The Art of Infection

      By far one of the more reclusive and mysterious of the North American predators is the bobcat. This is a very special animal that one should feel very lucky to see, should it ever happen. In this article for Adventure Publications, field guide author Stan Tekiela details his experiences searching California for the "elusive bobcat" He comments that "Spotting them isn't the hard part. Getting close enough to capture some images is. When approaching these wild cats you must take into consideration not only not being seen and heard but also not being smelled. If the wind is flowing in the wrong direction, the cat is gone in a split second."            The bobcat ( Lynx rufus ) gets its name from the "bobbed" look of its short tail. They are about twice the size of the average house cat. They are generally brown or reddish-brown in color with a white underbelly and their tail being tipped in black like ink on a pen. Bobcats are car...

A guest post by Heather Kopsco, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Rhode Island:           Just outside Houston, Texas, the hazy early morning light dissolved into a warm orange glow as a port worker began his shift. He climbed high into the worn seat of a fork lift and started the engine. The tired belts hummed, drowning out the sound of grating gears as he exited the garage bay toward a multicolored skyscraper of containers. He didn’t know what was in the shipment, just that the three red containers on the top of the stack needed to be inspected. He pulled a lever to lift the goal-post-sized fork beneath the bottom of the container and lowered the first one to the ground. A U.S. customs inspector stood waiting below, clipboard in hand to check off the contents of the container. He forced open the container’s lock bar and swung open the heavy metal door, spilling morning light into the container. “Used tires,” he mumbled, and scribbled his ...

     Residents in the western portion of the United States would probably agree that they are very lucky for a number of reasons. The beautiful scenery, the history, and even coolest: the wildlife. One species in particular that is always incredible to get eyes on is the bighorn sheep. The bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ) is a species of mountain sheep that are very well known for their incredible climbing abilities on steep, rocky mountains. At this time, it is considered to be a species of least concern according to the IUCN Red List  with stable population trends. The range of bighorn sheep throughout the Western US An adult male ram bighorn sheep An adult female ewe bighorn sheep      One truly spectacular sight to see with bighorn sheep is the competition between rams for the attention and eventual mating with the ewes (female). This competition is displayed in the cover photo and it entails two rams running at each other at s...