It’s November… may the smelliest buck win! During the rutting season, deer are on high alert for males. Females that are ready to breed follow the scent trail produced by the male’s interdigital (between the two center toes) glands. A male uses smell to deter other males from entering his territory. For instance, a smelly string of drool may be left on a chewed overhead branch. The buck may emphasize this warning by using his smelly hooves to scrape away an area beneath the branch. He will...

It crawls out of the swamp at night and scuttles over the mud searching for unsuspecting victims! Beware its dangerous pinching claws! No, it is not the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It is the Devil Crayfish. Rather than inhabit streams and rivers, the devil crayfish species burrow into the muddy soils of the wetlands. The results of their excavations are tall mounds of mud called crayfish chimneys or crayfish castles, which can be found throughout Sarett’s wetlands. The burrows are deep...

Consider this the next time you look at a salamander’s “smiling” face: amphibians have teeth. Frogs and salamanders eat live prey. Because this prey would prefer to be on the outside of the mouth, the amphibian needs a way to hold its food inside the mouth until it is swallowed.