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Category: Mammals

American Toad
Gratitude: 10 Nature-Related Things I’m Thankful For

Gratitude: 10 Nature-Related Things I’m Thankful For

2020 has been hard for everyone. From canceled activities to isolation from friends and family, to record setting hurricane and fire seasons across the country. Despite all of this year’s COVID-, environmental- and political-craziness, there are still many things I am thankful for. In addition to the Thanksgiving toad I came across on my rainy walk this morning (see cover photo above), below are just ten of the nature-related things I’m grateful for this year.  1. Abundant and beautiful local…

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White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus)

White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus)

We found this little guy along the edge of a forested trail on Sunday. While it’s obviously a mouse, sometimes identifying which mouse species you’re looking at can be a little tricky. White-footed mice have a dark brown back, orange-brown sides, a white belly, and, as the name implies: white feet. The head and body are approximately 3.5 inches long, with the tail adding another 3 inches to its overall length. Although white-footed mice can be easily confused with the…

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American mink
American Mink (Neovison vison)

American Mink (Neovison vison)

When you take a walk along the Cape Cod Canal in February, there are certain things you expect to see: ring-billed gulls, hundreds (if not thousands) of common eiders, and common marine intertidal organisms, such as knotted wrack, common periwinkles, and barncles. But there’s another Canal resident that you may not be aware of: the American mink. Mink never live far from water, and although they are typically found along freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes, American mink (Neovison vison) will…

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10 ways to enjoy nature in winter

10 ways to enjoy nature in winter

This week marked our 3rd snowfall of the season, and winter technically doesn’t even start for another week (December 21st). The cold weather, snowy trails, and depressingly early sunsets have most people going from home to work (or school) and back again with little to no time spent outside in nature. But with a little planning and a slightly different approach spending time outside, even on cold winter days, it can still be enjoyable. Below I’ve compiled a list of…

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Animal Tracks: Eastern Gray Squirrel

Animal Tracks: Eastern Gray Squirrel

When conditions are right, spotting animal tracks becomes much easier. Wet sand or mud and fresh fallen snow are two of the best surfaces for capturing imprints. While some parts of New England received a foot or more of snow over the last day or two, here in Bourne we only received about 2 or 3 inches. With snow, less is often more when it comes to studying animal tracks. This morning, when I left the house for work, the…

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Connecticut Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Connecticut Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Earlier this week I completed my second state (Connecticut), in an effort to ultimately complete the entire Appalachian Trail (AT) in sections. (Click here to read about my ~100-mile Massachusetts section hike from 2017). While Connecticut was a little less rugged than Massachusetts (with the exception of Bear Mountain at an elevation of 2,326 feet, the rest of the Connecticut AT is under 1,500 feet), it had beautiful open forests, very few “road walks”, and numerous wide sweeping views of…

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River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) can be found anywhere there is a permanent food supply and easy access to water, and are common in both fresh and coastal waterways across Massachusetts. Thanks to their well adapted body design, including webbed feet, a streamlined body, a thick muscular tail, and a dense coat of fur, otters are accomplished swimmers and underwater hunters.  Small fish make up the bulk of a river otter’s diet throughout the year, but they will also…

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Animal tracks: Raccoon

Animal tracks: Raccoon

Thoughts of salt marsh wildlife typically evoke images of great blue herons, ospreys, hermit crabs and various species of fish. Seldom due people consider the mammals that inhabit a salt marsh, particularly during low tide when the exposed marsh platform and mud flats provide considerable opportunities for foraging, but many mammals do regularly utilize these habitats for foraging, including raccoons. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are found everywhere in Massachusetts, except on Nantucket. Although we’re all familiar with raccoons’ reputation as masked…

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Faraway places: Nova Scotia

Faraway places: Nova Scotia

When we first booked our vacation to Nova Scotia, I imagined a world of plants and animals relatively unfamiliar to me. I figured since we were heading so far north (it turns out, Nova Scotia is really more east than north) and all the way to another country, I would be faced with an assortment of new species. But while the rocky coastlines and higher elevation ecosystems in Cape Breton were quite different from most of our Cape Cod landscapes,…

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Owl pellets

Owl pellets

Although for many this past weekend stands out as “Super Bowl” weekend, for me it was a “Superb Owl” weekend. In addition to seeing three Snowy owls (Bubo scandiacus) on Duxbury Beach, I was also able to locate Long-eared owls in Lexington. Long-eared owls (Asio otus) are known to roost in areas of dense foliage, so it made sense when I was told about a group of them roosting in a thick stand of pines at the Dunback Meadow property…

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