Life on the Farm
Frost flowers are delicate white ice formations that develop at ground level around the dry stems of plants. They go by many other names, including ice flowers and ice ribbons. An amazing sight The first time I saw frost flowers,...
The spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect that threatens to destroy numerous species of fruit, nut, and hardwood trees in North America. It first appeared in Pennsylvania and is spreading to other states, attracted by another invasive species: tree of...
The first practical use we made of our motion activated Reconyx trail camera was to identify a predator that was decimating our Royal Palm turkey flock. The cam confirmed our suspicion: it was a bobcat. (The next job, of course,...
Search the web for the word Humanimal and you will find links describing all sorts of things. Some of them are: a video game, a hard rock band, several music albums, a horror movie, and a documentary. Also: a British...
The mysteries of the origin of chicken talk and human speech may be found in the goings-on among the frogs and toads in your farm pond, says my ornithologist friend Gene Morton, who has written extensively on animal behavior and...
Our area is outside normal black bear range. So when someone spotted one, about 5 miles from our farm, it created a stir throughout our community. Three days later our Reconyx motion activated camera caught this black bear crossing our...
It’s been several years since massive flocks of grackles have visited our farm, as they once regularly did. Although grackles remain among North Americas most abundant birds, scientists have identified the common grackle among 33 bird species in steep decline....
A motion activated trail camera is awesome for capturing photos of elusive wildlife roaming our Tennessee farm that we might otherwise not see in person. For example, soon after we moved here we found a huge paw print in the...
When I moved to Tennessee I was appalled to see the way trees are pruned here, especially the practice called topping. In yard after yard I saw trees with their crowns lopped off, leaving ugly stubs. These trees are pruned...
When ladybugs first appeared inside our house, my husband and I took it as a sign of good luck. Little did we know that they were Asian ladybugs, and the Asian ladybug is bad news. The ladybugs that showed up...
