Has anyone ever called you a sloth? Maybe your side of the dorm wasn’t as tidy as your college roommate’s because you were too busy mastering D&D. Ergo, your roommate teased you about being a sloth. Or (hypothetically, of course) your OCD spouse has a thing about taking Christmas lights down before NYE, while you feel Easter is a more suitable target. As a result, in social gatherings, your partner relishes pointing out your “sloth-like” tendencies. According to the Cambridge […]

With summer in full swing, every day presented an opportunity to take advantage of the sun’s golden rays as they lazily drifted toward the horizon. On this particular evening, there was a ruckus along the river; someone was clearly voicing their discontent. Slowly, I crept toward the source and spied a Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), the most abundant breeding sandpiper in North America, chattering away. My camera immediately went to work, and I snapped a few backlit photos as it […]

“It’s just a Coati.” The disdain dripping from his voice was palpable. To be fair, he was a bird guide, and we were at a preserve renowned for its abundant variety of bird species. I sheepishly snapped a few shots anyway before returning focus to our guide. Nick-named hog-nosed raccoons, coatis are indeed members of the raccoon family. They can be found from the southwestern United States to South America. They are quite common in Costa Rica, where we spent […]

(Warning: This article contains a graphic image that may upset more sensitive viewers.) Traipsing through woods last fall, I nearly stumbled across a young mule deer settled in a dense thicket. I crouched down to admire him and show I was not a threat while contemplating how to get around this ungulate obstacle. Backtracking was an undesirable option; the light was quickly fading, and the fastest way home was forward. He, in turn, kept his eyes peeled on me, perhaps […]