Volume 23 Issue 3, Fall 2018 by Sharon Plummer We see them at parks and in our wooded backyards. Just like with the Redskins, people are either fans or enemies or never give them any thought. They bound gracefully across roadways, though unfortunately they don’t always make it across. For some city dwellers, this may be the only wildlife they […]

Vol. 19 Issue 3, Fall 2014 By Lindsey Brookbank Groundhogs (Marmota monax) are gentle, often times comical, vegetarians. They are celebrated on February 2, but may not be as welcome in your garden later in the year. Conflicts with groundhogs usually occur over who gets to eat the vegetables. Despite their attraction to what grows […]

Vol. 18 Issue 3, Fall 2013 By Liam McGranaghan Eek, it’s a mouse…or wait, is it a vole or a mole? Hmm, perhaps it’s a shrew? For many people, the difference does not matter. These small, rodent-like animals are often thought of as creepy pests that should be avoided, or better yet, exterminated. To this […]

Vol. 14 Issue 2, Summer 2009 By Joe Midolo In the early spring, the little critters that weathered the winter months emerge from their slumber to greet the spring. One of the most endearing of these small creatures is the chipmunk, who, unlike many of his fellow mammals, does not enter a state of slumber […]

Vol. 12 Issue 2, Summer 2007 By Ginger Walker A Native American legend says that the chipmunk gained the black stripe on its back after a fight with a black bear!  This story reflects the reputation of the chipmunk as an adorable yet feisty creature. The chipmunks in our area are Eastern Chipmunks, one of […]

Vol. 11 Issue 4, Winter 2006 By Nicole Hamilton Most of us are familiar with the Gray Squirrel that visits our bird feeders and buries nuts in our gardens and lawns. The Gray Squirrel is overall gray with salt-and-pepper coloring and weighs up to about a pound.  Its cousin, the Fox Squirrel, is the largest […]

Vol. 10 Issue 4, Winter 2005 By Nicole Hamilton During winter, groundhogs, also called woodchucks, are in the midst of hibernation.  Living off fat reserves they gained over the summer and fall, they are sleeping in chambers in tunnel systems running 30 feet long that they excavated just below the frost line. You may see […]

Vol. 1 Issue 1, Spring 1996 If you have a stand of mixed hardwoods on your property or have access to a similar habitat nearby, there is a chance that at twilight on a summer evening you may fleetingly observe one of the more secretive small mammals that occur in Loudoun County, the flying squirrel. […]