Conks begin recycling trees before they’re dead
High in a birch tree, a large conk grows on the trunk–a sure sign the birch is decaying from the inside out. Conks, also known…
Tag: Outdoor Column
Mountains moved to form the Purcell Trench
The Kootenai Valley and the Selkirk, Purcell and Cabinet Mountains are the main geographic features in the county. One geologic feature is responsible for how…
Muskrats, beavers similar but not related
Muskrats and beavers are similar in many ways which is surprising since they aren’t even close relatives. Muskrats are more closely related to voles and…
Feast or famine for animals in the winter
Last weekend, the chickadees and nuthatches finally found the two bird feeders I filled several weeks ago. For birds, finding a full feeder is like…
Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend
Shooting stars are always exciting to see. Sometimes I only see them out of the corner of my eye, other times I’m lucky enough to…
Sign Posts of the Forest
Wandering through the woods, I found a tree with claw marks scratched in the bark at eye-level and black hair stuck to once oozing sap.…
Autumn reveals hidden hornet nests
As the yellow leaves of autumn drop from trees, they often reveal hidden treasures such as bird nests and less desirable wasp nests. The gray,…
A great place to call home
Twilight was quickly fading as we drove south on Highway 95 after crossing the border at Eastport. As we descended down the hill by Brush…
Camouflage a means of survival
I catch a slight movement out of the corner of my eye and stop to scan the brushy slope. After a few seconds I spy…
What’s that protruding from your head?
Often I catch myself using the terms antler and horn interchangeably, such as “I’m going horn hunting”, even though I know they are different. One…
Howling at the moon reveals coyote’s presence
As the light fades over the alfalfa field, the nighttime serenade begins with a long call, then a tremolo of howling. With all the howling…
Incredible, edible cattails
A common sight in any shallow water around the Kootenai Valley is stands of cattails. They line irrigation ditches, lake-shores, swamps and the majority of…
Mountains moved to form the Purcell Trench
The Kootenai Valley and the Selkirk, Purcell and Cabinet Mountains are the main geographic features in the county. One geologic feature is responsible for how…
Muskrats, beavers similar but not related
Muskrats and beavers are similar in many ways which is surprising since they aren’t even close relatives. Muskrats are more closely related to voles and…
Feast or famine for animals in the winter
Last weekend, the chickadees and nuthatches finally found the two bird feeders I filled several weeks ago. For birds, finding a full feeder is like…
Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend
Shooting stars are always exciting to see. Sometimes I only see them out of the corner of my eye, other times I’m lucky enough to…
Sign Posts of the Forest
Wandering through the woods, I found a tree with claw marks scratched in the bark at eye-level and black hair stuck to once oozing sap.…
Autumn reveals hidden hornet nests
As the yellow leaves of autumn drop from trees, they often reveal hidden treasures such as bird nests and less desirable wasp nests. The gray,…
A great place to call home
Twilight was quickly fading as we drove south on Highway 95 after crossing the border at Eastport. As we descended down the hill by Brush…
Camouflage a means of survival
I catch a slight movement out of the corner of my eye and stop to scan the brushy slope. After a few seconds I spy…
What’s that protruding from your head?
Often I catch myself using the terms antler and horn interchangeably, such as “I’m going horn hunting”, even though I know they are different. One…
Howling at the moon reveals coyote’s presence
As the light fades over the alfalfa field, the nighttime serenade begins with a long call, then a tremolo of howling. With all the howling…
Incredible, edible cattails
A common sight in any shallow water around the Kootenai Valley is stands of cattails. They line irrigation ditches, lake-shores, swamps and the majority of…