Why Cats Are the Way They Are

I had an ephiphany about why cats are the way they are. But before I can explain the epiphany, I should explain the way that cats are. Granted, I don’t have a cat, but I was raised with them. I lived on a small farm and farms have cats to keep the mice and rats […]

Autumn Woods

Autumn always makes the woods feel emptyThough I know strictly speakingThis isn’t true Bears prowl orchardsChuff through oak grovesStuff themselves before a slumberThat grows shorter every yearDeer, too, are bolder now and dumberHaunting the edges of highwaysRunning to or from the rutEven many insects remainHidden in soil or bark Unnamed under leavesOr within the spongy […]

Guest Post: Woof. Woof woof woof. Woof. Woof.

Because I’m traveling today, to the annual science writers’ conference, I’ve taken the unusual step of running a guest post without clearing it with the rest of the LWON team. My sweet baby Chihuahua mix T.S. Eliot Nestor (pictured above) asked to respond to Our Jenny’s post this week (Little Dog Big Heart), in which […]

Trump, Caribou, and the Road to Nowhere

Caribou of Alaska’s Western Arctic Herd travel the shore of the Kobuk River. Author video.— Most of the time, caribou are conservative. They tend not to try new things unless they really have to. They don’t like to wander far from their preferred migration routes, except in preiods of unusual weather, or extreme duress. While […]

ROAM: an interview with Hillary Rosner

Hillary Rosner is a science journalist and editor who teaches journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is also a friend and fellow member of Scilance, a network of 30+ science writers that has been meeting up online for 20 years. Over the years, I’ve loved following Hillary’s thoughtful, adventurous reporting on wildlife conservation, […]

The Necessity Defense

My last post in July was about a court case in New York state where a judge decided a dog who had been killed by a negligent driver could be considered “immediate family” under the law, enabling the family to seek damages beyond the monetary value of the dog. One of the things I find […]

Snapshot: Squirrel Season

Have you heard about “zombie squirrels”? These squirrels, suffering from squirrel fibroma virus, grow strange-looking sores all over their bodies. In most cases, they recover from the virus.  Still, I feel badly for them. It looks uncomfortable, even if they are not actually zombies. I do not feel badly for this squirrel. I saw it […]