The Outside Story

We lost money on sheep this year at our farm. In the grand scheme of things, we’re in good company: farmers in New Hampshire and Vermont have been losing money on sheep for going on 180…

It was with uneasiness that I accepted the little African violet a friend gave me for my birthday a few years ago. I had never had any luck growing the cute little furry things. To my dismay,…

Five years ago, chronic wasting disease (CWD) was spreading across North America like wildfire. It leapt from its stronghold in the Rocky Mountain states across the Mississippi River to…

Insects have evolved a variety of different strategies for surviving the sub-zero temperatures of winter. Many spend the winter in a simple life stage – usually an egg – which is…

Each fall day he appears with a skinny face and leaves with ballooned cheeks. Over and over, he fills his cheeks and runs away to empty them. Our eastern chipmunk, it seems, is living in a…

Moose are arguably the most novel of all North American large mammals, if for no other reason than their strange appearance. Whereas deer and elk are handsome creatures, rams majestic, and…

On an August day 15 years ago, eight Minnesota junior high school students on a field trip caught 22 frogs in a farm pond. At least half of the frogs had some abnormality, mostly in their hind…

In the simplest terms, an ecological niche is analogous to the basic “ice-breaker” question asked at social gatherings: “So, what do you do for a living?” Of course, outside of a few…

This afternoon, a 390-million-year-old thysanuran paid me a visit on my desk. It wasn’t really that old, just a little creature whose uninterrupted ancestry dates back at least that far.…

The rod was nearly yanked from my hands as a dark shadow tore out of the shallows and attached itself to my lure. When you’re 11 years old, this can be a life-changing experience. I…

One of the evolutionary adjustments whitetail deer have made is to reproduce early and often. A six-year-old whitetail doe can easily become a great-great-grandmother, and she can continue to…

Since long before Europeans began building permanent settlements in the Northeast over 400 years ago, Vermont, New Hampshire, Quebec, and the lands bordering this broad region have been…

In Pittsford, Vermont, a state-threatened sunflower nods in the breeze. Near Concord, New Hampshire, the tiny, federally-endangered Karner blue butterfly flits from one flower-spike of wild…

Inside our homes lives a collection of wildlife that is about as wild as life gets. Most of us are aware of the bigger stuff that wants to move in with us – pigeons, snakes, mice,…

In the English language, someone who overeats is called a “pig”; a coward gets labeled a “chicken.” If you raise pigs or chickens, you know that these barnyard associations are deftly…

Our lawn is a scruffy assortment of grasses and weeds that receives zero care apart from mowing. The beleaguered grass struggles in the face of competition. However, green grass persists in…

“I kind of thought it was a tornado,” the woman said, her disappointment apparent, “but they said it was straight-line winds or something.” This was from a newspaper article earlier…

The edges between field and forest are obvious places to search for wildlife, but the transition within a forest – between softwood and hardwood stands – can be equally alive. This…

A female mosquito buzzes in the waning light of a late-summer evening. A week ago, she bit a robin at a bird bath, drawing a proboscis full of blood to help create her eggs. The bird’s…

The ethical debates between vegetarians and meat-eaters aren’t likely to be resolved anytime soon. But there’s a new twist to the vegetarian argument that bears examination: the suggestion…