Most people have seen the dark image of vultures slowly circling high overhead, either on TV or in their own personal lives. Sometimes they are circling over roads and sometimes over open farm land.
All in Wildlife Watching
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Helpful Milk Snake
Much to the dismay of people who don’t like snakes, there are dozens of species of snakes living in the United States today. In fact, there are more than 50 different species of snakes here – and if you count subspecies, the number grows to more than 250!
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Huge American White Pelican
Pelicans. Anyone that has been to Florida is likely familiar with pelicans. But the pelicans which are so common in the sunshine state or even some of the other Gulf states during the summertime are mostly brown pelicans.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Slimy Garden Slug
Anyone who has a vegetable garden or flower garden has probably seen a common garden slug. These slimy gastropods are actually a type of mollusk, similar to a snail, but they do not have a protective shell. Their scientific name is Arion hortensis.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Red-Breasted Merganser
Of all the species of diving ducks in North America, the mergansers are arguably among the most interesting. There are common mergansers, red-breasted mergansers and hooded mergansers.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Crocus Geometer Moth
Over the years, some moths have been called “jewels of the night”. This is because they are nocturnal and fly under the cover of darkness, and many of them are very beautiful.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Long-Legged Willet
Willets are a somewhat drab, nondescript-looking shorebird. They are fairly large, about the size of an American crow, with a wingspan measuring nearly 28 inches in length.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Beneficial Paper Wasp
Wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, bees – most people don’t like them. The reason is simple, too. These insects are capable of delivering a very painful sting, and since they can fly through the air they can chase you!
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Surf Scoter, Sea Duck of the North
Of all the duck species in North America, the Surf Scoter is one of the most unusual-looking. It is a medium-sized sea duck, and the males are completely black except for small white patches on the back of their head, on their forehead, and at the base of their bill.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar
Gardeners who enjoy growing tomatoes have many things to worry about: are their tomato plants getting enough water? Enough sun? Too much water? Not enough fertilizer? But one thing almost all of these gardeners hate is the tobacco hornworm, sometimes called the tomato worm
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Exotic Egyptian Goose
Most people would think they need to go to Africa to see an Egyptian goose. And at one time, that would be true. The Egyptian goose is native to Africa, especially east Africa and southern Africa.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Wood-Boring Pine Sawyer Beetle
Most people don’t like beetles. And it’s understandable, since most beetles fall into the “creepy-crawly” category. But some beetles are very interesting. Take longhorn beetles, for example.