“I like long walks on the beach, reading poetry, and poking dead things with a stick.” – Source unknown Picture this: you are enjoying a leisurely stroll along one of our magnificent shorelines. Your gaze drifts unhurriedly from the water’s edge to the wrack line, the line of accumulated seaweed that the waves toss up as they roll against the beach. Suddenly, your eyes spot what seems to be a […]
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No Comments Note: In 2011, US Fish and Wildlife (USFW) made an unusual proposal: allowing deer hunting in some of the wildlife refuges in Rhode Island. This story traced some of the process of making that suggestion and putting out word to the public. The cab of the truck rocks along the gravel path of Ninigret Wildlife Refuge in Charlestown. The driver, Refuge Manager Charles Vandemoer, brings the vehicle to an abrupt […]
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Note: all photos for this story come from www.thecitydark.com What do we lose when we lose the night? When our skies are lit 24 hours a day, and the stars are no longer visible? Rhode Island Natural History Survey (www.rinhs.org) raised those questions Saturday night on the URI campus as part of a showing of the film “The City Dark”. The event kicked off Rhode Island’s first Natural History week, […]
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An introduction: In my usual perambulations around the Markey ranch, I ran across the insect pictured here. After hours of searching, I had learned the Latin name, Protichneumon Grandis (which is a form of Ichneumon Grandis), but little else. I searched through my two insect guides as well as the Internet to no avail. Finally, I used EBSCO, an online database provided by libraries as a search engine to […]
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Last weekend, I spent a few days hiking in the Crawford Notch region of New Hampshire, while staying at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC’s) Highland Center. Here’s what I learned. 1. The Highland Center is a cross between a hiking hut and a hotel. In a really, really good way. Let me be honest here: I don’t vacation often, but when I do, I want a hot shower, clean sheets, […]
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The pickup truck rolled to a stop by a gate that blocked vehicles from the entrance to Grills Preserve in Westerly. It was afternoon in early autumn, and though it was not yet five o’clock, the shadows had begun to lengthen. John and Vivian Maxson, the team that comprised Born to be Wild Nature Center (BTBW), climbed out of the truck. John reached into the truck bed and grabbed […]
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Long before any of us were old enough to watch “Jurassic Park”, we were seized with the urge to dig. At a tender age, our family regaled us with bedtime tales of mighty beasts towering over the landscape. According to the stories, paleontologists appeared to simply find some exotic locale, dig a hole, and the next thing you know they were posing for pictures beside a bone thicker than their […]
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No Comments My neighborhood was populated by kids born at the tail end of the boomer years. The street was filled with modest, ranch-style houses, driveways that were made for a single car, and lights that came on at dusk and told us it was time to get inside for supper. Each September, a squad of eight to ten of us would assemble at one driveway to make the trek to […]
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1 Comment Note: A couple of years ago, I visited the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island and spoke with Dr. Chi Chan. In case you didn’t read this in your local paper, the story is reprinted here. -HJM To say the space is cramped would be an understatement. There are, in no particular order, many mice, a toeless turtle, a cormorant, a robin, opossum, several seagulls, a broad winged hawk who may […]
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When darkness falls, most people retire to the comfort of their lighted homes. Human bodies are programmed by circadian rhythm to seek rest when night comes, letting the creatures of the darkness – owls, opossums, bats – move through the shadows. We do not follow their comings and goings, and perhaps we do not want to know what they are doing out there. We prefer to let nature’s nocturnals take […]
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