Murder on the Highway

They were half a mile ahead when I first saw them, dressed in black and standing on the highway. Even from a distance, I could tell that th...

In Praise of Old Barns

Crossing the till plains of the American Midwest, once a spectacular tallgrass prairie and now the productive Cornbelt, is not the most inte...

Summer Wind

Ahead of an approaching cold front, strong southerly winds are raking Missouri today, pushing afternoon highs into the 80s (F). Despite the...

Turkey & Earthquakes

Yesterday's tragic earthquake in eastern Turkey is just the latest in a series of tectonic events that have impacted that region over th...

Sunday Morn at Eagle Bluffs

On this glorious October morning, I headed for Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, my favorite haunt in central Missouri. There, on the floodpl...

Tardy Snowbirds

Since filling the feeder and hanging up the suet block last week, the usual cast of characters have made their appearance. Chickadees, smal...

Swallowtail Butterflies

Despite the recent chilly nights, a few tiger swallowtails were still flittering about our yard on this mild, sunny, autumn afternoon. Memb...

The Nature of Patagonia

Ecologically diverse, sparsely populated and rich in spectacular landscape, Patagonia covers 800,000 square kilometers across southern South...

Afraid to Live

Catching CNN over lunch, I learned that the American Academy of Pediatrics is now recommending that parents stop using "crib bumpers;...

Crossing Paths

It is cool, damp and gray in Columbia today, the first winterish day of the season. As tends to occur each year, the arrival of this raw we...

The Evolving Nature of Death

For early man, death was often brutal but generally quick. The frail and injured were culled by predators, infections rapidly progressed to...

Thailand's Flooding

Extensive flooding across Thailand is the product of both geography and an especially active monsoon season. The latter, which generally st...

Canada invades the Heartland

Behind the latest cold front, cool, dry, Canadian air is dropping into the Heartland, pushed along by northwest winds between high pressure ...

An Angry Sky

Last evening, the cold front that had stalled across the Plains for the past week finally pushed into central Missouri. Ahead of this front...

Distant Mountains

A distant range of mountains, rising above flat terrain, is, for me, the most stirring landscape on our planet. While, as a naturalist, I r...

Stepping Out

As an outdoors person with an indoor career, I make an effort to get outside at some time during the day. While my walks to and from work a...

American Badgers

Other than those that cluster near Madison, Wisconsin, badgers are seldom encountered by the casual naturalist. Though they inhabit most of...

From Drought to Deluge

After enduring a prolonged, severe drought, central Texas is under a flood watch as heavy rains have swept across the region for the past tw...

Return of the Hunter

For the past week, Orion the Hunter and his faithful dog Sirius have returned to the southern sky during the predawn hours. Their appearanc...

The American Theocracy

As the presidential candidates battle for position over the coming year, they will be free to express their views on a wide range of issues;...

The Albertine Rift

The East African Rift is the southern end of a rift system that extends from the Jordan Valley of the Middle East to the coast of Mozambique...

The Elusive Ringtail

The ringtail, named for its bushy, banded tail, is a small, nocturnal omnivore of the western U.S. and northern Mexico. Extremely agile, th...

October Woods

October is, in my opinion, the best month for hiking through forests of the American Heartland. Then again, in my opinion, it's the bes...

The Social Nature of Man

We humans are social creatures. Many, if not most, of us belong to groups or organizations related to our hobbies, business, profession, sc...

Thoughts on Lake Superior

True to its name, Lake Superior is a landscape of superlatives. Bounded by 3000 miles of shoreline, it is the largest freshwater lake (by s...