Otherwise known as bull snake, this is a common snake of western deserts, shrub, and forests. In Washington it is found east of the Cascade Mountains. Its range extends from southern British Columbia to Indiana and south through western North America to northern Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Zacatecas in Mexico. Pituophis – pitys (Greek) meaning pine; ophis (Greek) meaning […]
Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer) Read More »
the frogs are croaking in the swams and marhes; their notes do not differ from those of the Atlantic States; they are not found in the salt marshes near the entrance of the river. Merriweather Lewis, March 29, 1806. Near Deer Island (likely Sauvie Island), along the Columbia River. Also referred to as the Pacific tree frog,
Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla) Read More »
A loaf of bread,’ the Walrus said,‘Is what we chiefly need:Pepper and vinegar besidesAre very good indeed —Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,We can begin to feed.’ Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter. This is a very large flippered marine mammal found in the arctic and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. How large?
Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) Read More »
“Warbles and trills and solo after solo … the air was magically busy. None of us spoke while the songs of the birds poured undiluted. I suppose we were afraid the spate of loveliest sound would vanish if we broke it with so much as a whisper. But after a bit came the realization that
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) Read More »
I walked out a little distance and met with 2 porcupines which were feeding on the young willow which grow in great abundance on all the sandbars; this anamal is exceedingly clumsy and not very watchfull I approached so near one of them before it percieved me that I touched it with my espontoon. Meriwether
North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) Read More »