When I was a kid, “growin’ up on the farm” in Connecticut, my uncles and I had a Thanksgiving tradition of going waterfowl hunting early that morning. When we had our limit in Black Ducks—the East Coast equivalent of our Mallards— we’d return home mid-afternoon, clean our ducks and prepare them for my grandmother and […]
Natural World
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Getting Out of Prison to Work with Nature
Not that many decades ago, chain gangs were dragged out to do work on roads and other jobs needing to be done. Men were, literally, chained to one another and forced to work like beasts of burden. Why not—some people reasoned—they’re bad guys in jail and nobody gets a free lunch. Jails and state prisons […]
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The Wondrous Vole
Central Oregon is home to remarkable little mammals known as the vole. Not a “mole” but a “vole.” Just a tiny, short-tailed mammal of no significance—about the size of your thumb—a mere tidbit to a coyote, or a tasty snack for a badger. But put 10,000 of them in one pasture and they will eat […]
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Lying In Wait
The ambush bug and its kin
There are about 200 species of insects in this part of the country that makes life on Earth very difficult for other insects: Ambush bugs. They have that very descriptive name because: a) They wait silently and unmoving for their prey to get close enough to grab them (literally), and, b) they blend in so […]
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Fort Rock
Heaven’s Gate
The other day, my daughter Kristin — born in Bend way back in the ’50s, and who went with me regularly to Fort Rock in North Lake County — sent me a text that I had the good fortune of reading while looking at Fort Rock. The quote’s from a book, “1000 Gifts,” by Ann […]
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Children of Summer
Margaret Anderson (no kin, darn it) couldn’t have picked a better title for her exquisite book about Jean Henri Fabre, the father of experimental entomology, than “Children of Summer.” And as far as I’m concerned, you couldn’t pick a better book to introduce to your children—and entertain yourself—than Anderson’s 95 pages of Fabre’s observations. From […]
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Goodbye, Lake Abert?
Little known, and unfortunately and ironically, dying of thirst
Lake Abert is dying, if not already dead. But unfortunately, unless you are a limnologist, serious birder or just love Oregon for everything it has, Lake Abert doesn’t seem to matter. To begin with, Lake Abert, Oregon’s only saltwater lake, is a desolate place that (once was) a popular stopover for migratory waterfowl. It is […]
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Hummingbird Moth Season Is Coming
Not villains, and not to be treated as such
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 […]
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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 […]