Chuck Lura

The landscape can look lonely during the winter months. Many commonly observed animals from summer seem to simply disappear during winter — when the season rolls around, animals basically have three options: migrate, hibernate, or stay and endure it.

Have you ever heard of the Orion nebula? The Orion nebula is the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky. It can be seen with the naked eye in the constellation Orion. Orion (“The Great Hunter”) is one of the easiest constellations to identify in the winter sky.

Having a few bird feeders with a variety of food items provides good opportunities to see the local birds such as the chickadees and nuthatches during the winter. But there is always a bit of eager anticipation to see what unexpected birds show up at the feeders. Thanks to the Finch Research Network, we have an estimate of what might show up.

It is deer season in North Dakota. There were more than 72,000 deer gun permits available in 2021, more than 64,000 in 2022, and around 53,000 this fall. The number of permits varies, of course, due to changes in the populations.

Deer season is coming soon. The big game that is hunted, and why they are hunted, has changed over the course of human history. I was thinking about that recently when I read an article in the scientific journal the The Prairie Naturalist that analyzed animal remains in archeological sites in the Northern Great Plains to estimate the abundance and diversity of large herbivores that were hunted.

With deer season quickly approaching, conversations increasingly turn to all things deer. And one of the commonly discussed topics is when the “rut,” or breeding season, will occur and what causes it.

It seems hard to put in perspective, but prior to European settlement, prairie dogs may have been the most abundant herbivore on the Great Plains. However, their range has been reduced to about 2% of what it used to be, due to poisoning, shooting, loss of habitat, and other factors.

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is an herbaceous perennial that grows to a height of three or four feet from stout rhizomes. It is native to Eurasia and Africa where it has been used as a vegetable and for medicinal purposes since Roman times. It was likely introduced to North America in the 1600s or 1700s. It is now widely planted in gardens and has also escaped the garden to become known as wild asparagus.

Heads up! With a little help from clear nighttime skies and warm temperatures, this month could be a great time to watch for falling stars. There are two meteor showers coming up.

Halloween is close at hand. And bats — particularly vampire bats — Dracula, and other things that “go bump in the night” are important aspects of the holiday. But bats are a much maligned and misunderstood animal.