One day I found a cake on the kitchen floor, partially eaten, with two little paw prints indented into the heavenly frosting. It was disappointing and adorable all at once. Adorable for obvious reasons, and disappointing because there was my favorite cake in all the world, wasted. But this is how irresistible it was—even my…
Road to the Grand Canyon (Part 3): The Grand Finale
Around mid-morning I make my way to the Grand Canyon, about an hour-and-a-half west on the 40 and north via 64. I reach civilization in the form of some very generic restaurants and chain hotels that threaten to lead me into a tourist trap. There’s no hint at all that I’m actually approaching a gargantuan…
This Wildlife Conservation Film Festival Video Will Make You Cry Your Eyes Out
Today is the first day of the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival & Biodiversity Conference in New York! If you’re in the city between now and October 23 and want to learn about natural history and how wildlife conservation helps protect the Earth’s resources of food, water, and clean air, check out the schedule. Watch this…
The Spirit of the Sea Turtle
I dipped into a hidden lagoon on the leeward side of Oahu, and right there, one of my dreams came true. Snorkeling in the coral, I felt something graze my leg. I looked over and found a sea turtle the size of Smart Car gliding by and saying “hey.” He had a much smaller friend…
Road to the Grand Canyon (Part 2): Welcome to Arizona
Eastbound on the 62, back on one of those idyllic two-lane highways surrounded by nothing but sweeping desert and distant mountains. A butterfly flutters by—what is it doing here? There are no colors to attract them, no wildflowers to suck sweet nectar from, nothing to even pollinate. It’s just a wanderer. I could stay on…
Endangered Baby: Pangolin
It looks like a Pokémon. That’s cause it totally inspired one (Sandshrew). The pangolin is like some kind of freakish armadillo-dragon hybrid. But it’s no fearsome, fire-breathing reptile. It doesn’t even have teeth. It’s just a gentle, solitary mammal quietly roving its habitats across Africa and Asia in search of a tasty meal of ants….
Road to the Grand Canyon (Part 1): Gateway Into the Wild West
When I see the windmills, it finally feels like I’m going somewhere. Leaving Los Angeles via the 10 Freeway is a monotonous precursor to the road ahead. Windmills seem like a highlight—a break from the picture of outlet shops and fast-food chains lining an endless interstate. The landscape opens to arid terrain—the first intimation of…
10 Things I Didn’t Know About Being an Omnivore
When I was 18 I started listening to Morrissey and Strike Anywhere—starkly different in their musical styles but similar in their stances on animal welfare—and went vegetarian. I wasn’t really thinking hard about politics or even the environment; I just didn’t want to eat animals because I didn’t support ending their adorable lives in the…
An Ode to Crows—the Ultimate Birdbrains
When George RR Martin nicknamed the men of the Night’s Watch (I’m talking about Game of Thrones—if you don’t know, you better ask somebody!) “crows,” I bet it wasn’t merely because they’re cloaked in black. I like to think it’s because, like the birds themselves, they get a bad rap, but most people don’t know…
Endangered Baby: Northern White Rhino
In Vietnam, if you have a rhino horn, you’re (supposedly) a big deal. They’re worth up to $60,000 per kilo on the black market—more valuable than diamonds or cocaine. Sometimes they’re even ground up and snorted as a party drug. And some proponents of Asian medicine actually believe they can cure hangovers … and cancer….
Phase II: New Look, New Life
You know when you get caught up in someone else’s vision and you forget all about your own? That’s where I’ve been. All it took was a template change and I’m inspired again. (Seriously, this new-look everything is nature is giving me heart palpitations!) I’ve always believed that if you really want to make your unique…
Close Encounter with Coastal Giants
Mountain ranges cloaked in Douglas firs line a long, undulating road—California’s famous 101 Freeway—giving a glimpse at what’s to come. I’m never less than amazed each time I bear witness to the unparalleled natural landscapes here, and this time, on the 200 or so miles driving from San Francisco to the ancient forests of Redwood…
everything is nature 