Mast for Wildlife
By Dan Groebner
Has your metal roof been experiencing daily “meteor” showers recently when it's windy? Or have you had trouble with little brown “ball bearings” on the trail making traction tricky at times? The source of both of these is probably sloppy squirrels or the gluttonous acorn woodpeckers carelessly gathering their winter stores or maybe it's just ripe acorns in bunches plummeting from their oak branches to blanket the ground. For one reason or another, this year seems to be producing a bumper crop of all kinds of “mast”, including acorns.
Mast is what provides the energy for many animals to survive the White Mountain (and elsewhere) winters, when other food sources disappear due to the cold and short days. Technically, mast is often separated into two types – hard and soft. Acorns and seeds are considered hard mast while fruits and berries like raspberries and blackberries are called soft mast.
Wan Song
By Rob Bettaso
It is late June, evening twilight, and I am enjoying a stroll on a trail near my house. It occurs to me that last week we passed our cosmic halfway point: the summer solstice. Even though the day lengths are still nearly as long as they ever get during the year, I can tell that they are getting shorter. No, we’re not even close to summer’s “swan song” but those days will come all too soon and this weighs on my mind just a bit. Put
Time Travel in
Reptile Land
By Rob Bettaso
Without trying to, I was recently able to recapture a bit of my early youth. I had borrowed a dip net from my friend and former co-worker, Dave, a fellow retiree from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and walked down to a local creek around sunset on a beautiful summer’s eve. My goal was to conduct a bit Read More
Extracting Honey
By Anne Groebner
By Anne Groebner
We all know how important bees are to our environment, but did you ever think about raising bees for their honey? The White Mountain Nature Center recently invited Beekeeper Dennis Chandler of Sweet DAC’s Apiary out of Snowflake, to speak about extracting honey — and he is a wealth of knowledge. He not only talked about extracting honey but how to raise
Be Bear Aware
AZGFD-PHOENIX — Arizona's hot, dry conditions have reduced the amount of natural vegetation available to bears in the wild, raising the chance of them wandering into areas they are typically not seen in search of food. Although bears are typically shy and tend to avoid humans, they have an excellent sense of smell, and this can be problematic for bears and people.
There's a Bear Over There!
Dan Groebner
It's bear season again in the White Mountains, but in this case, the bears are doing the hunting for human food and garbage instead of us pursuing them. The past couple of years have been pretty quiet as far as bear calls and trapping activities go. There have Read More
Three Orphaned Bears Rehabilitated and Released into the Wild
PHOENIX — Three juvenile male black bears were released back into the wild on June 13 by Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) biologists after months of rehabilitation at the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale.
Opportunistic Photo Op
By Dan Groebner
Everybody wants to take that cover photo of our White Mountain wildlife. We're fortunate to have the abundance and variety of critters sharing the same area as we call home so its always nice to get a photo or video that we can share with friends and family. A reality check of most
Winter Survivors
Are You Afraid
of the Dark?
By Dan Groebner
Darkness is descending sooner now that fall is here, so some of us end up walking dogs or taking hikes in the thick fog of darkness. It's also getting to be the haunting season as Halloween approaches.
Into the Wild...Again!
By Annemarie Eveland
Before the flight of releasing wild birds, there is Delphia; a devoted rehabber. Delphia is a cancer survivor. After treatments, she looked for a volunteer job to work with animals, and in 1999, signed on with the nonprofit WILD. When they folded, she and another
Tiny But Mighty
By Annemarie Eveland
She was tiny, but mighty and not colorful by any means. She had a certain intentional determination that was unmistakable and admirable. I watched her closely as she built her home. She was an incredible architectural designer as she diligently worked on her tiny hanging nest to protect
Bats: Carrier or Cure
Disease carriers or potential cures for disease and getting old
By Dan Groebner
Halloween is the time that people tend to think of bats and their creepy life histories. And with recent developments, could an READ MORE...
Who Goes There?
BY CAROL GODWIN
One of the things many of us enjoy about mountain biking or hiking is the feeling of purity and solitude we find when out in nature. We feel as if we are alone in the woods, but a snowshoe adventure along the same trails we normally
Yellowstone Elk
in Arizona
BY DIANE TILTON
As I drove toward Springerville recently, I noticed a hint of change in the colors of the Aspen leaves and it reminded me that it’s the time of the year when you can’t help but notice the elk as the rut begins. What’s the
Scary Vinnie
the Turkey Vulture
BY SHERRY E ENGLER
As Halloween is quickly approaching, it seems only natural to focus on scary and frightening factors. Ghosts! Goblins! Witches! And Vinnie, the vulture! Vinnie, the who?
Furry Carnivores of
the Dark Skies
BY DAN GROEBNER
We are approaching the evening known for its sightings of record numbers of werewolves, ghosts and vampires. But, of course, we all know that these creatures
Recovering Threatened Narrow-Headed
Garter Snakes
BY DAN GROEBNER
With the summer monsoon finally upon us (sort of), it sure is a welcome sight to see the ponds and marshes start to fill again
I'm Not Lisa,
My Name is Lina
BY ANNEMARIE EVELAND
I am here to set the record straight. I have been labelled negatively for too long. You ladies can appreciate that if you were called condescending nick- names, you’d feel
Wetlands of the
White Mountains
BY DAN GROEBNER
White Mountain wetlands may not be expansive or widespread but all of them still provide many services without charging us a dime. Wetlands can be a constant source of water in the arid Southwest.
Can we Get
COVID-19 from
White Mountain Bats?
BY DAN GROEBNER
With many studies pointing to the source of the Covid-19 pandemic as a wild bat, is that something we should worry about in the White Mountains, since we have such a
The Blessings
of the Wild Burros
BY SHERRY E ENGLER
“Wild a** town!” (no pun intended) is how one visitor describes Oatman, Arizona. And indeed, one may conclude this statement is extremely true when observing wild burros freely roaming the streets of the old mining
Adaptive Wildlife
Management
Brings Changes
BY DAN GROEBNER
The “Balance of Nature” is actually better described as a “dynamic equilibrium,” meaning that usually everything in the wild
The Raven Speaks
BY ELIZABETH HILL
I have tremendous respect for the raven. When I was a child, my father would call us in from play by crowing and, to this day, when the raven speaks, I listen. Funny thing, the summer after my father died, a lone raven showed up in my front yard. Every
Why Did the Tarantula
Cross the Road?
ANDREW LARSON
Why did the tarantula cross the road? Sound like some witty riddle with a clever answer? Not quite.
This time of year, brought on by the higher
Prevent
Bear/Human Conflict
WHITE MOUNTAINS
AZGFD - PINETOP, Arizona — The Arizona Game and Fish Department (Department) reminds residents and visitors that black bears are already moving through the forest and that human-bear encounters need to
Where Did Spring Go?
BY DAN GROEBNER
Did you blink and miss the spring season this year? It seems like we went from a real, bonafide winter (for a change!) to a month or so of spring doing its best imitation of winter. Nice sunny days were bookended by regular bouts of snow flurries and even
Legged Snake or Legless Lizard? MADREAN ALLIGATOR LIZARD
BY ANDREW LARSON
Startled, they dart quickly across the oak leaf litter. The sound of the rustling leaves being the first indicator of their nearby presence. Moving so swiftly as to never
