Now is a great time to search for winter tracks or other animal signs visible in the snow. It can be fun to be a detective and figure out what animals have been walking through your yard or across a trail. [Read more…] about Look for Wildlife Tracks in Winter
small mammals
River Otter Surveys Underway
Have you ever seen a river otter in New York? Prior to the 1990s, river otters were absent from most of Central and Western New York.
That all changed between 1995–2001, when DEC worked with trappers and other groups to reintroduce 279 otter to 16 different sites in those parts of the state. [Read more…] about River Otter Surveys Underway
Live Caches of Moles and Shrews
In November, I was making soup to stock the freezer when I looked out my kitchen window and spotted a red squirrel rustling through the leaves in search of acorns. Both of us were preparing for harder days ahead – me for an upcoming hip replacement surgery, the squirrel for the approaching snowy season.
What other animals, I wondered, were preparing for winter – and how? [Read more…] about Live Caches of Moles and Shrews
Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany
In 1565, the Spanish settled 600 soldiers and civilians at St. Augustine, Florida. In 1607, the English established their first settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, but after a series of floods, Jamestown was abandoned in 1699. Today Jamestown is a national park and archaeological site.
In 1602, the States General of The Netherlands granted a charter to a powerful group of Dutch merchants creating the Dutch East India Company and giving them the exclusive right to develop and conduct trade with the markets in the Far East which included the Spice Islands and China. Soon, these merchants began bringing exotic silk, clothing, ceramics, teas and spices back to the Netherlands. In their travels, the Dutch ship captains discovered the continent of Australia and named it “New Holland.” [Read more…] about Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany
Woodland Jumping Mice are Truffle Specialists
“Shhh,” I tell my 5-year-old son, “there are animals sleeping, right under our feet.” He presses his ear against the frozen ground, hoping to hear the slow, sleepy breath of a snoozing mammal.
I tell him that if he could pull back the earth like a blanket and peek in, he might see a small, mousey ball of white, black, and yellowy-orange fur curled tightly inside a nest of dried grasses and dead leaves.
A long, sparsely-furred tail would be coiled like a thin ribbon around this little package: a woodland jumping mouse, whose pre-hibernation diet consists largely of truffles. [Read more…] about Woodland Jumping Mice are Truffle Specialists
Bats Prepare for Winter
Years ago, I visited two Vermont caves in winter to help biologists count hibernating bats. After descending through a hole into the first cave, I immediately noticed that it was much warmer than above ground. The cave was also more humid, and I could hear the steady drip of water.
We walked quietly into the darkness and shone our lights at the cave roof. Bats hung upside down singly and in clusters, wings wrapped around furry bodies and feet clinging to the ceiling. These bats would spend the entire winter immobile, except for brief periods of arousal, when they might change position in the cave. [Read more…] about Bats Prepare for Winter
The Return of River Otters to Western New York
The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), a member of the weasel family, is about 3-4 feet long including their tails. They have a streamlined body, short legs with fully webbed feet, a muscular tail, and dense, short, glossy fur — all of which aid them in being excellent swimmers. They also have close-able nostrils and ears for swimming and foraging underwater.
Historically, river otter could be found throughout New York, but they declined due to unregulated hunting, habitat destruction, and water pollution.
In the early 1990s, the river otter was only found in the eastern half of New York State. [Read more…] about The Return of River Otters to Western New York
A Short History of Adirondack Beaver
Castor canadensis is North America’s largest rodent and the second largest in the world — which was driven to near extinction in the Adirondacks around the turn of the last century, but whose reintroduction was astoundingly successful.
Although they had once been a major Adirondack economic force by anyone’s estimation — it was reported in 1671 that Dutch traders delivered 80,000 pelts a year to Europe — there was a dearth of information on the beaver once they had ceased to be profitable. [Read more…] about A Short History of Adirondack Beaver
Virginia Opossums Moving North
The opossums that show up on my students’ trail cameras at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont sometimes look out of place, with their naked tails and frostbitten ears that seem so poorly suited to our weather.
These amazing consumers of ticks did, after all, come from a different continent – or at least their ancestors did. And their official name, Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), suggests a more southern home. [Read more…] about Virginia Opossums Moving North
All About New York’s River Otters
One summer day, I was relaxing on the bank of a secluded pond watching mallard ducks forage when a dark shape broke the stillness of the water. It was a North American river otter, swimming with its head and back emerging from the surface, sleek body over 2 feet long, tapered tail trailing behind. It dove beneath the surface without a splash. Seconds later, its round head emerged at the edge of the pond. We stared at each other. [Read more…] about All About New York’s River Otters