Wild About Utah

Awhile back, I was riding my bicycle along country roads in Cache Valley, when suddenly 6 unusual looking chicks ran across the road in single file right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes just in time as the chicks disappeared down the farmhouse driveway on the other side of the road. I …

Continue reading "A Surprise visit with distant relatives of Cache Valley’s birds"

Certain plants were considered sacred by many native tribes. Chokecherry made the list. This versatile plant was highly prized for food, medicine, implements, and building material. And you could rightfully say it changed the history of our nation. Legend has it that the young Shoshoni girl Sacajawea was gathering choke cherries when captured by the …

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I don’t know why, but birds possess a special power to connect diverse communities. You see, birds don’t discriminate; they don’t care who you are, what you look like, where you live, or what you believe; they are always there to offer you their wonder, beauty, and interesting behaviors, so long as you are willing …

Continue reading "Birds Foster Community Connections"

By Kate Hunter,         Leer en español In late June of this year, we at Stokes Nature Center held our first pollinator camp. In this period, we worked with a local beekeepers, visited the USDA U.S. National Pollinating Insects Collection at Utah State University, and we fed hummingbirds from the palm of …

Continue reading "Pollinator Camp: Bees"

Por Kate Hunter,         Read in English Estudio las abejas. Las he observado, capturado, diseccionado, registrado y he enseñado sobre ellas. A finales de junio, en Stokes Nature Center impartimos un campamento de polinizadores durante dos días. En ese tiempo, ayudamos a un apicultor local a agregar alzas para miel a sus …

Continue reading "Sobre las abejas y el ser abeja"

When I started writing for Wild About Utah, I made myself a promise that each piece would be a journey of learning. This meant I had to actually get in my car and go learn something. This month my journey led me to a venerable old apricot tree in a quiet neighborhood in SW Logan. …

Continue reading "Apricots Feeding Families"

I’m a lake person born in the Great Lakes region, land of Hiawatha’s “shining big sea waters”. Fishing, hunting, swimming, and boating were at the center of our culture. Now having lived three fourths of my life in Utah, I’ve found it a well-watered desert with all descriptions of lakes from the intermittent, seasonal, inches …

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Our 15 year-old and two of her friends just returned from their first backpacking trip without adults. When she hatched the idea, my wife and I were supportive of this big voyage, knowing all the growth that happens when you venture out on our own into the wilds for the first time. We asked questions …

Continue reading "John Muir Didn’t Wear Tevas"

We hear a lot these days how people spend too much time with their electronic devices. The internet is full of advice on how to get kids away from their screens to enjoy nature, and that’s great. But for me, as someone who has always loved natural spaces, I’m finding that a screen can actually …

Continue reading "Love nature? There’s an app for that"

In 1962, Rachael Carson rocked the bird watching world with her book Silent Spring. She identified the commonly used pesticide DDT as the culprit responsible for declining populations of eagles, falcons and hawks. Rachael was able to prove that once DDT got into the food chain, it fatally weakened the eggshells of these birds. DDT …

Continue reading "Falconry"