By Elizabeth Enslin on February 19, 2010
Tomorrow, we drive to NE Oregon to spend a week or so in our yurt (and a few other places). The creature I fear most on this trip is not the cougar, wolf or porcupine. It’s much smaller. Most females and the younger males of the species could fit into the palm of my hand….
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Posted in Recent, Species of the Week, Yurt Living | Tagged archaeology, climate change, Homesteading, mammals, wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on February 7, 2010
The calls and whistles (listen below) of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) are one of the delights of hiking into remote alpine areas — and such a refreshing escape from the noise of daily news, courtroom dramas, and political debates. Now the tiny rabbit relative may unwittingly generate press releases, research reports and legal briefs higher than its hay piles….
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Posted in Recent, Species of the Week | Tagged climate change, endangered species, mammals
By Elizabeth Enslin on January 15, 2010
I’m still celebrating the publication of my first poem in the High Desert Journal and its subject matter — cows. So perhaps now is a good time to share a shaggier bovine fantasy I’ve been nursing over the last few years….
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Posted in Recent, Species of the Week | Tagged cows, Poetry, yaks
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 28, 2009
I’ve spent most of my life among Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga sp.) Although I love other trees and plant communities, Douglas fir forests still speak to me of home. In the Pacific Northwest, they’re ubiquitous from the Cascades to the coast. Douglas fir and other conifers of the region are why I’ve never felt at ease in the deciduous forests of eastern North America (as lovely as they are), where bare branches in winter make me especially homesick….
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Biodiversity, Recent, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged Pacific Northwest, photography, wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 13, 2009
Polar bears: they get all the climate change attention. So this week as negotiators meet in Copenhagen, the Wildlife Conservation Society highlighted “unsung species” that are just as vulnerable to climate change. This isn’t to diminish the grave situation for the world’ biggest bear but to make sure we don’t lose sight of less familiar – and less popular – animals….
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Posted in Recent, Species of the Week | Tagged climate change, oceans
By Elizabeth Enslin on December 4, 2009
During the cold holiday season, I find myself remembering trips to tropical waters and the species I’ve encountered there. I may write about sea turtles, reef sharks, octopus, and triggerfish in the future, but it’s the spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) that have been on my mind this past week….
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Posted in Recent, Species of the Week | Tagged oceans, wild
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 25, 2009
Unlike my stepfather and his clan, numerous cousins, the son I spawned, and many friends; I don’t usually look at wild animals and think: meat. Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo), indigenous to North America, have become a recent exception….
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Posted in Humor, Poetry, Politics and History, Seasons and Rituals, Species of the Week | Tagged food, holidays, Thanksgiving, wild, wordplay
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 20, 2009
It was hard to leave our yurt in northeastern Oregon with Western larch (Larix occidentalis) in full copper-yellow glory. But when the flanks of the mountains there blaze with what looks like a procession of candles, it’s time to get ready for a harsh winter or move to lower elevations….
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Recent, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged inland northwest, inspiration, seasons
By Elizabeth Enslin on November 17, 2009
Yeah, I know. This is a Carolina anole, not a chameleon. When I was a kid, I lusted after chameleons. But anoles change color too, and they were cheaper and easier to find in local pet stores, so that’s what I got….
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Posted in Humor, On Blogging, Species of the Week | Tagged blogging, childhood, inspiration, species
By Elizabeth Enslin on October 27, 2009
This time of year, I’m one of many throughout the West enthralled by – and worried about – one of our most striking fall color trees: Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides ). Utah and Colorado have acres and acres of aspens. In northeast Oregon, we have smaller groves dotting the more prevalent bunchgrass slopes and ponderosa
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Posted in Around the Northwest, Seasons and Rituals, Species of the Week, Wild Plants | Tagged beauty, climate change, land stewardship
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