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Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights

4th Annual Cardboard Sled Race Recap

College team Calc-U-SUS from Clarkson goes for one last slide in their slightly tattered cardboard sled
By Kayla Edmunds on
Blog: Just Our Nature
The 4th Annual Cardboard Sled Race, held Saturday, February 5th was an exciting way to start off Canton’s annual Winterfest. It was a chilly but sunny morning, perfect for speeding down the hill. Competition was fierce, with many racers fighting their way to the finish line by dragging themselves on tattered sleds or getting a boost from a teammate. Participants competed 1 v. 1 within their…
A cardboard replica of Red Five X-Wing from Star Wars veers off course into a crowd of reporters from NCPR, North Country Now, and Watertown Daily Times Team Senegal Sparks is all smiles in their speedy sled with a duct tape covered bottom Thomas the Barbarian and The Pirate get a friendly boost as their pirate ship sled begins falling apart One member of the team the I-Don't-Knows races down the hill in his cardboard sled Sled racers representing SUNY Canton and Clarkson University go head to head in a speedy slide down the hill The Clarkson and SUNY Canton sled race teams use their hands to pull themselves to the finish as their sleds don't quiet make it The 7 member sled team Calc-U-SUS from Clarkson gathers for a group photo with the remains of their speedy cardboard sled The Flying Apple sled wrapped in recycled plastic bags speeds by the Senegal Sparks sled piloted by Team Leo

Beech Gone Wild: Raging Hormones

close up photo of an american beech bud
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
The American beech (Fagus grandifolia) has been slowly dying out for the last 140 years. As a result, beech saplings have overrun many woodlots, making them less diverse, less vigorous, and less valuable.   That’s right – beech decline has led to a beech proliferation so extreme that in some places they are a barrier to forest regeneration. I’d call this an oxymoron, but don’t want to insult the …

Fungal Homes: Much Room, No Mushrooms

A large group orange fungi grow on a tree trunk
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
For some reason, mushrooms have spawned more than their fair share of puns. As a kid I learned that they’re all fun-guys, and that the only rooms you can’t enter in a house are mushrooms. The last one might not work these days, as entire buildings are now being made of fungus.   Given that mold inside our homes can make us ill, you wouldn’t think that being surrounded by the stuff would be a…

An Army of Legs

Black and res American giant millipede on a rock
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Whether one has owned a pet cat, dog, chinchilla or what-have-you, or merely admired the grace and beauty of a horse or deer, most of us develop positive links with at least one four-legged animal. But for everyone except maybe scientists, warm and fuzzy feelings evaporate when you move up to critters with a thousand or more legs.   Insects, all of which have six legs, seldom elicit an oxytocin …

The Blazing Yule Log

A roaring fire in a fireplace
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
The tradition of burning a Yule log has largely fizzled out in most parts of the world. While holiday cards often feature cute, picturesque birch rounds in the hearth, old-time Yule logs in 6th and 7th century Europe were monster tree trunks that were meant to burn all day, and in certain cultures for twelve continuous days, without being entirely used up. Apparently, if you didn’t have a…

Nature Up North 2022 Calendars For Sale

2022 Calendar Cover, foggy Mt. Arab sunrise by Bill Hill
By Kayla Edmunds on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Nature Up North calendars are on sale at local businesses through early 2022! These printed calendars feature our favorite photos shared by community members as Encounters on natureupnorth.org in the past year. Calendars also include Nature Notes highlighting seasonal wildlife behavior local to the North Country region. Proceeds from calendar sales benefit Nature Up North's community…
2022 Calendar back cover, featured photos by month.

Thanksgiving History and Indigenous Culture in the North Country

Coloring Page: Haudenosaunee Flag
By Aurora Hager on
Blog: Just Our Nature
It’s Thanksgiving week! Tis’ the season of fall leaves crunching as we step on them, the smell of warm apple cider on the stovetop and fresh baked pumpkin and apple pies using grandma's secret recipes. An array of food on the dining table every fourth Thursday in November is also a time to be thankful for everyone in your life, surrounded by family and friends. Each house has their own traditions…
Coloring Page: The Three Sisters

Crows: Bad News or World’s Best Puzzle Solver?

A crow flying over green water
By Abigail Lateer on
Blog: Just Our Nature
We’ve all heard their croaking song, seen their black bodies circling, and heard the folklore and myths. It’s no wonder why people assume crows are bad news--a group of them is even called a murder. Sounds scary, right? These birds are often labelled as pests and nuisances, and it’s a commonly held belief that they’re detrimental to gardens and linked to disease. But what people aren’t usually…

Fall Foliage Fun!

Looking up the trunk of a red maple tree with beautiful leaves
By Peter DiNinno on
Blog: Just Our Nature
         If you have been enjoying all the North Country outdoors have to offer the last few weeks, you have probably noticed trees bursting out in their beautiful red, yellow, and orange fall colors. The change in the color of leaves is caused by the breakdown of chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for photosynthesis, as the tree gets ready for winter. As the green chlorophyll leaves the leaf…

Ask a Fairy: Fall 2021 Answers

A fairy house with a birchbark roof and a green door sitting at the base of a tree
By Thimble & Blossom on
Blog: Ask a Fairy
Our fairy friends Thimble Hickory and Blossom Dewdrop wrote back and answered your questions about North Country nature and the lives of fairies. While they're settled into the warmth of the tropics for winter, they're already excited to return to the North Country next spring and they wanted us to say thank you for all your great questions!  1. Olivia, 21, Are magaritifera known to occur in this…
Selfie with brown fairy house with bark roof Cluster of poison ivy, three green leaves