Duck season in the Midwest has a way of exposing which dogs were bred for the marsh and which ones were bred for the show ring. Illinois hunters know the difference the first time a young dog breaks ice water without hesitation, refuses to flinch at a shotgun blast overhead, and marks a downed bird […]
Category: Editorials
Why Healthy Pets Make Better Neighbors for Newport Beach Wildlife
Newport Beach’s back bay, dog beaches, and coastal bluffs put pets and wild animals closer together than almost anywhere else in Southern California. Herons wade the marsh edges, ground squirrels burrow along the trails, and coyotes move through the greenbelts at dusk, often within sight of a family’s backyard. What happens inside a local veterinary […]
Habitat, Wildlife, and the First Hour of a Wildfire
Coverage of wildfire usually arrives after the fact. Aerial images of black hillsides, a tally of dead animals, a recovery timeline measured in decades. The variables that produce those images are settled much earlier, long before anyone reaches for a camera. Severity and final size are largely decided in the first hour. A start found […]
How Agricultural Properties Can Support Wildlife
Agricultural land can produce a significant amount of natural habitat for wildlife, if landowners take care to think about the impact that their operations have on the local ecology. From fields and pastures, to forests and ponds, there are numerous opportunities to create and maintain wildlife habitats. It is possible to both care for and […]
How Wildlife Photographers Can Tell Better Conservation Stories
Wildlife photography has a habit of rewarding the cleanest frame. A tight portrait with sharp eyes, soft light, and nothing distracting in the background will usually look great. For conservation work, though, some of those “distractions” may be the most useful part of the photograph. A road behind a deer, fishing line near a seabird, […]
Tips for Traveling with Your Furry Friend
Traveling with a pet can be fun if safety, comfort, and a familiar schedule are planned for the whole trip. The same applies whether the pet is a dog or cat, but the main thing is that getting things together should start well before the departure date. Your main priority should constantly be finding safe […]
The Great Green Macaw: Costa Rica’s Last Stand for a Critically Endangered Parrot
Ara ambiguus, the Great Green Macaw, is the largest parrot in Central America and one of the most threatened parrots in the Americas. The IUCN listed it as Critically Endangered following its 2021 assessment, with a global population estimated at between 500 and 1,000 mature individuals and still declining. Its historic range covered six countries, […]
How Parachew Helps Astronomers Stay Alert From Dusk to Dawn
A ten-hour observing run tests more than your equipment. Somewhere around 2 a.m., most observers hit a wall: eyes burning, hands slow on the focuser, judgment about to go soft right when the seeing finally settles. Parachew, a caffeine-free energy gummy built around a compound called paraxanthine, was designed around a simple problem: the alertness […]