Worms in the Rain As temperatures rise, leaves start to peek out of buds, and the critters begin to reclaim the land. April brings precipitation to many spots in North America and warmer, rainy days solicit one creature, in particular: the earthworm. Amble outside during a shower in the spring and you will likely encounter […]
Bluebirds of Happiness Sawiskera, the Spirit of Winter and Darkness, plagued the Iroquois people, daily banishing the sun and conjuring yearly icy eras of tribulation. One magical melody, however, could ward off the forces of Sawiskera. This musical potion emerged from the syrinx of the Eastern bluebird. Bluebirds are passerines, the order of perching
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The Peace of Wild Things//Mallard Musings A friend recently posted the following poem by Wendell Berry on social media. It hit me in the right spot. The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in meand I wake in the night at the least soundin fear of what my life and
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Hank the Tank Many people who live near Lake Tahoe currently fear an active burglar. This hooligan does not target money, vehicles, jewelry, artwork, or any other valuables one might associate with the Lake Tahoe clientele. The locals have imparted an apt nickname for the thief. But, despite eluding the big net of authorities many
Levitate a Frog Go to your refrigerator and grab a magnet. Now try to stick it to your body. Of course, the magnet falls to the ground because our bodies are not magnetic. Right? Colloquially, yes. Technically, the answer is more complex (though you obviously still won’t find magnetism in your vaccines; I can’t
Moose and Flying Squirrel From 1959 to 1964, Rocket J. Squirrel, affectionately known as Rocky, and Bullwinkle J. Moose taught television audiences to be wary of evil Russians and, anachronistically, Nazis, while instilling a love for Canadian Mounties, all with a dose of wry comedy. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, which has
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Draco If you’re a fantasy-phile, you’ve probably encountered the word draco many times. Latin for dragon, it gives us Dracula and drakes and, I’m told, a character from Harry Potter, amongst many others. In our previous exploration, we discovered a monkey that “flies.” Unfortunately, today, I do not have evidence to present you regarding the existence of dragons.
Proboscis Monkeys Today we travel not to Oz but Borneo, the world’s third-largest island. It’s so big that it houses three nations: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. On this island lives a bizarre animal that might have you believe Borneo actually is in Oz, not Southeast Asia. Borneo’s location in Southeast Asia The word proboscis more
The Wandering Meatloaf Chitons are a class of mollusks specific to the oceans of the planet. Unlike some mollusks with which you might be familiar, chitons appear more like blobby flapjacks than the normal shell topographies of a clam or a snail. When a snail feels threatened she can dive into her hard home; when
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Apesongs Primatologist Dian Fossey famously studied vocalizations in gorillas. For my money, she produced the greatest piece of evidence that these great apes and humans descended from a shared ancestor at some point in the distant past: the most common form of communication in gorillas is belching. (credit the notion to Steve Mirsky, cited in