Gypsy moths leaving mark in Mid-Atlantic
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These creepy critters enjoy nice long picnics in the woods. The leaf-eating gypsy moth caterpillars are out in force in parts of the mid-Atlantic following a warm, dry spring &#151; just the kind of weather that can make the insects thrive. Experts are predicting an especially bad year for trees, primarily oaks, which are the caterpillars' favorite snack.
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By Mark Taylor, The Roanoke Times, Va.  Feb. 13--A few months ago a friend who lives in Montana dangled a tempting carrot in front of me.   He invited me to join him in September on a backcountry bow hunt for elk in Western Montana.
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BINHU, China, July 14 -- It was early morning when an odd noise awoke Tao Qunxian, a farmer in this village on the banks of Dongting Lake in Hunan province. He looked out his front door to see his entire rice paddy had disappeared overnight. The culprit was a seasonal pest: the eastern field mouse,...
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The feathered creatures winging across North America have an obvious gift that land-bound humans lack, but their survival is threatened by earthly concerns.
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MIAMI -- The volunteers tote a butterfly net, binoculars and field guides around the Miami Metrozoo grounds, scanning the plants and flowers for fluttering wings.
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One of my buddies had a brilliant idea I hadn't thought of: Check Pennsylvania's maps for what's called a co-op farm. It's not a commune, it's a farm which offers up it's land to the public for hunting.  What the Farmer Gets  If the hunters are decent-folk, they generally clean up the trash off the property. I personally built a blind out of rocks I happened to find in a fallow field to give me something to sit on and a hiding place. The blind is next to a power utility pole, so it gives me a great shot at birds coming in slowly to land on the wires. He got his field cleaned essentially for free since I also picked up trash. I don't want my game animals eating garbage.  The other bonus the farmer enjoys is limited crop losses to wildlife. This particular farmer was doing the soy-corn-fallow crop rotation which is pretty typical Pennsylvania crop rotation. Doves love this stuff and eat it up. Probably about 2/3rds of the doves I cleaned had corn in their crop.  What the Hunters Get  A place to hunt with a ton of acreage devoted to what essentially amounts to bait.
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By John Dodge, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.  Jun. 3--A colorful butterfly that is as imperiled as the prairie habitat it depends on is making a bit of a comeback here in South Sound.
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By John Myers, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn.  Feb. 4--A metallic-green half-inch bug that doesn't even bite is sending chills through Minnesota foresters and entomologists this year as it moves toward the state's forests.
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WASHINGTON - Peering deep into the sea, scientists are finding creatures more mysterious than many could have imagined.  At one site, nearly two miles deep in the Atlantic, shrimp were living around a vent that was releasing water heated to 765 degrees Fahrenheit.
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While leaves tumble from trees this fall, another natural wonder is soaring overhead. Hawks in North and South America are taking to the air as part of a seasonal migration.
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By TIFFANY PAKKALA  It's hard to find the tiny, black beetles along St. Johns County's picturesque Florida 13, but the redbay trees they're killing are nearly impossible to miss.  The Asian ambrosia beetle, a species recently leaked into the U.S.
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By Natalie P. Mcneal, The Miami Herald  Jun. 24--Picture a South Florida rarely seen except on postcards.   Blue herons daintily picking their way through lush foliage. A water lily pond with its own pavilion. An unspoiled dirt path leading to an enchanted forest.
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It has all the makings of a potential rangeland disaster &#151; thousands of acres of green grass, herds of cattle, antelope and other animals that need to eat versus an emerging army of spiky caterpillars with voracious appetites. But ranchers are hopeful their quick action will take care of the caterpillars &#151; also known as range worms &#151; before they can wreak havoc on pastures in northeastern New Mexico.
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By Steve Pollick, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio  Feb. 14--You could tell from the way the birds were reacting at the backyard feeders yesterday morning that something big was on the way.   The feeders at my rural western Sandusky County creekbottom home were gleaned all but clean.
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By Debbie Gebolys, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio  Jun. 17--In the rolling landscape north of Scioto Downs, a colony of agricultural researchers and greenhouse entrepreneurs toils a short walk from their ecologically sensitive homes.
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By Rex Springston and Peter Hardin, Richmond Times-Dispatch  Feb. 12--Bigger dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. Weed-infested forests. Sick fish.   This is scientist Roger Mann's vision of a Virginia afflicted by global warming.   Stressed, dying trees. Forest fires.
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New York's fight against exotic pests like lake-choking mollusks, rampant alien weeds and wasps that attack pine trees will be crafted by a new state office.