Category Archives: mammals

  A deer’s antlers are regrown each year. They start in the spring as buds and grow quickly to full size in about four months. This morning’s white-tailed buck shows only a few day’s growth. Indeed, the growth is about the same … Continue reading →

  Seasonal bunny: This hare showed insensitivity to mythology by neither laying nor hiding eggs. A hare’s hair moults. Our local snowshoe hare (we don’t have rabbits around here) is white in winter and rusty brown in summer. The transition … Continue reading →

  A travelling animal can employ various gaits, a word that describes the pattern of movement of limbs during locomotion. A bipedal human might walk, hop, or run, each a different form of propulsion. The transition from one gait to another takes place when the … Continue reading →

  When climbing out of the Lake, many animals disperse water by twisting and shaking. Dogs do it, eagles do it, and otters do it.  While I had seen otters spin their heads to shake off water, I had not … Continue reading →

  Sometimes camouflage allows wildlife to pass almost unnoticed.

  Over the preceding five years, the first marmot I noticed appeared progressively earlier in the season. Five years ago, it was late March, last year it had shifted to late February. Was this a trend? With the persistent snows of … Continue reading →

  After an overnight dusting of snow, I like to look for animal tracks in my yard to discover what creatures share my space. Sometimes no one comes; sometimes snow keeps falling and covers the evidence. Now and then I see … Continue reading →