Animals in Winter: The Long-toed Salamander

Animals in Winter: The Long-toed Salamander

The Long-toed Salamander or Ambystoma macrodactylum, is one of the most ecologically versatile amphibians in the Pacific Northwest.  It occurs in wetlands, like ours, as well as temperate conifer forests, plains, and meadows.   Long-toed salamanders are one of the...
Animals in Winter: The Mountain Beaver

Animals in Winter: The Mountain Beaver

Did you know there are living fossils at SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve? For more than 40,000 years Mountain Beavers, Aplodontia rufa, have lived in the Pacific Northwest and have outlived any related species. Mountain Beavers are certainly misnamed as they do not live...
Animals in Winter: Northern Red-Legged Frog

Animals in Winter: Northern Red-Legged Frog

  By: Guest Writer Katie Morris   Similar to many of us in the Pacific Northwest, but unique to most amphibians, the red-legged frog prefers cool weather. The red-legged frog, or Rana aurora “dawn frog” in Latin, gets its name because of the distinctive...
Animals in Fall: The Pileated Woodpecker

Animals in Fall: The Pileated Woodpecker

By: Guest Writer Michael Teton Photo by: Ray Owens Have you ever seen small mounds of wood chips at the base of trees? If you live in the Pacific Northwest, during the fall season that tree is probably the new home of a Pileated Woodpecker! This species of woodpecker...