The American Goldfinch was chosen for its official status because it was beautiful to look at, small and spunky in its behavior, and was commonly observed throughout the state, even for some that stayed all winter long. History may have forgotten if there was competition for another species ...

Taxidermy has come a long, long way from ages ago when “stuffing” was the moniker of ancient times. Fishermen or hunters of long ago treasured the critters they captured or hunted, in part to record the memories of outdoor adventures to all corners of the globe, but some of those early ...

The month of March has arrived. This transition month will mark the first day of spring on the 20th. March madness may also bring mild weather, or perhaps absolutely wild and stormy snowy blizzard-like weather, all depending upon how the northern hemisphere’s jet stream oscillates in ...

Hungry deer at this time of year are yearning for any foods just to get by until Spring’s new growth can begin again in another month to six weeks’ time. The body fat layers deer were able to acquire last summer and fall is normally adequate to get them through the toughness of low food ...

Muskrats and marsh habitats are commonly thought of as an ubiquitous thing — they just go together. Muskrats are large vegetarian rodents that dine on all kinds of plant materials, roots, tubers and are even willing to sneak into adjacent crop fields to pick at other food sources. Wetlands ...

Ring-necked pheasants are out and about. While not particularly looking for them during this past week’s backroads forays, I happened to see several groups of pheasants. It just reminded me of their tenacity to survive in a hostile landscape of diminished habitats, bad weather events. I ...