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Fear-Busting Creepy Critters: Spiders

By Katy Gorsuch Spiderwebs! Furry legs! The glint of multiple shining eyes! It’s not difficult to see why spiders are so feared: they’re relatively small, possess an unsettling number of legs, and some are venomous to humans. They tend to lurk in dark and unused corners, which may contribute to our sense of alarm when  Read the Rest…





Native Animal Profile: Appalachian Cottontails

By Sarah Witcher “If you chase two rabbits, you catch none.” ~Confucius Across the state, spring and summer bring about sightings of one of the most commonly spotted mammals in Maryland — rabbits!  These shy, crepuscular creatures from the order Lagomorpha (in other words, they’re not rodents) prefer fields and shrublands but are commonly found  Read the Rest…



Native Plant Profile: Maryland Orchids

By Sarah Witcher Orchids are a plant species that graces many of our living rooms, is gifted frequently for holidays, and is widely displayed in botanical gardens and home improvement stores. Yet, the handful of species readily available for sale pale in comparison to the many tens of thousands of types of this beautiful flowering  Read the Rest…




Supporting Bats With Gardening

Many of us have put a lot of time and energy into gardening for pollinators – but have you considered gardening for bats? An often underappreciated and misunderstood group, bats in Maryland are important to the balance of our local ecosystems. Our 10 native species consume a vast quantity of insects, including many agricultural pests  Read the Rest…


Invasive Plants in Your ‘Backyard’

Guest Author: Joel Cockerham, Natural Resources Technician Hello Habichatters! File this under “notes from the field,” in which we give you a peek into the daily challenges and triumphs of managing a rare ecosystem. And we’ll share how you can help us manage the invasive species in our backyard with the choices you make for  Read the Rest…






Spring Rain Erosion

Spring rains bring a great deal of water to properties. Everyone has seen and struggled with puddles and flooding on roads and walkways, causing detours and splashes. However, most people don’t give much thought to water once it has left their property or what happens to our streams and rivers during rain events. The increase  Read the Rest…



Tech for Teens Outdoors

As the warmer spring months arrive, life blooms anew. Suddenly the outdoors are teeming with growing vegetation, cool bugs, and hatching amphibians. We will be discussing a few apps that can be used by teens and parents to make their outdoor experience more exciting. Using the tools provided in this digital age, we can make  Read the Rest…


Native Animal Profile: Chorus Frogs

Every year around this time, reports start rolling in of early spring frog calls—usually, it’s the charismatic wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) or well-known spring peeper (Psuedacris crucifer). Spring peepers are members of the Pseudacris genus, a group commonly called chorus frogs, all known for singing their songs of spring loudly and proudly. Maryland is home  Read the Rest…


A Cozy Winter Reading List for 2023

Read any good books lately? The holiday season can sometimes feel like chaos, with our senses assaulted by crowds of people, electronic devices, and a roller coaster of changing weather conditions. Many of us may forget to enjoy the simple pleasure of reading in a quiet, cozy room, curled up under a blanket with our  Read the Rest…


Native Animal Profile: Stealthy (and Cute!) Owls

Out of the 18 species of owls found throughout North America, there are eight species of owls seen in Maryland.  Some are very common, such as the eastern screech owl or barred owl, yet some can only be seen occasionally in the winter or during migration, like the majestic snowy owl and the short-eared owl.



Native Plant Profile: Evergreens

Winter is here, and for many animals that means either migrating or finding ways to hibernate and become less active in the winter months. For our plants and trees, the options are more limited. When temperatures start to dip and the days begin to shorten, deciduous trees and shrubs lose their leaves. What about plants  Read the Rest…


In Praise of Dormancy

It is winter in Maryland. The days are short. The weather is wacky; it could be snow, rain, wintry mix, 60 degrees and sunny. Just spin the wheel! In our former agrarian days, winter was a time to pause and take stock, to prepare for the coming spring. For Mother Nature and her wildlife, it’s  Read the Rest…


Get Outside at Night: Experimenting with Light

During the autumn months the days begin to get shorter. Take advantage of our extra hours of darkness with these light-generating experiments. An outside place like your own backyard provides the perfect laboratory to learn about flammability, the piezoelectric effect, and triboluminescence.



Habitat Tip: Glow-In-The-Dark Backyards

As winter approaches, many of us dread the shortening hours of daylight and increasing darkness. In this spookiest of seasons, I like to focus on ways to appreciate the nighttime and the bits of unexpected light hidden in the natural world. Plenty of living things have unique ways to glow in the dark!


Native Animal Profile: Our BFFs, Bats

When people think of Halloween a few things may come to mind: pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons, candy, monsters, and of course, bats! As the only true flying mammals in existence, bats face a lot of misconceptions. You may have heard folks saying things like “blind as a bat” and mentioning that they could fly and get  Read the Rest…


Macro Mini Maryland

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” ~Dr. Wayne Dyer Have you ever looked at someone you’ve known your entire life and realized you never noticed something about their appearance? For many of us who have lived in Maryland a long time, it’s easy to leave our  Read the Rest…


Chlorophyll Leaf Prints in 5 Easy Steps

The art of leaf printing has been around for hundreds of years, with the first example discovered in the year 1,228 CE. From the 13th to the 19th century, botanists, herbalists, and doctors all over the world used herbal prints for medical research and identification. In this country, Benjamin Franklin began printing a leaf on  Read the Rest…



Native Plant Profile: Yours Frondly, Ferns

Who needs flowers when you have fiddleheads? Ferns not only provide foraging space for ground-feeding birds, but they create vital shelter for numerous species of Maryland wildlife. Let’s explore a bit about why ferns are fascinating and look at some of the benefits of planting them in your home habitat.







Habitat Tips: Owl-Friendly Backyards

Owls are captivating creatures, and it is no surprise that many people would love to have them visit their backyard landscapes! As predators, owls depend on having healthy food webs, so it is important to think about the big picture to properly support owls in your home habitats. 



Backyard Books for 2021

Did you know? Maryland is home to over 1,200 species of wasps! Not all of those species are aggressive like yellowjackets and hornets, and even the aggressive species have their place in our landscapes.


Backyard Blurbs

As spring continues, young wildlife are going to venture out from their dens and nests. It’s important to remember that wildlife don’t have the same parenting procedures as we do, and they often ‘free range’ their young. Check out our page on Think Twice Before Rescuing Young Wildlife to learn about normal behaviors of young  Read the Rest…



Warm Season Grasses for Wildlife

Warm season grasses are grasses that grow best during the summer (June-August) and often form large clumps. These grasses provide excellent wildlife habitat, in addition to erosion control. Warm season grasses typically are tall plants with large root systems that help keep soil in place.




Backyard Birding Tips

There is no better time to connect with wildlife in your backyard than now. With spring underway, many bird species are increasing their activity. Winter birds like dark-eyed juncos are heading north while migrants like ruby-throated hummingbirds are returning to Maryland. 



Maryland Native Wildlife: Mining Bees

With spring underway, many species are emerging from their winter rest, including our local bees. By far, the most well known bee is the non-native European honey bee (Apis mellifera). However, Maryland is home to over 430 species of bees, many of which are native and all of which provide important roles in pollination.



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