I left you in Hebron, Newfoundland and Labrador, where an eye-opening tale from the past brought home that the stability of home and property we enjoy hasn’t always been a reality for northern people. From Hebron, we travelled ever northward to a place I’ve never been before – Torngat Mountains National Park. This vast expanse…
Venturing to rarely-visited sites along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast on the way north
I get to travel to some great places as an expedition guide. A few months ago (pre-COVID-19), I travelled to parts of Canada I had never seen before and filled in gaps on my lifelong adventures in Canada’s remotest reaches. I thought I’d share some insights about Canada’s northern regions as we celebrate Canada’s 150-plus…
Some orphaned babies are unlikely to survive if very young but others can fend for themselves at an early age
I was working on a breeding bird survey recently and encountered a scene that was both moving and shocking. Huddled in the short grass on the shoulder of the road was a baby raccoon, only days old, snuggled up beside its mother. At first I thought the scene was a Disney moment – one of…
Grasshoppers existed long before dinosaurs. And crickets are eaten, reviled and revered around the world
Folklore widely claims that you can tell the temperature simply by listening to how fast crickets ‘sing.’ Is that really true? Read on and I’ll share the truth by the end of this column. But first, let’s learn something about these little guys and their buddies. Crickets are related to grasshoppers and resemble them a…
Herbalists have long espoused the benefits of jewelweed, primarily as a remedy for the treatment of poison ivy and poison oak rashes
In many areas of the country grows a little plant that has remarkable medicinal qualities: jewelweed. In my last column, I wrote about my encounter with poison ivy and the discomfort my carelessness caused me. Now I want to share more of the story. Natural medicines are well-known and much studied, here and abroad. Jewelweed…
There’s a high likelihood of a rash arising as a result of contact with the plant. Have I mentioned I’m in agony?
I write this week’s column from a position of grave discomfort, for my careless attitude toward poison ivy has left me blistered and in some agony … sigh! I always thought I was immune to this dangerous plant, for I have tromped through it all my life and never even had a glimmer of an…
Pollinators are responsible for about one out of every three bites of food people eat. Without them, we would starve
We hear with alarming frequency that honey bees are in decline around the globe due to mysterious diseases, climate change, pesticides and habitat loss. But what of the other pollinators – solitary bees, bumblebees, pollen wasps, bee flies, ants, midges, hoverflies, butterflies, moths and beetles? How are they faring? Pollinators don’t have to be tiny…
We may be genetically programmed to fear spiders, but they're here for a reason. Leave them alone to eat other insects
“The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout. …” So many people are afraid of spiders, but I’ll bet almost none of them can tell you why. According to a new study out of Columbia University, it may be genetic. Our ancestors had to fear spiders – in Africa, where our roots all take us,…
Their song is produced by a complex vibrating membrane on their sides and a hollow resonant body cavity
Every year in late June to mid-July, I await the return of the cicada. (Actually, they never left, but more on that in a moment.) For me, this is the song of summer. As I write, one is serenading me outside my office window. Long after the April rains have passed, May flowers have bloomed…
Countless animals ingest plastics and die. Do we care? Do we care that these plastics are now in the human food chain?
We often see news items about the environmental impact of single-use plastic straws. And we want to do something, which is good. Costa Rica plans to ban single-use plastics. At a recent G7 summit, the nations condemned single use straws and said they will discuss the matter at a future meeting. But no action has…
What has two legs, an apparent disregard for nature and the environment and frequently drives a car? A litterbug. Every year in Canada, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of garbage are strewn along our roadways, much of it from passing motorists. But they’re not the only culprits, for many other sources emerge as we look…
With climate change, unrelenting rains can be challenging for wildlife and plants
aa Rain is a good thing. It has so many beneficial properties – a source of drinking water for everything, a source of nutrition for plants and micro-organisms, a refreshing relief from the heat, a mechanism to replenish aquifers and lakes, a means to clean overlooked homes and cars, fun for kids of all ages,…
Joining the few privileged to travel to remote and obscure offshore islands like Baby, Unga, Haystacks, Aghyuk and the Aleutians
My anticipation heightened as I waited for my flight. I was about to join the few privileged to explore Alaska beyond the usual ports of call, travelling to remote and obscure offshore islands. Nome Nome is where it all began for me. I was surprised at the appearance of this small coastal community, for it…
Wild things don’t actually fall in love, since reproduction is a serious business that involves advertising for the sole purpose of mating
Ah spring, a time for flowers and April showers, birds and bees, a chorus of frogs, greening of the earth and love at first sight. Well, wild things don’t actually fall in love, since reproduction is a serious business that involves advertising for the sole purpose of mating. We’re all very familiar with spring birdsong…
Frogs, toads, salamanders, insects and other invertebrates teem in vernal pools, depending on where you live in the country
Have you ever walked in a forest in early spring and seen all the beautiful little ponds that dot the landscape? Have you gone there again in July and wondered where they went? I can explain what’s happening here and why they’re so critical to many animals. Vernal pools – also known as ephemeral, autumnal,…