Some years ago—June of 1998 to be exact—while my family and I were traveling through Klamath County on a Great Gray Owl banding expedition with Tom and Casey Rodhouse, we discovered a beautiful specimen of a Rubber Road Snake, flexilius robustus oregonius. As far as I can find, this snake has never been described in […]
Outside
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Riding for Survivors
Tour des Chutes raises money for local cancer survivors—and offers a plethora of fun rides
Road biking can seem intimidating, with the spandex shorts and the skinny tires and the really long races. But in Bend, there are a lot of cyclists who want to watch other people get out there on those skinny tires. If you’ve been contemplating wiggling into some spandex and hitting the road to challenge yourself—but […]
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Killing deer with kindness
A while back, I wrote a piece about the dangerous consequences to you and me by feeding deer and therefore inviting cougar into our backyards. I pleaded with people who insist on feeding deer to please stop before they attract cougar, which in turn will assuredly result in mayhem on humans—and the unfortunate cougar. However, […]
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Natural World
Cleaning up Bend, below and above the surface
Natural World Cleaning up Bend, below and above the surface By Jim Anderson Bend’s human population is growing; some say in an out-of-control fashion. But back in September of 1951 when I rolled into Bend on my Harley, there were only 11,409 people living in Bend (thank you, library), while today there are over 80,000! […]
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Ready to Go Beyond Bend? A Network of trails now spans the country
The longest hauls across the West, by the numbers
A network of long trails crisscrosses the West, through open deserts and wild forests. Many trails follow historic routes where people made pilgrimages or embarked on exploratory expeditions. The National Trails System, managed by the National Park Service, has officially designated some of these extensive trails, seen here. HOW IT WORKS Under the National Trails […]
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Go Here: Three Creek Lake and Hiking
Three Creek Lake and Hiking Ready to get out and about with the fam or your visitors? Go here. Who is this trip for? This trip is great for families with children or visiting friends or family. The snow has finally dissipated and we can get into the Cascades. Hooray! From Bend, we tend to […]
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Velociraptors in my backyard
I have an old National Geographic article from November ’99 with a story in it about an Archaeoraptor, a so-called fossil eventually found to be a fake. According to another article written in USA Today, the so-called “missing link” dinosaur/bird is actually two animals pieced together—either as an honest mistake made by its discoverers in […]
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Hikers Haven
5 hikes you need to do right now
Summer’s Here! With the official arrival of summer, here are five hikes you should do right now—before the extreme heat, the big crowds, and so on… The Cascade Lakes Highway is finally open past Mt. Bachelor, cyclists are gleefully riding along the Mckenzie Highway while the cars wait, and with warmer weather upon us, you […]
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Go Here: Calling all Paddleboarders
Invitation to enter the annual Desert Orthopedic Bend Paddleboard Challenge Hailed regionally as one of Oregon’s best annual standup paddleboard gatherings, the 2017 Desert Orthopedic Bend Paddleboard Challenge takes place June 24, offering long and short courses as well as sprint races. BPC is one of three Bend races and 12 statewide races collectively comprising […]
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Oregon Legislative “Busy Work”
In 1927, when L.L. Patterson was our governor, the Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) was chosen as the state bird by Oregon’s school children in a poll sponsored by the Oregon Audubon Society. It’s a familiar songbird of open country across the western two-thirds of the North American continent. It lives in Oregon on both the dry […]
