Fall brings the opportunity to collect ripe acorns, the fruit of the oak tree, for science classroom activities or home-based science projects. Botanically, the acorn is a nut containing a single seed encased in a tough leathery shell. Acorns of the northern red oak, Quercus rubra, the most… Read More
Chipmunks have the same reddish fur color as some squirrels, but are much smaller and have different markings. Chipmunks have two parallel white lines running along their backs to their tails. Males and females have the same coloration and size. Although they often are seen… Read More
. Maine’s official state animal is the moose. . In Maine, moose are mainly found among the western mountains, in the Kennebec and Moose river valleys, and Aroostook County. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
It was a cold February day, and we had just come home from town. My 5-year-old nephew, Zachary, was with us. He was excited to have “a sleepover” with us at our house in Troy. We gathered up the groceries and Zachary’s things from the… Read More
Maine is home to several kinds of owls. Some of them are the barred owl, the great horned owl and, in winter, the snowy owl. Other kinds of owls are seen less frequently in Maine, and among these is the short-eared owl. The short-eared owl… Read More
. Loons are water birds. They nest on the shores of deep freshwater lakes and feed mainly on fish. . They are strong swimmers. They dive as deep as 200 feet, and can remain underwater for as long as 10 minutes. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
The bald eagle is found in every state except Hawaii, and was made the national emblem for the United States in 1782. Maine has some of the principal eagle population centers on the East Coast. Most eagles that breed in Maine remain through the winter,… Read More
To many people, blue jays do not appear so appealing. They are unkind birds, and make a lot of noise. But underneath all the noise and hard feelings, blue jays are interesting and kind of quirky animals. Being so loud and obnoxious, they seem to… Read More
The white-tailed deer is named for the white underside of its tail, which is raised in warning when the animal is alarmed. About 220,000 to 255,000 deer overwinter in Maine each year. In the 1970s, only about 160,000 overwintered. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
Ice has usually started to fall from the sky by mid-November in central Maine, so brace yourself. Snowflakes are intricate crystals of ice that form from when water vapor in the clouds condenses directly into ice. All snowflakes are based on the same six-armed pattern,… Read More
Maine is the “Pine Tree State” – the eastern white pine is the state tree, and the pine cone and tassle is the state flower. When Europeans first arrived in North America in the 1500s it’s estimated that stands of white pine contained about 3.4… Read More