Wild About Utah

Marie y su chaqueta Amarilla. Today’s story is in both Spanish and English. To hear a Spanish version listen on Wednesday evening at 9pm, or online here and at UPR.orgLa historia de hoy está en español e inglés. Para escuchar una versión en español, escuche el miércoles por la noche a las 9 p. m., …

Continue reading "Marie and Her Yellow Jacket"

The Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta began in Daybreak, Utah on Oct 18 with eight 600 lb pumpkins lined up on the edge of the community’s lake. The action began at 8:30 am when a forklift driver picked up Pumpkin #1 and eased it into the water. The pumpkin slid off its pallet and floated away from …

Continue reading "When Pumpkins Become Boats"

Fall bird migration is well underway! Our winter residents and migrating dropins are now beginning to populate our feeders and lower landscapes. So what sweet treats will decorate our feeder this year? We’re always hoping for a few surprises like eastern blue jays, perhaps a gray crowned rosy finch, or green tail towhee. The old …

Continue reading "Winter Birds"

The most important lessons I can give my daughter are not through me, but instead those found best in the wild. Though she can’t talk, I know she still listens. Though her childhood amnesia is inevitable, I know that neural circuits are still being formed. Those circuits will do her good one day. Our favorite …

Continue reading "The Tenacity of Beavers"

“Look, up on that pole! There’s a huge bird! I think it’s a hawk!” A storm of students put their half-eaten PB & Js down, grabbed binoculars, and raced to get a better view. One of my 2nd-grade students, while eating lunch under the King’s Nature Park gazebo, had spotted the special visitor. Students bustled …

Continue reading "A Friend to Guide the Way"

I was in the process of taking a video of a Gila Monster in Washington County’s Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. It was walking toward me and backed me into a Creosote Bush. That’s when I heard the buzz. It sounded like I had alarmed a rattlesnake, but I had been fooled before by a bull …

Continue reading "Washington County Rattlesnakes"

If you’ve listened to these Wild About Utah segments for a while, you’ll have noticed that we tend to focus on places where humans don’t live. But what we call “nature” can flourish almost anywhere, including the places where people dominate. I’m an avid runner and walker. And my town has done a lot of …

Continue reading "Nature Out Your Front Door"

Many years ago on a gorgeous fall day, I was standing on the bank of Green River in the Split Mountain campground in Dinosaur National Monument. I was visiting the site for our upcoming Utah Envirothon competition to assess the lay of the land and all it contained- plants, wildlife, soils, and aquatics. These were …

Continue reading "My Fishing River Otter"

High on a remote butte on the Colorado Plateau, two spirals were etched into the rock centuries ago by Ancestral Puebloans. The petroglyphs are tucked discreetly behind three sandstone slabs that lean against the bedrock wall. The play of light that reaches through the gaps in the slabs bisect the large spiral on summer solstice …

Continue reading "Solar Calendars"

The City of Logan has a special Logan Island Vibe anchored in the two arms of the Logan River which wrap around the heart of town as living blue trails and green stripes. We are the rivers, wetlands, and riparian buffers keepers. Our stewardship is dictated by the laws we enact, and those laws include …

Continue reading "The Logan Island Twin Rivers Reverence Vibe"