It is that time of year when the emails and phone calls start arriving about moths: “Mr. Anderson (or Jim), I found this big green caterpillar about the size of a cigar in my yard—what is this thing!?” In some parts of the US of A it is known as the “tobacco hornworm,” but around […]
Jim Anderson
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Float Like a Butterfly
It’s the season to count Checkerspots, Buckeyes and Swallowtails
For 28 years, my wife Sue, our family, and her team of volunteer helpers, have been counting butterflies in Central Oregon for the North American Butterfly Association (NABA). The season begins with the Ochoco Count in late June, when the team conducts a day-long search in a 15-mile circle that includes Big Summit Prairie, east […]
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Cats, Wildlife and Disease
OK, Good People; it’s time. No, it’s way past time to have a serious discussion about cats, disease and wildlife. Yes, I know, we’ve been down this muddy old road before, but it isn’t just the losses of our native birds, mammals and reptiles by outdoor and feral cats that needs to be discussed and […]
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Quit Killing Badgers!
If there’s one member of Oregon’s wildlife community that has the digging ability to sink out of site on bare ground, it’s the badger, or to be respectful of His Honor: The American Badger, (Taxidea taxis). I call him, His Honor, because I watched a badger pass judgment on an annoying guy, and chase him […]
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Consider Your Back Yard Pollinators
The buzz about bees
What follows, dear readers, is hard stuff to take, but it is vital that everyone who has a garden or lawn to take into consideration. YOU can make a difference in your own backyard, and put a stop to those elements that are making Earth a dangerous place to live. There is no longer any […]
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Central Oregon Wildflower Show
If you find yourself hiking through Jefferson Park, Fryrear Canyon, up in the beautiful wilds of Broken Top, through the foothills of the Cascades or birding among the sagebrush and juniper, you’ll also find yourself knee-deep in the great diversity of Oregon’s wildflowers. If it’s your first time to experience this colorful wildflower show (which, […]
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Wandering Wolves
Years after protections were put in place, the wolf returns to Oregon
No one would have the slightest idea of the wanderings of “Journey,” AKA, OR-7, without the Federal Endangered Species ruling on the releases of wolves in Wyoming in 1995. To accomplish that, a lot of changes in attitude took place in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and […]
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Our National Bird
Benjamin Franklin, who had a pretty good head on his shoulders, and did a great many good things for our country, liked turkeys better than eagles. That choice almost screwed up the works for having the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) as our National Symbol. Franklin preferred the wild turkey. Now, I ask you, how can […]
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They’re Baaaaaack!
With warm weather, so return the Turkey Vultures
A month ago, Turkey Vultures, AKA buzzards or TVs, began winging their way north from their long (and very wise) winter stay in the southern climes, like the Sacramento Valley. If you want to shorten Turkey Vulture, (Cathartes aura), the official birding world acronym is, TUVU (not to be confused with TOFU, a paste that’s […]
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Two Heads Are NOT Better Than One
Yeah…this is a story about a two headed snake
It was way back in the ’60s, while I was working for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry as the staff naturalist that I had the opportunity to see—up-close-and in-my-hand—a real honest-to-goodness living, two-headed animal; that NW Garter snake pictured above. It is not Photoshopped! I cannot recall the young man’s name who brought […]