Local Features

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how forests change over time. I have had the opportunity to speak with many people about the importance of forests and the multitude of products that come from our forests. One common misperception held by many is that forests stay the same. This is understandable since forests change slowly over many years and the casual observer may not see the change. I have also explained to people that forests can be conserved,

Its back to basics for the Masked Biologist this week, as he talks about the value and importance of continuing education and certification in this episode of Wildlife Matters. I have been writing a weekly feature of some form off and on for over a decade. I try to discuss a very broad range of topics. I am the first to admit that I am not an expert on everything; in fact, I often feel that I am not an expert at anything. However, I am routinely required to become an expert on a topic, at least

How much do you know about Wisconsin’s rabbits and hares? In this week’s episode of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist examines the lagomorphs of Wisconsin. It is most likely that we only have two native “lagomorphs,” or members of the order Lagomorpha , in Wisconsin: the snowshoe hare and the eastern cottontail rabbit. The cottontail rabbit is common across the entire state. It prefers areas that have shelter in close proximity to open spaces where it can feed on succulent green plants.

Wildlife needs to adapt to its place on the globe to survive, not to mention thrive. In this installment of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist takes a look at another generally accepted principle of adaptation to life in the north: Allen’s Rule. Earlier this winter, actually last December, I wrote about Bergmann’s rule, a generally accepted principle that relates to wildlife adaptation and survival in northern climates in winter as compared to southern climates in summer. In it’s simplest

The winter Olympics are going on now, not only in South Korea but also right here in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. In this episode of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist highlights the athletic river otter. Right now, with the Olympics in full swing, I had the idea to try to find examples in the animal kingdom of wildlife that would compete in wintertime games. It didn’t work out very well. Wildlife activity changes in winter, especially in this kind of winter (the cold and snowy kind) and

In this month’s episode of Field Notes , Susan Knight explains how a tiny relative of our mosquito holds the key to all that chocolate you plan to eat tomorrow on Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is coming up, and with it, a celebration of chocolate. Almost everyone loves chocolate, but you may not realize that the hero of the chocolate story is a tiny biting midge, a relative of our friends the mosquito and black fly. Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, a small evergreen tree native to

Deep wintertime appears to be an advantageous time of year for some wildlife species to breed. In this week's episode of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist takes a look at the breeding habits of Wisconsin’s CARNIVORA, or carnivorous furbearers. The activity in the woods takes on a different complexion this time of year. Many of the wildlife species that inhabit the Northwoods are changing their typical behavior. For one group, mid-February signals the start of the breeding season. This

Looking for a cure for cabin fever? In this episode of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist gives us some tips and tricks for viewing and documenting wildlife tracks and scat left in the snow. Snow tracks are silent witnesses that can tell us a lot about behavior and activity. Every night, life and death wildlife dramas unfold in the snow. When I was going to college, I carried a blank page notebook and pencils so that I could sketch what I saw, then go back and look it up at the library

While dealing with winter’s worst, we can always grab another blanket or turn up the thermostat to stay comfortable. Wildlife has to rely on finding other ways to try to stay warm. In this episode of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist talks about thermal cover. When I worked in the great plains, the Buffalo Ridge ran through my work area. There were many power-generating windmills traversing the area, which boasts some of the highest sustained twenty-foot wind speeds in the country. On one

Do you enjoy watching birds at a backyard feeder? In this week's episode of Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist talks about two backyard bird feeder surveys that take place every winter. In 1994 a United States Congressional Resolution proclaimed February as National Bird-Feeding Month. Ornithologists (bird scientists) generally agree that February is a critical month for bird survival. For 20 years now the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) has also been run in February, a good fit because it