For many, fond memories of college might include football games, Homecoming, and perhaps a keg party or three. For the alumni of The Ranger School, nostalgic reveries conjure images of hard hats,…

The calls come in all winter, said Paul DeBow of DeBow Wildlife Service in Plymouth, New Hampshire. If there is no snow, the peak will be in January or February, when it’s the coldest. Some…

All too often, discussions about culverts center around two different objectives. There’s the practical side: designing and sizing a structure that will protect roads. And then there’s…

The feeding habits of porcupines are far more diverse than many people realize. Cambium, phloem, foliage, buds, flowers, fruits, and nuts comprise the mainstay of Erethizon dorsatum’s diet.…

If you’re a white pine, it can’t be a good way to die. It starts when infectious spores land on your needles and enter through your pores. Masses of slimy spores grow under your bark,…

Who pawed his away across this snowy road?

Four years ago, I built an owl box. I built it for barred owls, Strix varia, inspired by the lovelorn hooting that erupted several nights after a February thaw. Who cooks for you? Who cooks for…

In winter at Halibut Point, a rocky headland on the Massachusetts coast, the drama begins at dawn. A stout gust rips the white from whitecaps and sprays the shore with ice that tinkles like glass. A…

In the old days, ladybeetles (or ladybugs) used to “flyaway home” to their children, as per the old nursery rhyme. Now one species, the Halloween ladybeetle, is instead flying into our…

Management Stories From North America's Northern, Northern Woodlands When I say “northern Quebec” to most people, I either get blank looks or they say something vague about how…

Trees are about half water, maybe a little less in winter. And if the temperature drops low enough, the water in even the most cold-hardy tree will freeze. So how do trees survive below-freezing…

What created these slices in the snow?

The potential Christmas tree before you is conical, its cones dangling from skyward-curving branches, scaly bark covering its tapered trunk. Short, four-sided needles radiate spirally from each twig…

“That’s a downy. No wait, it’s a hairy – definitely a hairy. Well, hang on...maybe it is a downy.” I admit it: I’ve had this happen to me more than once. With the…

What is this miniature ice formation? Photo by Patricia Jaquith.

In August, New York State officials announced that the state will purchase 69,000 acres of former Finch-Pruyn lands in the Adirondacks. Those lands must be classified under the state’s…

“What a horrifyingly garish sight,” I said to my friend as we surveyed my Christmas tree last year. We had just finished decorating it and my eyes were sending messages to my brain, like,…

Walking through our old Christmas tree plantation, the fragrance of balsam fir evokes memories of dragging freshly cut trees to the baler, riding on the top of a wagon full of trees, and sharing a…

Animals display a dazzling variety of colors, particularly in the tropics. But even here in northern New England where wildlife diversity is comparatively limited, we enjoy a rich palette of colors…

What is this rusty piece of machinery lying (standing?) in the woods? Photo by Richard Cofrancesco.