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
Natural History
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
The Sibley Guide to Birds: Second Edition
Bird book gets better On one of our semi-annual trips to Cape May, New Jersey, in May of 1998, we saw a report on the Internet of a red phalarope at the municipal gravel dump, which featured a two-acre puddle after three days of hard rain. So … [Read more...] about The Sibley Guide to Birds: Second Edition