Tag: north america
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Meet the badger
According to the calendar, it’s officially spring! Which means that it’s time to learn more about a spring animal. When I Googled “classic spring animals,” I saw one that surprised me: the badger. I’ve never personally thought of a badger as a springtime animal! But, as I soon learned, this could be because I’m American.…
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Meet the whiptail lizard
Tuesday was Valentine’s Day and what better way to celebrate than talking about lizards! This is a whiptail lizard (genus:Â Aspidoscelis). There are quite a few species of North American whiptail lizards. They are small lizards typically found in the southern U.S. and Mexico. They’re diurnal (active during the day) and mainly eat insects. But what’s…
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Meet the mourning dove
I’m one of those people who uses a physical planner. Sure, I have an online calendar, but I still physically write everything down in the planner. I love having everything clearly written out on my desk. Plus, it’s satisfying to cross things off my daily to-do lists! For 2023, I splurged and got a fancy planner.…
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Meet the crested anole
I love reading the news and finding cool animal stories. Cool animal stories are the best kind of news! The news inspires this week’s animal, the crested anole (Anolis cristatellus). This little lizard (also called the common Puerto Rican anole) has recently been featured on NPR for their quick adaptations to living in cities. I’ll…
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Meet the willow ptarmigan
Happy New Year! It’s winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, which means snow and cold weather. In fact, I went through a blizzard just a few weeks ago in Michigan! That got me thinking about all the animals that are adapted to and thrive in cold weather. So today, let me introduce you to one…
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Meet the turkey
If you’re in United States, next Thursday is Thanksgiving! And we all know what that means – many of us will enjoy a turkey dinner. Beyond the domesticated turkey on my dinner table, I’ve become more aware of their wild cousins lately. Quite a few turkeys are running around the towns surrounding Boston! In fact,…
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Meet the fisher
This week’s animal is an identification request from my partner. He was biking around Massachusetts when he saw a sign that said, “Warning: fisher cats.” Which begged the question: what is a fisher cat?? He asked me if I knew what they were when I got home; I said I did, but I honestly only…
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Meet the European starling
When my partner got home from a Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) concert last week, he asked me if I knew what a murmuration was. I said of course! It’s when a bunch of European starlings fly together. But how did starling murmurations come up in an orchestra concert? Well apparently, the BSO co-commissioned a piece…
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Meet the American black bear
My book club this month read “A Libertarian Walks into a Bear” by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling. It tells the true story of how a bunch of libertarians moved to Grafton, New Hampshire, with the goal of making it a libertarian utopia. They somewhat succeeded? At the very least, they got rid of a bunch of government…
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Meet the red-cockaded woodpecker
You might have missed it, but a big conservation bill passed in the House of Representative this week: the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. This bill is HUGE news for conservation. There are currently more than 1,600 endangered or threatened species living in the United States. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides protection for them,…