Turn your yard into a functioning ecosystem

Here’s the truth: yes, garter snakes bite. They’d rather not, and they’ll usually flee well before things get to th [...]

Yes, wolf spiders are venomous. All spiders are, technically — venom is how they subdue prey. The more useful question is whether t [...]

You’re not going to call an owl into your yard. That’s not how this works. Owls don’t show up because you want them [...]

Most birds avoid wasps, and that’s the reasonable position. Wasps sting, they swarm, and they’re not worth the trouble wh [...]

There’s a particular kind of backyard encounter that happens every spring. Someone finds a nest of cottontail kits, or a young [...]

The opossum in your yard, mouth agape, showing off 50 teeth, drooling slightly, is not preparing to attack you. It’s terrified. [...]

The jumping spider sitting on your windowsill right now is staring at you. Not in a menacing way, in the way that an animal with exce [...]

Goldenrod gets blamed for a lot of August misery. The sneezing starts, you look outside and see a field of bright yellow, and the con [...]

Before the plant list, one thing worth saying: hummingbirds spend the overwhelming majority of their time hunting insects, not visiti [...]

The fox videos are charming. There’s no getting around it. A fox bounding toward its owner, ears perked, tail going — it look [...]