Those dead, bleached-brown beech and oak leaves rattling in a January wind – but somehow still clinging to their twigs – are symbolic. Like ecological pennants, they announce that beech…

In light of the down economy, Vermont, like many states in our region, is looking for ways to reduce its annual budget. Last year, the legislature attempted to take $1.6 million from the Use Value…

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 fought the…

This beautiful blob was photographed recently near our office. What is it? Bonus points will be given for telling us what it’s doing.

Hi all, So things are good up in the mountains. Whereas my opening week last year was colored by an Ahab-like obsession on a 140-class buck, this year has been more peaceful and easy-going, due mostly…

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 produce…

As a forest ecologist, one of the things I really enjoy about my work is being able to observe how trees and other plants grow in different combinations in different regions. For example, a northern…

There are some 90,000 species of insects in North America, far more than any other group of organisms (compare this to the approximately 700 bird species found in the same geographic area). Several…

“The woods are filled with stories, many of them undiscovered,” writes Uldis Roze. “Careful observation of almost any organism is likely to yield surprise and delight.” For…

Estimating the age of a deer by studying the tooth wear and eruption patterns on the lower jawbone is not an exact science, but it’s free, you can perform the task yourself, and nearly anyone…

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 inhabited by…

This scat’s full of apple skin and apple seeds. The washed out orb you see in the picture is a quarter, for scale. What kind of animal left this calling card?

Most jobs involve deadlines – periods of high stress interspersed with moments of relative calm. But since an editor’s job involves assembling words and pictures to produce a kind of…

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 lupine to…

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, squirrels, and…

Our recent contest picture of a lye barrel prompted readers to submit a number of great historical shots. Here’s one, submitted by Joseph Adams of Rupert, Vermont. OK antique-farm-equipment…

My birddog, Woody, figured it all out last night. He’s a 6-year-old English cocker, bred to find and flush birds. Unfortunately, I just haven’t hunted with him enough in the last few years…

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…

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 areas…

As we age, we get smarter but we feel dumber, one of those human condition quirks that poets are always pondering. Country singers from Kenny Rodgers on up have lamented the ignorance of youth…