Ants are everywhere. In fact, if you took the total mass of all the ants on Earth, it would far exceed the total mass of all the people. But not all ants are created equal. While black ants and carpenter ants are common anywhere and normally inoffensive, there is one kind of ant that
Firefly. Lightning bug. Call them whatever name you want, these insects (actually a type of beetle, but then again, who’s counting?) are an indispensable part of summer across the United States. Children make games of catching them, and for adults, nothing sets the mood for a romantic outdoor dinner like a swarm of glowing
Which mammals do you see most often in your neighborhood? Probably squirrels, maybe deer if you’re lucky. But the diversity of mammals in Davidson is much greater than that. In fact, some of the most abundant of all mammals remain hidden from view simply because they come out at night. I am talking, of
What do you think of when you think of a garden? Perhaps a neat, orderly arrangement of flowers, or maybe rows and rows of fruits and vegetables? Whatever you think of, you probably don’t think of it as a wildlife habitat first and foremost. Of course, that doesn’t need to be the case. After
Think about soil for a moment: the brown, lumpy, crusty stuff that makes up the ground you walk on. Have you ever wondered where it all comes from? Soil is the end result of a process called decomposition, which is the breakdown of organic material (dead plants and animals) by organisms called decomposers. When
Perhaps you’ve heard one when you were in bed. Or maybe you were lucky enough to see one while you were walking in the evening. Few animals are more emblematic of the night than owls. We associate owls with mystery and wisdom—and, in the past, with magic and witchcraft. But these superstitions obscure much
The saying goes that nature is red in tooth and claw. And for the most part, this is true. After all, organisms of one species do not go out of their way to help those of other species on purpose. . . at least not normally. But then you have cases of symbiosis, where
