Environmental Almanac

The statewide moose population in New Hampshire peaked at about 7,400 animals in the 1990s, but even then, moose numbers in the north country never reached levels biologists had anticipated the habitat could support. Why weren’t there more of them? And why did their numbers then begin dropping off?

Everybody loves monarch butterflies, don't they? And for good reason. But if monarchs are all you know, you're missing out. Late summer is a great time to expand your butterfly horizons.

What’s shaped like a ball and white, less than a millimeter in diameter, and bounces like a Mexican jumping bean?. Jumping oak galls; they form around the larvae of tiny wasps as they feed on leaves. As the larvae mature, the galls fall to the ground, where they overwinter and the stingless wasps emerge as adults the following spring.

If you watch the sky in warm weather, you’re likely to see large, soaring birds from time to time. In our part of the country, most of those large soaring birds you’ll see are turkey vultures, which you can recognize from a long way off without help from binoculars or a field guide.

Some people love rabbits. “Soooo cute!!! More bunnies please,” was the response from one friend when I posted a rabbit picture online recently. More people, perhaps, have mixed feelings about them. “Love bunnies, but baby just ate a large butterfly milkweed I bought a few days ago,” added another friend. There are also among us plenty of people who look at rabbits pretty much the same way Elmer Fudd looks at Bugs Bunny; some 60,000 Illinois residents hunt rabbits.

Two kinds of snapping turtles occur in North America, and both can be found in Illinois.

Need inspiration to act on behalf of people and wildlife in the present? Find inspiration in a group that’s been at it for fifty years.

If you're interested to do your part for monarchs by planting milkweed in your garden, maybe you could be convinced to support other wildlife with beautiful native plants in your home landscape. Tune in for thoughts on the why and how of doing so.

Have you noticed friends or coworkers looking a little sleep-deprived lately? You may be encountering birders caught up in the excitement of spring migration.

Where can you see bald eagles are river otters? Nearby our rivers, where you can also see coal ash pits. This week's segment invites listeners to stand up for clean water.