When you think about flies, you probably don’t think about descriptions like, “tremendous size and leg strength,” “potent saliva laced with neurotoxins,” “think fighter jet,” or “iron maiden death grasp.” Yet all of these phrases appear in postings about a…
In most plants, offspring grow from seeds. Flowers are a plant’s mechanism for producing those seeds. To do so, flowers must fertilize the female reproductive cells (ovules), located within the pistil, with male reproductive cells, contained in pollen produced by…
You may be familiar with the phrase “a snake in the grass,” an unflattering term for a sneaky person. In the CWPD parks, though, you are just as likely to encounter a snake in the bush, or a snake in…
April and May are prime time for woodland wildflowers in Southwest Ohio. Among the dozens of species that bloom through the spring months—spring beauties, bloodroot, Virginia bluebells, trout lilies, May apples, and many others—some of the easiest to recognize are…
Spring is such a beautiful season. Color returns to the landscape, and birdsong fills the air. Even a late dose of winter sometimes just adds to the enchantment. In April 2021, at the peak of redbud flowering, a nighttime storm…
The chatter is unmistakable. All winter long, the woods have been full of American red squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. According to Wikipedia, red squirrels are one of three species known as “pine squirrels,” and they are “widely distributed across North America…
As humans, we are accustomed to having a relatively constant, warm body temperature. Whether it’s the middle of summer or the cold of winter, we steam right along at about 37oC (98.6oF), almost always warmer than the surrounding air. That…
The Centerville-Washington Park District maintains 20 soccer game fields, 18 baseball/softball diamonds, 2 football game fields, 2 lacrosse game fields, 5 acres of lacrosse practice area, 5.5 acres of football practice area and 20 acres of soccer practice fields! We…
This winter, the edges of the wood are rich with fruits. Wild grapes, eastern red cedar, crabapple, dogwood, honeysuckle, bittersweet, and others all seem to have thrived. For birds that seek fruits for winter sustenance–robins, cardinals, white-throated sparrows, and others–that’s…
It’s been a good year for Osage oranges (Maclura pomifera). Now, in mid-to late-autumn, the grapefruit-sized “monkey brains” (as Osage orange fruits are commonly called) litter the ground, turning from chartreuse to brown as they soften and decay. What are…