Naturalist

What’s In My Backyard? Backyard Safari: Ant Farmers For the introduction to this series, see here Did you know that somewhere in your yard there might be a group of heavily armed shepherds guarding a vulnerable flock of livestock from huge predators? It is true! The shepherds are ants, the sheep are aphids and the […]

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: squash bug For the introduction to this series, see here You might find these pests of squash plants hiding under piles of boards or sticks in winter or early spring. Once the warm weather arrives, the bugs come out and mate and then fly away to find a

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: snakeweed grasshopper For the introduction to this series, see here This brightly colored western grasshopper is considered a beneficial insect by ranchers. This might seem surprising as most grasshoppers are considered pests. This grasshopper eats weeds (especially snakeweed) that are poisonous to sheep and cows. In the spring,

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Spotted Towhee For the introduction to this series, see here You will often see this brightly colored little bird scurrying around under trees and bushes scratching in the leaves on the ground. These birds live in the western United States. If you live in the east, you will

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp Look at the young oak tree in the photos. All of its branches are covered with strange hard bumps! If you look closely, you may notice small round holes on the bumps. These bumps are called galls and they are the work of the

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Mockingbird For the introduction to this series, see here This robin-sized gray bird lives up to its name. An adult mockingbird may know as many as 200 songs! These birds imitate the songs and calls of many other birds. Mockingbirds like to sing so much that sometimes they

What’s In My Backyard? Lake Friends: Muskrat For the introduction to this series, see here Meet the muskrat! When is a rat not a rat? When it is a muskrat! These aquatic animals are rodents but they are much more closely related to voles and lemmings than to rats. Muskrats are adapted to life in

What’s In My Backyard? Projects: Tracking For the introduction to this series, see here It is winter or early spring. The ground is covered with snow or mud and the weather is quite cold. There are no insects or flowers, many birds have migrated to warmer areas and there doesn’t seem like there is much

Meet the Neighbors: Red Sunflower Seed Weevil For the introduction to this series, see here Meet the Red Sunflower Seed Weevil! These little beetles have long snouts that look like straws. You might imagine that they suck liquid like you do with a straw. In reality, the beetles have chewing mouthparts at the end of