Wild Animal Wednesday: Whatcha looking at?
Whatcha looking at, Weasel? – Short-tailed Weasel, Anoka County, July 15, 1935…
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Tuesday Tweet: Small Talk
Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic… Grape-nuts – it contains neither grapes nor nuts. Discuss. – Sandhill Crane, adult, with Robert Scheick, warden, October 25, 1940…
Nature Paparazzi
In Hollywood, photographers who take pictures of celebrities going about their day to day routines are known as “paparazzi.” Might the same term be applied to this group of young men seen photographing this fawn in Itasca State Park on…
Tuesday Tweet: University Bird Class
Associate Curator and Director were not the only titles that Thomas Sadler Roberts held during his tenure at the University of Minnesota. Beginning in 1916, just one year after he started at the U, Roberts also added the title of…
How to… track animals in the snow
Last week in the Star Tribune, Bill Marchel of Brainerd, Minnesota contributed an article on the utility of snow in tracking animal behavior, “… there’s a tattletale residing in our woods and fields. Lying, waiting, it is able to recall,…
Gift Giving: “To the Zoo at the U”
In spirit with the season of gift giving, I thought I would share a unique type of gift commonly received by the Bell Museum of Natural History when it was known as the Zoological Museum from 1915-1928. Sure the museum…
Geese a laying!
On the Friday before Christmas Exploring Minnesota’s Natural History gave to thee: Geese a laying! – Snow Goose, goose sitting, gander standing, H.J. Jaeger flock, May 1, 1925, Owatonna – Snow Goose, goose sitting on nest, gander standing guard, H.J….
Bad Hair Day
Having a bad hair day? – American Bittern, one young, June 2, 1927, Long Meadow Gun Club Don’t worry, you have company! – American Bitterns, four young, June 2, 1927, Long Meadow Gun Club (from the glass plate negatives in…
Wild Animal Wednesday: Tongue Twisters
While foraging in the secluded woods of the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota, this Marmota monax ponders, “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” – Woodchuck, Winton, St. Louis County, May 1931. Another…
Tuesday Tweet: A Crest fit for a King
When I first saw the image from this glass plate negative I couldn’t help but notice the tufts of feathers that spike out from the heads of these birds. This part of a bird’s plumage is known as the crest….