A Summer Clipper

During the winter months, most Americans in the central and eastern U.S. dread Alberta Clippers, those pockets of frigid, Arctic air that pl...

No Equipment Required

Anyone who watches cable TV is subjected to numerous ads for exercise equipment; these infomercials offer a vast array of devices that promi...

The Nature of Child Abuse

Mention child abuse and most people think of pedophiles, sweat shops and child prostitution. But there are more insidious and widespread fo...

Cicada Aftermath

Returning to central Missouri after a brief visit to Florida, we found twigs and clumps of leaves scattered across the lawn; also noticing n...

Into Thick Air

Invited to a family wedding in South Florida, we returned to Longboat Key this week, leaving the hot weather of the Midwest for the equally ...

Human Paternalism

Father's Day seems like a good time to reflect on our paternalistic approach to other species. Self-designated caretakers of the planet...

Colorado's Alpine Wildlife

In Colorado, the alpine timberline lies at about 11,500 feet, somewhat higher on south-facing slopes and a bit lower on shaded, northern fla...

Landscape & Soul

As a child, in Cincinnati, I was always attracted to images of the West, whether they appeared on calendars, in Life Magazine or on our blac...

The Non-Prairie Warbler

Prairie warblers are among the more common summer warblers in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S; despite their name, they do no...

Warm Front Storms

Severe thunderstorms and torrential rain generally develop within the warm sector, just ahead of an advancing cold front. Energized by a po...

Utah's Powder Keg

Famous for deep powder that attracts skiers from across the globe, the Wasatch Front of Utah is about to unleash its bounty on those who liv...

Prickly Pear Cacti

Prickly pears, members of the genus Opuntia, are the most widespread and heavily utilized cacti on our planet. Native to the Americas, more...

The Desert Owl

Elf owls, the smallest owls in North America, are summer residents of the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona; some inhabit the Chihuahuan De...

Carrabassett Flashbacks

In 1981, after a hot, humid summer in Arkansas, I flew to Maine to look at a practice opportunity. The town was rather small but the medica...

Madera Canyon

The mountain ranges of southeast Arizona offer steppingstones of forest for birds migrating between the Sierra Madres of Mexico and the Rock...

The Nature of Wildfire

The massive wildfire that is ravaging northeast Arizona is surely causing hardship for many humans and its scar will stretch across the land...

Fence Lizards

Fence lizards are the most common and widespread lizards in the eastern and central U.S. The northern fence lizard ranges from the Mid-Atla...

The Brilliant Wader

Natives of tropical South America, Central America, the Caribbean, South Florida and the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, roseate spoonbills are ...

Hazy, Hot & Humid

After a cool, wet spring, we have gone directly from April to July here in central Missouri. That dreaded summer forecast for hazy, hot and...

Hominids & the Sahara Desert

The vast Sahara Desert, which stretches across North Africa, began to form in the late Miocene and early Pliocene, some 10 million years ago...

Exploiting Human Nature

As a physician, I regularly witness the less attractive features of human nature but it has been the explosion of cable channels and social ...

New England Tornadoes

While we usually associate tornadoes with the Great Plains and Southeast, as we observed yesterday, they can occur in any region of the lowe...

Common Snappers

Though widespread across North America, from the foot of the Rockies to the Atlantic Seaboard and from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast, co...