connecticut River. When viewed from the fire tower on Gile Mountain in Norwich, Vermont, one of…

Long live the queen! Most of the bumblebees you see flying right now are young queens preparing for winter. Each year in the bumblebee kingdom, only a juvenile queen will carry the colony’s…

There is a plant found near streams and rivers in our area that has almost magical properties for little boys. It is almost as if grown-ups can’t see it. Little girls see the plant…

Spring, summer, or fall – you’ve probably seen your share of one or more of the three species of tent caterpillar that are common in this area. The cyclical populations of fall…

Most people know that old-growth forest is rare in Vermont and New Hampshire – nearly every patch of forest hereabouts has felt the saw at least once since Colonial days. But what far…

An unusual number of sugar maple trees throughout their range are in decline, meaning that they aren’t growing well or generally showing much vigor. Explaining exactly why this is happening,…

Most people, except perhaps those who are allergic to bee venom, believe that honeybees are about the best that the insect world has to offer. Humans have collected honey and beeswax since…

I have a confession to make. Up until a week or so ago, I didn’t know how to tell a grasshopper from a cricket. I’d see some sort of large, hopping insect, reach for my field…

Stick your tongue out and say “ahhh.” If you were a woodpecker, your tongue would extend out of your mouth by about two feet! Bird tongues display an amazing array of adaptations. I first…

I am often asked what causes certain species to be abundant one year and scarce the next. “Why aren’t there any blue jays at my feeder this year?” “How come there were so many…

In the world of sporting literature, the ruffed grouse holds a position of respect that borders on awe. It is well known for its wariness, the explosiveness of its flush, and its capacity…

The Laurentide ice sheet that covered New England for millennia began receding about 18,000 years ago. As Earth’s climate warmed, ice melted faster than it was created. The southeastern…

Which Vermont mammal is so secretive that a woodsman may go a lifetime without seeing one? The lovely little flying squirrel. Our most nocturnal mammal, almost entirely arboreal, it sleeps in…

High atop Mt. Mansfield, with the sun barely breaking the eastern horizon, I hold a small songbird called a Bicknell’s thrush in the palm of my hand. I carefully push back the feathers…