by David Gregg The $5 term for the ticks and mosquitoes, no-see-ums, deer flies, horse flies, and all that literally bug us while we’re enjoying our outdoors pursuits, collectively, is “haematophagous arthropods.” Mites are in the Acari, a sub-class of the Arachnida (spiders and kin)… Continue reading
By Keith Killingbeck From the annals of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and The Magnificent Carnac, the answer is … KIRI. The question is: What is … a) a genetically engineered fruit from New Zealand similar to the kiwi? b) Google’s version of Siri? c) a… Continue reading
by Robert D. Kenney Wait a minute. Who cares about barnacles washing up on a beach? Isn’t the beach where barnacles are supposed to be? But what if they’re attached to a whale? Everyone gets excited about a dead whale on the beach, but sometimes… Continue reading
by Robert Kenney We’ve reached the point in this series where we need to talk about the differences between a dolphin and a whale. The truth is that there isn’t a real definition; it’s pretty much arbitrary. In general, bigger animals are called whales and… Continue reading
by Todd McLeish When a northern copperhead snake was reported to have bitten an East Providence resident in his driveway last week, it raised a number of concerns among Rhode Islanders about the state’s snake population. The bite from the venomous snake resulted in a… Continue reading
by Robert Kenney Although they don’t get the publicity that North Atlantic right whales or wandering belugas do, or the love from the public that humpback whales do, fin whales (also known as finbacks) are the most common large whale species in New England waters…. Continue reading
At a press event Thursday, June 4, the Rhode Island Natural History Survey announced that citizen scientists participating in the 2014 BioBlitz event at Rocky Point Park, in Warwick, re-discovered a species of ladybug once common throughout eastern North America but now virtually absent. The… Continue reading
Nancy Karraker was born at the Grand Canyon and grew up in Yosemite National Park and Olympic National Park, so it’s no wonder that she became interested in wildlife and conservation. Her father, a ranger for the National Park Service, tells the story of how… Continue reading
by Robert D. Kenney Now where were we? Installment 6 in this series on the marine mammals of Rhode Island was on harbor seals. The next was supposed to be about harp seals to contrast the two species, but the unusual appearance of a beluga… Continue reading
by Robert D. Kenney Installment 7 in this series on the marine mammals of Rhode Island was supposed to be on harp seals, but recent events have forced us to let the beluga cut in line without waiting its turn. In June, on the afternoon… Continue reading