While performing field necropsies on moose, Maine biologist Lee Kantar has observed as many as 90,000 winter ticks on a single victim. Such moose are anemic and malnourished. With vital fat…

By the end of April, black bears have shrugged off winter’s dormancy and are getting hungry. They may get lucky and discover a winter-killed deer and get to indulge in its valuable…

Temperatures may plunge to 50 degrees below zero on Nunavik Quebec’s Ungava peninsula. But there, at the northernmost edge of our northern woodlands, lives a species of bird that toughs…

The familiar red fox is the most widely distributed carnivore on the planet. Throughout North America, I’ve admired these handsome animals in arctic Canada’s barrenlands, southern…

By late May, we are cheered by the melodious songs of birds – birds which, at this time of year, are busy building nests, guarding them, and soon caring for their newborn occupants. But…

On winter outings in snow, we often see the minute trotting tracks of meadow voles and the bounding track-sets of white-footed mice and deer mice. Weighing just one or two ounces, the wee…

I still remember my childhood excitement when my grandfather explained to me what those holes were in the deep snow. “Snow roosts,” he explained, and they’re made when a…

Except for the Minnesota black bear that chose to spend the winter hibernating 70 feet up in a bald eagle nest, North American black bears don’t hang out in tree nests. Rather, the…

We start putting food up in August – about the time we can smell the sun-warmed tomatoes, even before we gather them for canning. “Putting food up” is a curious expression.…