My name is Ralph, and I am a curious raccoon. Ralph sounds like the name of someone brave and adventurous, even though I did not feel especially brave when I approached the front door in the middle of the night. It was 3:04 in the morning. The neighborhood was quiet, and the darkness made every […]
Ralph, the curious raccoon, Comes Calling Read More »
Every morning begins with my inspection. While Mom, Dad, and I are sleeping, our backyard becomes a nighttime neighborhood. Raccoons come through. Gray foxes quietly wander past. Possums shuffle along looking for insects. Sometimes deer stop by, and every once in a while, a skunk decides our yard is worth investigating. That means I have an
The Night Visitor with the Beautiful Tail Read More »
One of the things I enjoy most about my morning walks isn’t just the exercise. It’s the opportunity to notice the little things that I might have hurried past previously. I’ve begun paying closer attention to something I had often overlooked before: animal tracks. At first, I saw a few paw prints on the sidewalk.
Whose Tracks Are These? A Little Mystery on My Morning Walk Read More »
Every evening, something remarkable happens that most of us never see. The porch lights go dark. The televisions grow quiet. Cars disappear from the streets. We lock our doors, climb into bed, and believe the day has ended. But for another community, the day is just beginning. Over the past year, our wildlife camera has
While We Sleep, the night visitors arrive Read More »
Every once in a while, a photograph transports us back to a special place. This image takes me back to our home in Arnold, California, where wildlife was part of everyday life. Our house sat between two converging game trails. Before our home was built, bears, deer, foxes, raccoons, and countless other animals traveled these
Bears of Arnold: Sharing the Sierra with Our Wild Neighbors Read More »
Yesterday morning, I witnessed something I wish I could erase from my memory. I know I never will. A mother opossum was crossing the street in front of my home with her babies riding on her back. Opossums are not fast animals. A mother carrying babies moves even more slowly. Somewhere before I stepped out
The Five Little Lives That Changed My Morning Read More »
Every morning, before breakfast and before Mom even finishes her coffee, I begin my backyard security patrol. This is a very important job because our backyard has squirrels. Suspicious squirrels. Some people think squirrels are just fluffy little creatures that run around collecting nuts and flicking their tails. Those people are not trained investigators like I
Bear and the Case of the Suspicious Squirrels Read More »
There are moments in life that stay frozen in your memory forever, and I want to share this one today, because it’s Endangered Species Day. As I just said, some memories stay frozen forever, not because they were peaceful or beautiful. However, this one began that way, but suddenly, in a matter of seconds, the quiet
Safe Boundaries are required for Wildlife. Read More »
Every year on the third Friday in May, people around the world observe Endangered Species Day. In 2026, that day falls on May 15. It is not a celebration in the traditional sense. It is more of a pause. A moment to look honestly at the animals quietly disappearing from the Earth and ask ourselves
Endangered Species Day 2026: The Animals Are Still Waiting for Us Read More »
Sometimes the sweetest moments arrive completely unannounced. I originally installed cameras around our backyard to photograph nighttime visitors. Over the years, they have captured raccoons, possums, skunks, wandering cats, Gray Foxes, and all sorts of unexpected guests moving quietly through the dark. But recently, one of my daytime cameras surprised me with something entirely different.
Tiny Wings – an Unexpected Visitor Read More »
