The North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, is thought to be generally solitary except for brief mating associations in autumn and mother-baby pairs in spring and summer. However, I believe I have some video footage of porcupines playing together in winter. … Continue reading →
Most birds, the ruffed grouse among them, have a preening gland, also called the uropygial gland, on the rump at the base of the tail. It secretes a rich oil of waxes, fatty acids, fat, and water that is used … Continue reading →
The sound of a male ruffed grouse drumming may be subtle, but the accompanying display is flamboyant. The low pitched drum alerts females in the vicinity to the presence of a male, and if her interest is piqued, she may … Continue reading →
Pronghorn tracks and scat are similar to those of deer, but tracks differ in 2 important ways, and contextual clues help distinguish scat.
Continue reading →The fisher and its cousin the river otter often create tracks and trail patterns of similar appearance. If tracking conditions are poor and tracks are unclear, distinguishing between these two mustelids can be tricky business. However in snow, otters usually … Continue reading →
One type of productive spot for a trail camera is a pinch point, a place where landscape features force animal travel through a narrow area. The floor of a narrow, steep-walled canyon, a trail through dense vegetation, and a natural … Continue reading →
The eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) copes with winter by storing food, rather than body fat, and by entering torpor for days at a time, waking up in between to nibble its cache. It begins cycling through torpor only when and … Continue reading →
The North American beaver’s winter diet of tree bark is familiar to many, but less well known are its distinct preferences. Generally, it prefers deciduous trees over conifers, but from the beaver’s perspective, not all hardwoods are created equal. The … Continue reading →
When river otters feed on crayfish, the resultant scat contains pieces of the crayfish exoskeleton, usually reddish in color. If you carefully dissect the scat, you might find something else that came from the crayfish: a small white to pinkish … Continue reading →
Most people associate red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) with conifers, and while it’s true that they need forest with at least some conifers, they are fairly adaptable omnivores and their diet tends to reflect local abundance. So in Alaska’s boreal forest, … Continue reading →
