Wildlife
Nature and Literature
When I was in high school many years ago, the local environmental education program offered some great courses to help students see, imagine and create connections between the classroom and the great outdoors: Art and Nature, Nature and Literature, and Nature and Photography. I remember taking a Nature and Photography one winter and delighting in…
Read MoreMagical Mustelids
Grand Teton National Park is home to many types of small mammals, including the Magical Mustelids. This family of fearless carnivores includes badgers, fishers, martens, mink, river otters, wolverines, and three weasels: the least weasel, the long-tailed weasel, and the short-tailed weasel or ermine. The short-tailed weasel measures between 7 and 13 inches including the…
Read MoreMigration Time
Last weekend at my home in Bozeman, I was startled to awareness by a distinct clattering that reminded me of summer afternoons on the Snake River. Except much, much louder. Entranced, I listened for a moment, wandered to the backyard, and gazed skyward for the source. Turns out the cacophonous clattering was emanating from a…
Read MorePlease slow down
For the last several years, I have spent the early summer driving back and forth between my adopted hometown of Bozeman, Montana and my original hometown of Moose, Wyoming. I relish the opportunity to spend three to four weeks of the summer guiding rafts along the Snake River, and renewing my relationship with Jackson Hole…
Read MoreWhen Interpretation Goes South
When Interpretation Goes South Over the years I have witnessed and participated in the famous Western propensity to spin yarns about almost any subject. “Where is the hole?” is our version of the age old Snipe hunt. And though tourists may expect some measure of abuse at the hands of “the locals,” I’m keenly aware…
Read MoreWapiti Wilderness
I grew up in Jackson Hole in the shadow of the Tetons, and spent vast stretches of my childhood wandering the wapiti wilderness. I waded through Ditch Creek, explored the caves and crags on Blacktail Butte, and rode my little horse for miles across sagebrush flats. Lucky for me, my neighborhood north of town was…
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