Natural World

Headlines in conservation magazines, and even in newspapers have been crying: “Monarch butterflies on the verge of extinction!” And they are, all the way from Maine to California. Their populations have dropped over 90% in the West and up to 84% in the East. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which recently […]

First it was rumors, “The Barred owls are coming, the Barred owls are coming…” Next, it was the dire warnings that the barred owls were going to either chase all the Northern spotted owl out of the Northwest, or breed with them and bring forth a whole new sub-species called, “Sparred owls.” Then the warning […]

Our poor old porcupines have been in man’s gun sights since the first pioneer deemed it a pest. The porcupine is, unfortunately, a tree-eating mammal and Man’s greed said, “That thing has gotta go!” That attitude about porcupines only got worse the more we cut up trees for houses, killed beavers for coats and hats, […]

It’s no wonder Oregon is known as The Beaver State. Aside from the coyote and wolf, no other mammal—including the cow—has figured so dramatically in the commercial history of our state as the North American Beaver. Wars were fought over beaver, and much of western Oregon was impacted by the trapping of beaver and the […]

Butterflies flitting about the forest, meadow, or your yard are a sure sign of summer in Central Oregon. Warmer weather and blooming flowers bring out a wide variety of these amazing, delicate creatures, making them easy to spot and watch. It’s the bright colors that catch many people’s eye, but did you know that all […]

I‘m not an alarmist, but I am a naturalist who has been a guest in this world we call home for nigh into 94 years. When I was a kid on the farm in West Haven, Connecticut, my grandfather swore by a chemical named, “Black Leaf 40,” a so-called “safe” biodegradable agricultural insecticide used around […]