A resident or seasonal explorer of the Adirondacks, you may believe that our cool, northern landscapes are devoid of venomous animals. Sure, rattlesnakes inhabit a smattering of sun-warmed spots along the shores of Lake George and Lake Champlain, but … [Read more...] about Venom: The Secrets of Nature’s Deadliest Weapon
Field guides
A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast
You don’t need a magnifying glass, a deerstalker cap, and a Dr. Watson to track the mammals you suspect to be traversing your favorite pieces of Adirondack real estate. What are required most of all are curiosity and a willingness to invest the … [Read more...] about A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast
The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia
Once I had the pleasure of meeting Al Breisch, then New York State DEC’s de facto Herpetologist-in-Chief, at a lecture he gave for the Wild Center before it had even been built. Breisch impressed me. He was precise and as armed with accurate … [Read more...] about The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia
Bogs and Fens
Bogs and fens are wetlands. At least they are if you can call a wet place with nothing but peat, or sphagnum moss, underfoot “land.” Such features, not quite land and not quite water, dot the Adirondack landscape. Whenever and wherever we hike, we … [Read more...] about Bogs and Fens
Back from the brink
Book Review By EDWARD KANZE We all see things differently. My distinguished writer friend the late Maurice Kenny and I argued on more than one occasion over what sorts of books we like. I provoked the debate, asserting that given a choice between … [Read more...] about Back from the brink
Trees of Eastern North America
The giants among us For all the vaunted magnitude of the largest animal that ever lived, and still lives, consider the largest living trees. A few giant coast redwoods skyscrape nearly four hundred feet above their California roots, … [Read more...] about Trees of Eastern North America