Posted inOutside

Bugging Out!

After a host of bugs come in, our Natural World columnist has something to say

Enough is enough, all you good people! I’m all bugged out! Thank you for the response to my request for the bugs mentioned in my kissing bug piece, published in the Source Feb. 14. Those of you who sent me notes about bugs in their livesโ€”and especially those who sent me the actual bugs and […]

Posted inOutside

Natural World

The eagles are baaaaack!

In the entire U.S. of A. there’s only one Golden Eagle nest being monitored by webcam at this time, and it’s right here in Sisters Country. And thanks to the East Cascades Audubon Society, which is paying to have the images streamed around the world, landowner Leslie Lawrence, who watches over the camera equipment, and […]

Posted inOutside

If Allowed, Raccoons Will Stay

Like deer, raccoons shouldn’t be fed by humans. Take this hilarious tale as proof

Our common variety raccoon, usually found near water, always mooching, is truly a wonder. Raccoons can get by on just about anything edible left out on the back porch, and once they’ve found a food source, they’re reluctant to change their habits. Feeding mule deer is a very bad habit, but feeding raccoons is a […]

Posted inOutside

True bugs can be kissers

There I was, just getting into my old 4-Runner after dropping off some French chocolate to my dear old pal, Fetty, at her place near Cascade Estates, when I felt something touch my left finger. In spite of me pushin’ 90, I still have pretty good tactile senses, so I knew it wasn’t my imagination. […]

Posted inOutside

Natural World

Bats need homes, too

When people at Sisters Elementary School called me in the fall of 2005 about a bat in one of the classrooms, it reminded me of how easily bats can find summer homes in human buildings, and the excitement they often cause doing so. Thanks to horror films, bats have been given a bum rap. Truth […]

Posted inOutside

Natural World: Once they’re gone…

As a (sometimes extreme) conservationist, I find the idea of human-caused, species extinction, incomprehensible and unforgivable. In short, we know better. When a species is extinct, it’s gone. Done. Kaput. Dead forever. Our power to send a species into oblivion was first documented in 1598 when Portuguese sailors landing on the shores of the Southeast […]

Posted inOutside

Stuff We Learned From Jim in 2017

The Source staff takes over the column to reflect on Jim’s nuggets of wisdom. Thanks, Jim!

When it comes to longtime contributors to this newspaper, you can’t get more OG than Jim Anderson. He’s been writing this column for almost as many years as this publication has been in existence: that’s 20 years if you’ve been counting, dear reader. Along the way, Anderson has regaled us with many a tale of […]

Posted inOutside

Natural World: Don’t step on the eggs!

There are two ground-nesting birds common to Central Oregon that need help when it comes to surviving during nesting time: the killdeer and common nighthawk. Both lay eggs (almost always four) that are all but invisible because they look like the pebbles surrounding themโ€”often getting mushed by people, cattle or wildlife. Recently, while leaving Sisters […]

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