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The Outside Story: Bright, beautiful creatures advertise their secret weapons

Posted on May 20, 2013 |
By Li Shen



In the natural world predation is relentless, and evading predators strongly favors the evolution of camouflage colors in animals. How contradictory then, for small, defenseless creatures — like red efts and monarch butterflies — to be sporting a bright shade of orange. But there is more to their cheerful color than meets the eye. Both the eft and the monarch are poisonous.

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The Outside Story: For the pussy willow, spring is it’s time to shine

Posted on May 13, 2013 |
By Virginia Barlow



Last fall, I went to a nearby wetland with a pair of clippers and cut twigs from one willow shrub after another. It wasn’t hard to tell the willows from the non-willows because willows are the only woody plants in this area whose buds are covered by a single bud scale. These cute, pointy caps are very different from the overlapping scales that protect most buds through the winter. And the few woody plants with no protective scales are easily recognizable: their naked, embryonic leaves rely on a coating of woolliness to keep them from desiccating or freezing.

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The Outside Story: Northern species of flying squirrels differ from the southern

Posted on January 28, 2013 |
By Madeline Bodin



The calls come in all winter, said Paul DeBow of DeBow Wildlife Service in Plymouth, N.H. If there is no snow, the peak will be in January or February, when it’s the coldest. Some people think the animals they hear partying in the attic are chipmunks, he says. Chipmunks in the attic in the middle of winter. But they are not.

Chipmunks, DeBow explained, hibernate in winter and what homeowners are probably hearing are flying squirrels. Because flying squirrels are nocturnal, few people ever see them.

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The Outside Story: Some thoughts on ’12 foliage season

Posted on November 12, 2012 |
By John Burk



Many enjoy New England’s fall foliage for its aesthetics alone, and with good reason: It’s a spectacle that draws visitors from around the world. However, the unique progression of each foliage season also provides careful observers with insight related to forest health and short- and long-term climate.

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