Join the Discussion "How do you identify wild critters that you do not recognize?" Ronnie
More of this Feature
• Part 1: Resources for identifying them  • Part 2: Unusual critters spotted
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Wild critters and plants have always fascinated me. Every time I see a plant or animal I don’t recognize I want to find out what it is and more information about it. Birds, rodents, fish, salamanders, bushes, bugs and trees all draw my attention, and seldom do I see an unknown flower in the woods that I do not look it up.

For years I have kept the book "North American Wildlife" from Reader’s Digest on my desk at home. Dozens of markers stick up out of the book, showing pages where I have found some plant or animal that is new to me. And sometimes I am just looking to clarify something about an animal or plant that is familiar.

For example, the first section of the book is mammals and the first page marked is one showing foxes, coyotes and wolves. I was interested in finding out the difference between red and gray foxes. The look very similar, their ranges overlap in most of the US, and we have both species around here. Each species described in the book has a little map of north America showing the range of the animal or plant discussed.

It is interesting that coyotes have a map showing they are not found in the south. My book was published in 1982 but even back then coyotes were moving into this area. They are common now and I hope any newer copy of the book would show them living here, too.

Driving home from the coast a few years ago I saw a bird flying overhead that made me slam on brakes and stop in the middle of the road to look at it. Fortunately, it was a back road and there was no traffic. The bird was a swallow tail kite, a striking soaring bird with a split tail that looks like a pair of open scissors. I had never seen one before and found that they are coastal plain birds that are fairly rare.

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