Animals – Learn Your Land

Why This Shrub Is A Tick Paradise

Adam Haritan — Thu, 28 May 2026 19:56:02 +0000

In my neck of the woods, some places are absolute tick hot spots. If I need to photograph ticks or study their habits, I know exactly where to go. But until last week, I didn’t know that a particular shrub was strongly associated with tick abundance. A new study found this to be true, and […]

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The Great Tick Illusion — Rethinking Where They Come From

Adam Haritan — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:00:44 +0000

So far this year, I’ve had more than two dozen ticks crawling on my body. [Fun fact: Not all these ticks surprised me. To capture video footage of ticks, I often have to intentionally walk through shrubs and tall grasses to find them.] No matter how they end up on my body, I’m always left […]

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Why Are Tick Populations Exploding?

Adam Haritan — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 17:26:28 +0000

Lyme disease. Anaplasmosis. Babesiosis. Alpha-gal syndrome. These are only a few of the many illnesses associated with tick bites. Interestingly, these illnesses are much more common today than they were even just a few decades ago. Why is that? One way to get some answers is to figure out why tick populations are increasing. According […]

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Wait, Deer Don’t Get Lyme Disease?

Adam Haritan — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 16:56:12 +0000

If you’ve spent enough time in tick-prone areas, you’ve probably seen ticks sucking the blood of deer. Logically, it makes sense that deer would at least be carriers of the Lyme disease spirochete. After all, white-footed mice and other mammalian tick hosts can be reservoirs for the bacteria. But white-tailed deer are different. Their blood […]

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Are Monarch Butterflies Really In Trouble?

Adam Haritan — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:13:12 +0000

“Happiness is a butterfly.” At least that’s what some people say. If it’s true, then sadness would have to be a butterfly-less world. Fortunately, you and I will probably never experience such a world. The planet currently hosts over 17,000 butterfly species. The United States alone has over 700 butterfly species. Most of these species […]

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More Earthworms = Less Lyme Disease?

Adam Haritan — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:05:03 +0000

Cases of tick-borne diseases are on the rise, and people are wondering what to do. Spray more repellent on clothes? Wrap more duct tape around socks? Ingest more Japanese knotweed? Cull more deer? How about introducing more earthworms into tick-prone landscapes? It sounds bizarre, but some ecologists are researching this latter strategy. According to a […]

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How The Passenger Pigeon Changed North American Forests

Adam Haritan — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:13:45 +0000

In 1857, the Ohio State Legislature famously wrote: The passenger pigeon needs no protection. Wonderfully prolific, having the vast forests of the North as its breeding grounds, traveling hundreds of miles in search of food, it is here today and elsewhere tomorrow… Forty-five years later, the last wild passenger pigeon was shot and killed in […]

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These Shrimp Live And Die In The Woods

Adam Haritan — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 14:56:47 +0000

Over the years, I’ve met all kinds of strange creatures in the forest. Insects, mammals, mushrooms, and the occasional strange human are just a few examples. But up until recently, I had never encountered shrimp-like creatures. Truthfully, it never crossed my mind that the forest could accommodate such organisms. Besides pill bugs, which are often […]

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To Squash Or Not To Squash: Musings On Invasive Species

Adam Haritan — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 19:17:37 +0000

The devil was on one shoulder. An angel on the other. Both were telling me how to proceed, but I couldn’t decipher which voice belonged to which entity. “Cut the bag open,” one voice instructed. “Leave it alone,” said the other. Apparently my former sense of good and evil was blurred. Who was the devil, […]

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How Do I Deal With Ticks?

Adam Haritan — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 16:39:12 +0000

It’s no secret that I spend a lot of time in the woods. It’s also no secret that the woods in which I spend my time harbor some of the most reviled organisms on Earth. Ticks. Because I share many of my outdoor adventures on video, and because I live in a state (Pennsylvania) whose […]

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A Prescription For Swans

Adam Haritan — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 13:51:05 +0000

The arrival of spring can easily be seen on a lake. Melting ice, blossoming poplars, and migrating waterfowl are among its most faithful signs. Like an unerring calendar, the lake reminds us that the darkest days have expired and a season of growth awaits. While walking the shores of a local lake one chilly morning, […]

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The Miracle Of Woodpeckers

Adam Haritan — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 13:01:57 +0000

A few weeks ago, I decided to explore a familiar wooded area located only a few miles from home. I didn’t have any particular goal in mind other than to enjoy a rainy afternoon in the company of blooming plants and trees. Two hours of botanizing had passed before I headed back to the trailhead, […]

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