This week’s column is the second in a series chronicling lesser known fall season phenomenon. Ah, babies. What’s cuter than a tiny robin nestling, its mouth gaping widely as it waits to be fed? Or a tiny fawn curled up in the woods, sun dappling its white-spotted coat? I may get a little push-back on
Reptile, Stinkpot, Turtle
October 14, 2016 Ants on the Move Even though temperatures this fall have been mild, seasonal changes are occurring all around us. The increasingly shorter day lengths have leaves turning color, and asters and goldenrods going to seed. Anywhere you see trees you’ll likely also see branches aflutter with migrating birds while, on the ground,
Ants, Bug, Colony, Insect
Back in the 1960s, marketers of a certain brand of tuna came up with a catchy jingle: “Ask any mermaid you happen to see, ‘What’s the best tuna?’ Chicken of the Sea.” The white albacore tuna inside those little 5-oz. cans was so delicately flavored that it was deemed to “taste like chicken.” But as
Chicken of the Woods, Dead Wood, Decomposer, Fungi, Trees
I bumped into an old friend the other day as I was walking along Second Street in Geneva. It had been awhile since we’d last met, which was all the more reason, I thought, to stop and get reacquainted with—and to introduce others to–this little, and little-known, neighbor. Meet Sandalus spp., a member of an
Bug, Cicada, Insect
This week’s column comes in the form of a public service announcement courtesy of my cat Jimmy. Being a cat of few words, except when it’s supper time, Jimmy wanted you to know just two things: 1) Mice are starting to make their annual migration indoors, and 2) Poison is not the way to get
House Mice, Mice, RodentsSeptember 16, 2016 Native Plants & the Impact on Landscape When was the last time you had an aha! moment? You know what I’m talking about. An abrupt realization that literally changes everything; a “Wait a minute!” dawning that causes you to see things in a different, often better, light. I know I’ve had plenty,
Environment, Landscape, Native Plants
When was the last time you had an aha! moment? You know what I’m talking about. An abrupt realization that literally changes everything; a “Wait a minute!” dawning that causes you to see things in a different, often better, light. I know I’ve had plenty, scattered over a wide variety of topics and an even
Environment, Horticulture, Native Landscape
Farmers—those with livestock in particular—have a saying: Some days you step in it, some days you don’t. Today, as summer wanes, I’d like you all to remember that phrase and take it to heart. Because there’s a seasonal form of unpleasantness out there, and the last thing I’d want to hear is that someone has
Insect, Wasps, Yellowjackets
Mmm…popcorn … It’s one of my favorite snacks, and something I’ve had a hankering for for a while now. But it wasn’t until this week that I figured out why. Each morning as I walk into work at Hickory Knolls, I get to look at a fabulous array of native plants carefully tended by our
Plant, Prairie Drop Seed, Shrub
At the end of last week’s column, the reputation of a certain local naturalist was in tatters. She’d mistaken a dead raccoon, one of our area’s most common roadkills, for a badger, a mammal that is rarely seen in Kane County. Little did she know, though, that badgers were alive and well—and reproducing, even, just
Animal, Badger, Mammal, Ring-Tailed Badger