Tag: environment

Dispatches from Somewhere #5| American Alligator

This is one of my favorite shots I’ve ever managed to capture. I snapped this in 2015 at one of my all-time favorite parks, @brazosbendstatepark near Houston, TX. It sorta looks like she’s lunging forward, but in reality, she was sitting in a quickly flowing stream with her mouth open against the flow, presumably to catch fish…… Continue reading Dispatches from Somewhere #5| American Alligator

Dispatches from Somewhere #4| Antheraea polyphemus

Admittedly, this photo isn’t from any time recently. I took this during the summer of 2014 at Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, MN. It was while I was working for a nonprofit organization called Tree Trust building a 180-foot swamp foot boardwalk with local high school students. It was also my first time seeing one…… Continue reading Dispatches from Somewhere #4| Antheraea polyphemus

Dispatches from Somewhere #1: What a Wasp

I’ve had this picture on my camera roll for almost a year now and I figured I should finally get to posting it. If you’re wondering what this scorpion looking flying insect is, it’s the Pelecinus polyturator, a type of wasp. The adults drink nectar and are pretty harmless, unless you’re a June Bug. That’s…… Continue reading Dispatches from Somewhere #1: What a Wasp

The Wild Life of the Black-and-Yellow Lichen Moth

Order| Lepidoptera Species| Lycomorpha pholus Uh-ah, you know what it is—the Black-and-Yellow Lichen Moth! “Wait, black and yellow? They’re clearly orange-er, right?” Who knows what they were thinking. One thing’s for sure though, mimicry is their flex. As caterpillars, when they spend most of their time munching on a symbiotic snack of lichen, they texturally…… Continue reading The Wild Life of the Black-and-Yellow Lichen Moth

The Journey So Far

The other day, I was going through a pile of junk (which I have a lot of) and came across this. This intentionally blurred piece of paper was the very beginning of #TheWildLife. It’s just a bunch of notes and ideas that I was jotting down while I tried to decide what I wanted to…… Continue reading The Journey So Far

88.1 KVSC Interview: The Untold Story of Distance Learning During COVID-19 with ISD 742’s Devon Bowker, Science Teacher, Naturalist, and Blogger

KVSC, the radio station of my Alma Mater, St Cloud State University, recently interviewed new for there segment ‘Untold Stories of Central MN’. It aired on Earth Day 2020 and was an incredible honor and opportunity to speak about my passions. For those of you more familiar with The Wild Life side of my life,…… Continue reading 88.1 KVSC Interview: The Untold Story of Distance Learning During COVID-19 with ISD 742’s Devon Bowker, Science Teacher, Naturalist, and Blogger

Become a Wildlife Ambassador

So, here’s the thing: we, at this moment, are rolling out a new newy thing. It’s super cool—the Wildlife Ambassador program! Basically, when you become a member at Patreon.com/TheWildLife, you can pick a species of some kind of personal importance to you and we will donate 10% of your contributions each month to either a…… Continue reading Become a Wildlife Ambassador

Is it a Worm? Is it a Wasp? No! It’s the Elm Sawfly!

This past weekend as I sat below an old oak tree while drinking my morning cup of coffee and looking out on a glassy Lake Darling in Alexandria, Minnesota, something fell from the sky and landed at my feet. Small and curled up like a slightly puff green and yellow sour gummy worm. It’s face…… Continue reading Is it a Worm? Is it a Wasp? No! It’s the Elm Sawfly!

When a Spider isn’t a Spider

If you’re reading this right now, you might be realizing that we’re about to be playing a game of semantics (systematics, rather). For many, if it looks like a Spider, that’s all they need to know to shiver in disgust and engage in fight, freeze, or flight. It may be pretentious to dwell on the…… Continue reading When a Spider isn’t a Spider

The Trouble with Trilobites

It’s #FossilFriday, and you know what that means—fossils. Big surprise, right? This week, with an unoriginal but begging to be used titular parody on the classic Star Trek episode ‘The Trouble with Tribbles”—we’re talking trilobites. Here is my trilobite.  It was a gift from my brother (podcast co-host) he picked up at a rock convention.…… Continue reading The Trouble with Trilobites

Sunday Fish Sketch| The Common Sea Dragon

This #SundayFishSketch comes from Ichthyologist, Rene Martin. Visit her shop on InPrint to see more of her artwork or to order prints! Meet the Common Sea Dragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus While it may be a dragon by name, the Common Sea Dragon is no more a dragon than a sea horse is a horse. One, it would be…… Continue reading Sunday Fish Sketch| The Common Sea Dragon

Mid-Season Finale| S2E5: No Brainer

In the mid-season finale, Devon and Richard talk to Lucas Brotz, research associate at the Marine Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia and a Cnidaria Scientist for Quantitative Aquatics, to discuss how a creature without a brain dominates the worlds oceans, and the many ways they impact our lives.

S2E2: Ant Farm

In this episode, we discover that we may not be as unique, or advanced, as we thought as we learn about amazing subterranean fungi farmers, cowboy insects, and a 55 million year old relationship that puts our use (or misuse) of antibiotics to shame.

#SundayFishSketch Banded Scuplin

The banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae) is a mottled brown freshwater fish with dark vertical bands native to swift moving streams of the eastern United States where they dine on insects, various larvae, and occasionally, though sparingly, on other smaller fish or crustaceans.

Podcast Season 2 Updates, Topics

Season Two of The Wild Life is well in the works, with at least two interviews being done this week (for both the premier and the finale, coincidentally). With that being said, Richard and I wanted to take the opportunity to share with yall the episode topics (and working titles) for the upcoming season. Here it goes:

Mud-Puddling: The Dirty Truth About Butterflies

Ever have a butterfly land on your skin and start licking you and thought “Awe, I’ve got a new best bro!” Well, you were wrong. Butterflies have a dirty secret!

ATTACK OF THE BRYOZOANS

If you’ve ever seen a gelatinous blob of ick floating in the water and wondered what type of alien life you were seeing, it was probably a Bryozoan, and they’re honestly pretty neat.

TWL Hiking Club: Hiking and Instagram

Chances are, if you are an avid hiker or even a beginner, you are using Instagram to interact with others and find awesome places that are too cool for even Outside Magazine to list. If you are not yet, get on there! There is such a community you can build!