Unlike the hapless Wile E. Coyote of Looney Tunes fame, the real-life version is an intelligent and highly successful animal. Once associated with North America’s prairies and deserts, the coyote now turns up almost everywhere, even city streets, thanks to its remarkable ability to thrive alongside people. Its appetite for rubbish and even pets can provoke a […]
Tag: Prairie Dog
The world’s deadliest rat that’s poisonous enough to kill an elephant, a mouse that hunts venomous scorpions – The 9 weirdest rodents on the planet
Some rodents are enormous – like the cat-sized Indian giant squirrel – while others have impressive adaptations, from star-shaped tentacled noses to webbed feet. One even holds the title for the most mating sessions in the animal kingdom. Whether they fly, swim or even defy ageing itself, these unusual rodents are anything but ordinary. Weirdest rodents […]
Study of more than 600 animal and plant species finds genetic diversity has declined globally
Genetic diversity in animals and plants has declined globally over the past three decades, an analysis of more than 600 species has found. The research, published in the journal Nature, found declines in two-thirds of the populations studied, but noted that urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse genetic diversity losses. Dozens of scientists […]
Endangered Cloned Ferret Gives Birth to Healthy Kits
A significant advancement in wildlife Conservation has been achieved with the birth of two healthy kits from Antonia, a cloned black-footed ferret. Antonia’s existence traces back to Willa, a genetically diverse ferret whose genetic material has been preserved since 1988 at the San Diego Zoo‘s Frozen Zoo. Cloning Willa’s cells has offered hope for increasing […]
The Forest Service Gets a Slap on Their Prairie Dog Killing Plan
On the Thunder Basin National Grassland of northeastern Wyoming, the livestock industry has been pursuing an aggressive campaign to expand poisoning and shooting of prairie dogs. And in 2020, the Forest Service gave them a plan amendment that radically expanded prairie dog killing, and eliminated a special designation of a Black-footed Ferret Reintroduction Area to […]
New trackers bring prairie dogs’ little-known underground life to light
To say tracking prairie dogs is difficult would be an understatement. The animals spend most of their time in burrows. Since conventional GPS collars don’t function underground, the movements and interactions of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) have remained notoriously elusive to the researchers who study them. What do they do? How do they move within […]
Interesting Animals to Watch at the Zoo
Have you ever visited a zoo only to find that all the animals are sleeping or inside their shelters? Visiting early in the morning is a good way to help ensure the animals are active and awake, but nothing will guarantee active animals. However, no matter when you visit or what the weather is like, […]
Ferruginous Hawk on Rat Farm Road
Our first Christmas Bird Count will be coming up on December 14th in Fall River Mills so I thought I would take a drive up there to see what I could see as the day approaches. Rat Farm Road is a long gravel road leading from the small town of McArthur, through some sage/prairie habitat […]