Wild About Utah

The queen becomes the mother of most of the bees in the hive. All the worker bees are female. Any drone lucky enough to mate with a virgin queen drops dead afterwards. It's a matriarchal society all the way.

Are we in the Rockies: Is the Bear River Range really in the Rockies? Are the Wasatch Mountains in general? Some say no, the basin and range region...

Endemic plants of Utah: Utah ranks sixth in the nation for its number of endemic species. Only Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida and Georgia have more. Utah hosts 247 endemics out of 2602 unique plants in all, plus 393 subspecies or varieties.

I stood perplexed. I was looking at an insect I had never seen before. The bug was the size of my thumb and shifted awkwardly in what little dirt could be found just below the bare ridge of the Wellsvilles.

The aquatic invasive species threat is real and I hope this segment will make you a believer in inspection and decontamination stations.

Perseids meteor shower is an increase in meteor activity when the Earth passes through a trail of comet debris also in orbit about the Sun.

It turns out that Utah is home to numerous species of live snails, but the shells we see beside Bear Lake have been there for nearly 10,000 years! They've lasted this long because they're preserved by the calcium chemistry of a lake.

Remembering Euell Gibbons: He was famous as a naturalist and connoisseur of wild foods in the 1960's. His best known works were the book “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” and

Awhile back, I was riding my bicycle along country roads in Cache Valley, when suddenly six unusual looking chicks ran across the road in single file right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes just in time as the chicks disappeared down the farmhouse driveway on the other side of the road.

Winged Bullets of Beauty: Their agility is beyond imagination, capturing their prey with a gaping maw while flying at maximum speed, winged bullets ripping through the air.

My students study a bird each week with reading passages, complete bird-related math activities, go on weekly field trips to find birds while keeping an ongoing writing journal about those experiences

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are all sorts of bugs that live in the water and don't have a backbone. They include aquatic worms, leeches, beetles and Dr. Stemmler's favorites mayflies and caddisflies.

Falconry is an ancient sport going back thousands of years. In Shakespeare's time, it was a way of putting food on the dinner table.

In keeping with our nation's 250 year celebration, red, white, and blue have decorated Utah's higher elevations from Tony Grove in the north to Cedar Breaks in the south.

I became an educator because I hoped to have an impact on future generations—but I did not anticipate the profound impact my students would have on my own life.

I became an educator because I hoped to have an impact on future generations—but I did not anticipate the profound impact my students would have on my own life.

I had a festering contempt for any bird of the corvid variety—corvid meaning crows, ravens, magpies … you know, the boring/detestable birds.

In northern Utah we don't get to see very many sheep grazing on our hillsides. But we can see plenty of working sheep dogs at the International Sheep Dog Competition held every Memorial Day at Soldier Hollow outside Midway, Utah.

When I moved to Mendon in 1980 a neighbor asked me if I'd like to go along with her to feed calves at a local dairy farm. I jumped into her car and off we went.

It's not unheard of for birds to be active in the nighttime. But most nocturnal birds are not songbirds. Then there's the yellow-breasted chat.

Most canoe trips into the Boundary Waters are days to weeks long, but you can get a good sampling in a long day on the water.

When one has the opportunity to experience the grandeur of the Milky Way, witness a shooting star, or identify a new constellation, such moments can spark curiosity, a sense of awe, and provide memories that last a lifetime.

Earth Day, Earth Week, and my preferred, Earth Year. Let's pretend to join the Artemus II crew for a wild 300,000 mile journey to the dark side of the moon for an Earth rise.

A medida que se acerca la primavera, las abejas y otros insectos empiezan a salir de sus escondites de invierno. Me emociona volver a ver a mis pequeñas amigas abejas.

A medida que se acerca la primavera, las abejas y otros insectos empiezan a salir de sus escondites de invierno. Me emociona volver a ver a mis pequeñas amigas abejas.

As spring approaches, bees and other insects will start coming out from their winter hideaways. I'm excited to see my little bee friends again.

Back in Pioneer times in Utah, farmers liked to brag about how fast their horses could go, so challenges were made, and the issue usually settled by an informal race.

One of the lesser-known natural, and underappreciated, areas in our state is found 32 miles south of Vernal in eastern Utah: the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge.

Fire creates a mosaic of different habitat types, each at a different stage of succession. We humans continue to have a profound influence on these fire regimes.

In January three wolves were killed by the US Department of Agriculture and Food in Cache Valley, near Avon. The wolves wandered into a corner of northern Utah where wolves are exempt from protection.

A symbiotic relationship is best defined as two organisms living together where one or both benefit from the relationship and neither is harmed

Every time I turned around I learned something interesting. But this Bugworld traveling exhibit was also interactive and fun.

So, my friends, we might take courage from the Wood Duck, ruffle our feathers, and leap! Not expecting to fly right away, but realizing that the fall can be every bit as majestic.

I'm just a 2nd-grade teacher leaning out my exterior classroom door, taking pictures of a curious little Black-Capped Chickadee happily pecking seeds from our class millet feeder which dangles just outside our window.

Participatory Science used to be called Citizen Science, and then Community Science, but the emphasis on participation highlights that we are contributing to something large and impactful for which we don't ask what science can do for us, but what we can do for science.

Many resorts have partnered with groups to create innovative programs that restore public lands surrounding resorts making a positive impact on the natural world by conserving and dedicating areas for wildlife and conservation.

Each snowflake individually seems insignificant, but together, relentless by the millions, snow crystals pile up. They cover the ground, flock the trees, and settle into the gaps of my jacket. Their strength is in their numbers and their ability to bond with each other.

Each snowflake individually seems insignificant, but together, relentless by the millions, snow crystals pile up. They cover the ground, flock the trees, and settle into the gaps of my jacket. Their strength is in their numbers and their ability to bond with each other.

Every time I visit the ranch, I'm reminded of how few places there are in the state of Utah where one could go and experience such tremendous biodiversity.

Winter is a season when most of us spend more of our time indoors. But wild animals don't have that option. Not only must they find ways to keep warm all winter, but they have to work harder to find food.

Winter is a season when most of us spend more of our time indoors. But wild animals don't have that option. Not only must they find ways to keep warm all winter, but they have to work harder to find food.

Thinking of those little furry critters that use snow to protect them from hungry predators- hawks, owls, coyotes, fox, cats, etc.