There is a common misconception that wild turkeys were once extinct in New Hampshire but have since returned. Extinction is often confused with extirpation but they are actually two different concepts. Extinct refers to species no longer in existence, having no living representatives – gone everywhere. Things like the brontosaurus, which no longer occurred as of 10's of millions years ago, the wooly mammoth 10-thousand years ago, or the passenger pigeon only 10 decades ago. Extant describes

Talk of turkey is usually relegated to the month of November as we stuff ourselves with eating yams and cranberry jelly, and watch college football. And the misperception about Ben Franklin proposing the wild turkey as our national bird, is usually not far behind.

Every week here at Something Wild we encourage you to go outside. It's easy to find the wild in New Hampshire, be it a walk on the beach, a hike in the woods or a quiet crepuscular kayak ride. However there are things you need to be mindful of when you're out. We've heard a lot about ticks but not so much about poison ivy. You've probably seen or come into contact with poison ivy at some point; the three waxy leaves with serrated edges. You probably also know you should avoid it. Don't touch

There are few sounds in nature that command your attention as effectively as the rattle of a rattlesnake. And though these snakes are not aggressive, that sound does elicit a hard-wired, innate fear response. Roughly translating to “Watch Your Step, Mister!” the rattle is an alarm designed to stop trouble before it starts.

Biologists like to talk about crocodiles, cassowaries, even chickens as being descendants of the dinosaurs. But in your back yard is likely something that can trace its ancestry to before the dinosaurs, some 360 million years ago. We’re talking about Ferns!

A Something Wild fan wrote in recently with a question or two. Ben, a backyard beekeeper in Deerfield, asks “I know there has been a lot of buzz about chemicals getting into the bee's main protein source, pollen. It would be really cool if you could mention the bees and what kind of plants the bees pollinate (and are exposed to) throughout the various seasons. Furthermore! Where in the world are the bees getting pollen in the winter? Sometimes I even see my bees bringing in pollen from who knows

Is there a song that has stuck with you for years? Maybe a tune your parents sang to you as a child, the notes imprinted on your mind and became a part of your being. As Chris and Dave shared the melodies imparted to themselves, the conversation turned (as it often does) to birds. Is our musical learning similar to that of our avian neighbors?

New Hampshire is experiencing one of those few rare and special weeks right now. About 48 weeks of the year, the New Hampshire landscape is pretty homogenous; from a distance our deciduous trees can all look the same: either a blanket of green leaves, or nothing but sticks. But during a few brief weeks in the fall and in the spring – trees show their true colors.New Englanders take pride in our brilliant fall foliage season, but our ephemeral spring foliage season often passes without nearly as

Something Wild takes pride in introducing to the residents of the state to the wonder in the wild that surrounds us all. Someone who discovered that wonder at a young age is David Carroll, “I was 8 years old when I had that experience with the first spotted turtle.” Naturalist, writer, artist are among the many descriptors frequently attached to Carroll’s name.

We tagged along with Diane DeLuca, a biologist with NH Audubon on her rounds of the Deering Wildlife Sanctuary. DeLuca has been working on their Phenological Monitoring Pilot Project, and defines phenology as "the study of 'phenophases', which are the different phases that plants and animals go through in their life cycle each year." She's plotted points all over a map of the reserve, to examine the development of several species of plants and animals during this very busy time of year. The