Nature

Have you been seeing more turtles than usual on your morning commute lately? If you’ve been driving this spring on rural highways in North Carolina, you might have detected a surge in turtle activity, especially snapping turtles. Chelydraserpentina, or the common snapping turtle, is one of the more striking members of our state’s turtle clan. […]

The discovery of a new species conjures images of explorers in pith helmets hacking through remote regions of the Amazon and stumbling across something outlandish. The reality is generally much less dramatic. New species can still be found in our own backyards, even in the well-trod Piedmont. According to Alan Weakley, director of the Herbarium […]

Have you ever wondered what you might see if you spent a whole weekend outside just looking? How about if you could also bring a few expert field biologists and naturalists with you? Well, that’s what we were able to at The LandTrust for Central North Carolina’s first Uwharrie Naturalist Weekend in May. More than […]

A friend of mine recently rescued a snake from the parking lot where he works, and released it back into the woods. He sent me a picture asking for help identifying it. The coloration threw me off a bit, so I had to ask an expert. It was about four feet long with a mix […]

In 1963, the General Assembly boldly proclaimed the official state tree of North Carolina would be – drum roll, please – the pine. What? You have to wonder why they didn’t bestow the honor on a particular species. Perhaps it’s typical of politicians who avoid taking a clear stand on an issue. In fairness, they […]

In Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest, Lawrence Earley traced the changes in society and technology that reduced a swath of forest once covering 92 million acres to isolated pockets totaling less than 3 million acres today. In telling the story of the longleaf, the former editor of Wildlife in […]

If trees could talk, what stories they’d tell. They’ve been silent witness to children shinnying up their branches and young lovers picnicking beneath their shade. They endure, watching over us from cradle to grave, and beyond. Charlotteans have a strong affinity with their trees, and for good reason. The city has some 160,000 street trees, […]

This winter’s pattern of hot and cold weather has made it challenging for people and animals to adapt. The recent wet weather and warmer temperatures must have been a cue for the upland chorus frogs that their breeding season has arrived. I heard them calling loudly from the small stream at my apartment complex. Their […]

Birds flock to Mama’s feeders this time of year. She has several seed and suet feeders hanging from the maple outside her living room window. At times, upwards of a hundred birds – maybe a dozen species – joust for perches, flit among the branches, scoot up and down and around the trunk, and scratch […]

Last year, we revived a family tradition – we cut a cedar for our Christmas tree. When I was a kid, my parents, my sister and I would bundle up and scour the options along our field margins. Dad was always willing to take the first one we came to. If it was too big, […]