CRAYFISH, CRAWFISH, CRAWDAD 🙌

What is the title of your novel? I'm an obsessive reader (and reviewer) of fishing books.

Earth Day Book Review 2026 Celebrate Earth Day with books that share big ideas on conservation and also enrich our time in the natural world.

The annual Cool Green Science book review features an extinction novel, why Indigenous conservation is so successful so often and titles on birding, fishing, rivers & crayfish.

Featuring @uncpress.bsky.social, @mountaineersbooks.bsky.social

Largescale sucker.

Lunch-break largescale sucker.

A small, tailless rodent called a Steppe Vole. It is mostly dark brown and grey with a dark, single stripe along its back. It is standing on dried tree leaves. Text: Rodentia - Cricetidea Lagurus lagurus Steppe Vole KD Rudloff ASM - MIL

#RodentOfTheDay Steppe Lemming (Lagurus lagurus)

"Geographic Distribution
Steppes, mountains, and northern deserts from Ukraine through Kazakhstan to W Altai steppes of S Russia, adjacent W Mongolia, and NW China."

Photo and info: www.mammalogy.org/image-librar...

A grouse doing grouse stuff. "You can't see me." Nope, but thanks for posing.

Sea of Possibility Along the coast of British Columbia, First Nations lead a bold effort to protect an intact marine ecosystem.

Along the coast of British Columbia, First Nations lead a bold effort to protect an intact marine ecosystem.

Very small largemouth bass caught on a Rooster Tail spinner.

Ambitious.

Small largemouth bass caught on a Rooster Tail spinner.

Giving a lecture on fishing & fish conservation at Penn State-Dubois tomorrow. Had to get in a few casts at the city lake in front of my hotel.

Nice smallmouth bass.

Really nice smallmouth bass caught on a jointed Rapala on a southcentral Pennsylvania tributary to the Susquehanna River.

Smallmouth bass.

Susquehanna River tributary.

Smallmouth bass fishing in Pennsylvania.

Two bison at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Shawnee National Forest

Shawnee Hills in the Shawnee National Forest

Here in Illinois, you might not think about the US Forest Service having much of a presence, but the agency manages important places like Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and Shawnee National Forest - learn more about what they do from @extension.illinois.edu: aces.illinois.edu/news/illinoi...

I’ve never seen Yellowstone, but I’m often presented a social media reel where one character is telling another that fly fishing is unjustifiable & cruel.

Then I see other reels where cowboys are killing people to uphold some vague honor code. Seems like a show to keep avoiding.

What the Tiger Shark Ate (and Why it Matters) When a tiger shark coughs up an echidna, it’s more than internet gold—it’s a surprisingly useful clue to our changing oceans.

How does an echidna end up in a tiger shark's stomach?

Perfect. I’ve always been bothered by “fishing = therapy” too, even though fishing does help me in significant ways. The Great Outdoors doesn’t cure mental health issues. Idaho, Montana & Wyoming have some of the highest suicide rates in the world & it’s not due to a lack of outdoor recreation.

"Fishing is my therapy" bothers me It's not a replacement for penicillin, or a good therapist, but for the next few weeks we'll be sharing all the proof you need that fly fishing is good for your physical and mental health.

ICYMI: This month we're detailing all the physical and mental health benefits that come with building a fishing practice: www.currentflowstate.com/hearing-fly-... #flyfishing #flytying

Me with a box painted like an Easter bunny.

Collection of painted festive Easter-themed boxes (rabbits, eggs, etc) that will be placed on Zoo Boise’s exhibits this weekend for animals to find and eat.

Painting a carrot.

I volunteered by painting boxes for @zooboise.bsky.social today. They will be filled with food and placed in the exhibits for wildlife to find.

Kind of an egg hunt for lions and tigers and bears. You can enjoy the feeding (and other festivities) on Saturday at Zoo Boise.

Rainbow trout.

Rainbow trout. MK Nature Center, Boise, Idaho.

Long-tailed chinchilla Always free of charge, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is one of Washington D.C.’s, and the Smithsonian’s, most popular tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors from all over the world e...

#RodentOfTheDay Long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera)

"This species of chinchilla is only found in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile. They live in rocky, mountainous areas from 9,800 to 16,400 feet...in elevation and den in crevices and holes."

nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/long...

African cichlid, caught in Idaho.

The Middle Snake River in Idaho is known for trout aquaculture. There is also tropical fish aquaculture. You can find the escapees in some warm creeks.

This is an African cichlid I caught today, likely a hybrid.

A picture of a High Sierra Chipmunk sitting on a grey rock. There is soil and greenery in the background. The chipmunk is a golden-brown rodent of a weight of 27-45 oz and a length of 166-203 mm. It has black and white stripes along the fact and back. It's ears seem taller and more pointed than other chipmunk species (that I am familiar with, at least). Text: High Sierra Chipmunk Eric Sonstroem Attribution License

#RodentOfTheDay Alpine Chipmunk (Neotamias alpinus)

"Alpine chipmunks are found in California, USA. They live only in high Sierra Nevada, from Yosemite National Park in the north, to Olancha Peak in the south."

Photo/Info: animalia.bio/alpine-chipm...

Smallmouth bass caught in Idaho’s Snake River.

Snake River smallmouth.

Cover of “The Guide to Urban Fly Fishing” a new book by Marc Fryt.

I love this book. It’s more than a how-to guide. It’s also an eloquent celebration of the great fishing to be found just a few blocks away.

You don’t have to make a wilderness expedition to experience wildness.

A grey-brown mouse with a white underbelly standing on some greenery. It is facing the camera. Text: (c) MA Leon-Tapia * A Jacome / ASM-MIL

#RodentOfTheDay Mexican Volcano Mouse (Neotomodon alstoni)

"Merriam, C.H. 1898-04-30. A new genus (Neotomodon) and three new species of murine rodents from the mountains of southern Mexico. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington"

#MouseMonday

www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1002263/

Two favorites:
An Entirely Synthetic Fish by Anders Halverson (about how people spread rainbow trout around the world, very thought provoking)

Illumination in the Flatwoods by Joe Hutto (a field biologist’s experience with turkeys)

These animals can cause big trouble. Why are states unleashing them by the millions? Introduced species can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. Many states are flooding their waterways with them.

Introduced [fish] species can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. Many states are flooding their waterways with them. www.vox.com/climate/4831...

So many. Let me think. Fish focused or general natural history?

Angled-down photo of a salamander on a green leaf, body pointing diagonally from upper left to lower right, with the tail curled in a circle and touching the body near the hind leg. The salamander's ground color is a light grayish-brown, with some pinkish highlights on the nose and on the tops of the limbs. Essentially it resembles a little turd on a leaf, a useful bit of camouflage. These salamanders can be found from the ground to up high in the rainforest canopy.

I'm processing Peru photos today. Here's an in-situ Mushroom-tongue Salamander (Bolitoglossa peruviana), perhaps a meter off the ground. They often have bits of detritus sticking to them, but it still makes my photographer's eye twitch a bit :) More in ALT #herps #salamanders #NaturePhotography 🌿

Invasive silver carp jumping out of the water

Just to be clear, invasive carp do pose a significant threat to the #GreatLakes and we need to continue taking action to prevent their introduction, but they're not yet "rapidly taking over Lake Michigan" as the president claimed in a social media post yesterday www.woodtv.com/news/michiga...

A mostly grey rodent that may be about three times the size of a guinea pig (my estimate). It has a band of black fur along its muzzle. It has a large, nearly-pointed ears. It is standing on greyish soil.

#RodentOfTheDay Argentine Plains Viscacha (Lagostomus maximus)

"[A] species of rodents in the family Chinchillidae. They are native to The Neotropics. They are nocturnal herbivores. Individuals are known to live for 112.8 months and can grow to 523.73 mm."

Ph/Inf: eol.org/pages/326930