Author: Stan Tekiela

The Eastern box turtle, a unique land-dwelling species, faces winter survival challenges and threats from habitat loss and illegal pet trade.

Winter bird feeding is one of the most common and popular hobbies in the U.S. Nearly 60 million Americans feed birds in their yards during winter and summer. This represents about 40% of all Americans, making backyard bird feeding a common everyday activity. The industry is estimated to be worth $6 billion. The U.S. leads the world in supplementary bird feeding, both in terms of money spent and the volume of food provided for our feathered friends. Our backyard feeding stations can bring in a wide variety of birds in winter. Some of the most common and usually the first…

The population of any given animal species in nature fluctuates over time in a geographic area. This is how nature works. In some years, a species may be abundant, while in other years, its population can be notably sparse in the same area. These are the ebbs and flows of nature. I was reminded of this the other night while I stood outside my house in the dark and cold, watching the flying squirrels that I love to see and feed. For some reason, we people feel that nature should always be the same or the way we remember it…

I was recently asked by a local TV news station to answer a question about how squirrels find their buried nuts. This is a great example of super cool things that go on in nature that most people don’t understand or realize. So, let’s look at these amazing squirrels and their incredible ability to bury nuts and find them later. The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is a large tree-dwelling squirrel found in North America. It is native to the eastern half of the country, with several similar species inhabiting the western half. Eastern gray squirrels display a wide variety…