tales from the wild metropolis
“Oh look—you’ve got a visitor!” Standing outside my front door, Bryan, pet-sitter extraordinaire, was in a better position to spot that wisp of green. But coming or going, I doubt I’d have noticed on my own. A habitual multitasker, I'm often doing one thing while thinking about the next three. Not the best frame of... Continue Reading →
When Doppler radar first arrived in the area known affectionately to Texans as the Hill Country, the local television station meteorologists were understandably eager to show off the weather forecasting capabilities of their newest toy. Unfortunately, they got off to a less than impressive start. Night after night that summer, evening thunderstorms were forecast but... Continue Reading →
What has webbed feet, waterproof feathers, a broad bill… and nests in a tree? Don’t let that last clue fool you. While it’s true most ducks build their nests on the ground, the wood duck (Aix sponsa) aims a little higher. This species is easy to recognize, at least as adults. The male is a... Continue Reading →
“Here’s a question for you… turtles and armadillos both have shells, so are they related?” Whenever people gather for some kind of social event, the subject naturally turns to work. As in, “what do you do for a living?” In my case, what happens next is that the words “wildlife biologist” are out barely of... Continue Reading →
The semester is winding down, so I can’t say I was all that surprised to hear a soft, kittenish mewing coming from the small wedge of remnant wooded habitat between my apartment parking lot and the highway. I’ve mentioned before that I live in a complex near campus and, sadly, it’s common for a new... Continue Reading →
Early Thursday morning, a sound came blasting through dreams and memory to my sleeping brain. It’s been years—decades even—since I lived in Tornado Alley, where April brings showers, The Wizard of Oz on television, and being hustled into the basement at all hours of the day and night. But when the emergency siren wailed just... Continue Reading →
This week’s focus on the holidays of two major religions, not to mention some events in my own life, had me thinking about endings that actually turn out to be the start of something new and unexpected. My spiritual vocabulary is more deeply rooted in the biological than the Biblical, so when I think of... Continue Reading →
On your mark…. Get set… HOP! This morning, just in time for Easter, I saw my first eastern cottontail of the year. An article I read while eating breakfast had me thinking about track meets, and I’m sure that’s why I noticed, for the first time, how runners imitate the posture of a rabbit as... Continue Reading →
Next-Door Nature 