Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District July 19, 2012 The heady aroma of fine cigars. The rise and fall of male voices, punctuated with deep, booming laughter. It didn’t take a girl popping out of a cake to tell us,
Bug, Insect, Stag Beetles
Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District July 13, 2012 Through the years, many words have been used to describe our friend the fox: Sly. Crafty. Clever. But lately there’s a new word that’s been added to our Vulpes vocabulary: Unfazed. In last week’s column
Animal, Fox, Red Fox
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District July 6, 2012 I’ll admit, I’m not the most up-to-date person when it comes to pop culture. I don’t have a television, so I’d be hard pressed to name more than a handful of
Animal, Fox, Red Fox
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District July 5, 2012 Whoever said parenting is not for sissies knew exactly what he, or she, was talking about. I know this because I’ve recently taken on the completely self-imposed challenge of life in
Bug, Insect, Praying Mantis
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 29, 2012 I think I picked the wrong summer to get back into gardening. Sure, it seemed like a good idea back in March, when we had our first tantalizing taste of warm,
Gardening, Hawkmoth, Toads
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 22, 2012 The things you learn as when you write a nature column. A few years ago, I didn’t know that the word fungus, for instance, made some people uncomfortable. Little did I
Amphibian, Cope's Gray Tree Frog, Tree Frog
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 15, 2012 Remember the old PBS show, Sneak Previews? I used to love watching film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert give their thoughts on new releases from their retro-theater set. I can
Garden, Glow Worms, Sneak Previews
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 14, 2012 Lots of things happen on the trails in the Hickory Knolls Natural Area. Chipmunks and 13-lined ground squirrels sometimes choose these open areas to dig their burrows. Killdeer have used them
Bug, Insect, Red Velvet Mites
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 8, 2012 I remember the first time I ever saw a Baltimore oriole. I was in the backyard of my grandmother’s house in downstate Atterberry, IL, (which, not so coincidentally, is my mother’s
Baltimore Oriole, Bird, Fly
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 1, 2012 Every great cause needs a poster child. Where would the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon be without “Jerry’s Kids”? And who could forget the many faces of the March of Dimes? The natural
Baby Animals, Mother, Wildlife