Susan Pike

I’ve never been a huge celebrator of Halloween. My daughter-in-law, on the other hand, is going all out this year with enormous spider webs, giant spiders, and various skeletons shrouded in webbing, all blanketing the shrubbery and lawn in front of the house. This got me thinking about spiders. What are they up to this time of year? Why are they so intimately associated with Halloween?

What better reason to explore the woods during the Halloween season than in search of poisonous, scary-looking doll’s eyes?

Because bats have been vilified for so long it can be difficult to see past their "scary" facade. Here's why these creatures deserve our thanks.

Bats are a natural to associate with Halloween. After all, vampires rank second to witches in their association with all things eerie. But as with all the plants and animals associated with this scary holiday, Halloween wildlife should be celebrated, not feared.

While out for a walk this weekend, some leaves were really in my face, which got me thinking about why.

When I was a kid one of my favorite books was “Where They Go in Winter” by Margaret Waring Buck. I think I was around 7 years old when it came out. The illustrations and explanations of how a variety of backyard animals dealt with winter fed the young naturalist in me.

There are quite a few studies and quite a bit of debate out there as to how safe and/or ethical it is to feed wild birds by hand.

One thing I love about living in the age of the internet is that old students can keep in touch much more easily than when I was young-via email or social media.

The functions of snow are vital for local wildlife that have to survive long, cold winters and for the planet, which is rapidly warming.

European starlings are one of my favorite "winter’s coming" birds.