Don Wharton’s piece on Adirondack mountain men got us wondering about the history of the foothold trap in America. So we looked into things and learned that while the fur trade was a huge part…

Even among the quirky cast of characters we know as birds, the crossbill is a bit of a freak. It’s hard to decide which is more bizarre: its bill or its breeding behavior. Front and center is…

“Caw! Caw!” Every spring we hear it. And my wife says, “that’s My Crow.” It’s apparently the bird’s name. She capitalizes it in her tone. I think she…

If you’re a hunter who’s ever ordered something from a sporting goods company, it’s probably safe to assume that you’ve been inundated with catalogues over the past four…

Penelope Harris forwarded these photos of a friend’s cherry tree in Bakersfield, Vermont. She was curious: what had caused the gelatinous material seen on the tree?

Rangifer tarandus var. rudolphus, also known as the aerial caribou (or aerial reindeer in Europe) lives most of the year in more northern latitudes. However, its appearance in the United States in…

This is a story about Adirondack hermits, but the place and time in which it unfolds are as big a part of the tale as anything else. It was the late 1800s, see, and everything in America was changing.…

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…

We did a Google image search of the phrase “Vermont art,” and our computer monitor filled up with paintings of barns, cows, and church steeples. Most were lovely – clearly the work…

We’ve owned our forest in Starksboro, Vermont, since 2005, and have added to it over the years by purchasing adjacent properties; the entire parcel now totals 290 contiguous acres. We spent the…

By December, foliage season is long over for us humans, but it’s peak season under the water. Last month, as the last bus of tourists departed for home, fallen leaves accumulated in our streams…

We heard from someone who just brought home a balsam fir Christmas tree and noticed a few places where the needles had curled and twisted. The same distortion is seen in this photo from UMass…

We hung a grizzled old deer in camp this year who was in less than ideal condition, meat-wise. He was sort of randy smelling in general – just all rutted up and glandular. That a shot hit him…

In your November photos, a pileated woodpecker dined on grapes, a mink struck a pose, and oh no!, Mr. Bill turned into a cherry tree! This November was much warmer than last year, and wildlife seemed…

The oyster mushroom: delicious, frequently spotted on veggie pizzas, and predatory. That's right. The hyphae of many fungi, including the oyster mushroom, attack and paralyze prey. Then, as R.…

As you read this, please imagine a drum roll, or better yet, the sound of a ruffed grouse whomping the air with its wings. With this issue, the Center for Northern Woodlands Education is launching a…

There was a time in the waters known by the Abenaki peoples as Kwenitegok, “Long River,” when migratory fish moved in such multitudes that their backs appeared as a living bridge from…

Earlier this year I had a chance to try out some electric (battery-powered) chainsaws. My expectations going in were pretty low: I figured that they would either be laughingly toy-like in their…

What bird made this distinctive nest?

You and I have two opaque eyelids, one above the eye and one beneath. When we blink, they meet in the middle. Some birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals have three eyelids – two similar…