The Lives of New Mexico’s Bats
IMAGINE THE FINGER BONES of a human hand stretched out to something like body length, with webbing spanning between the fingers. That is, essentially, the bone structure of a bat’s wings. “Their…
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Category: Nature & Wildlife
Pecos Sunflower Festival Blossoms
A SCIENCE TEACHER in Santa Rosa for 25 years, Estela Tenorio-Thompson has always had an affinity for local flowers—especially the Pecos sunflowers, which only grow in seven areas in New Mexico and…
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Hunting the Crown Prince of the Plains
ON MY THIRD and last day of hunting for pronghorn on the plains of northeastern New Mexico, I press five 168-grain cartridges into the magazine, click it into the action, and sling the .308 Mauser…
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Meet the Pack at Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary
ABOUT 15 MINUTES into a walk around North America’s largest canid sanctuary, the wolves and wolfdogs begin a low, collective singing. The pack howl thrums with wildness, churning out hypnotic minor…
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Lizard Love in New Mexico
AS A BOY, Tom McCain could hop over the backyard wall of his home near Eubank and Menaul boulevards to explore what was then Albuquerque’s northeastern frontier. He looked for horned lizards and…
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Where Wildlife Finds Refuge
BITTER LAKE, ROSWELL Where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the high plains and Pecos River, a surprising oasis teems with life. Across 25,000 ecologically diverse acres, Bitter Lake draws 357 migratory…
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Safe Passage for New Mexico’s Wildlife
IN JULY 2020, Squeaks left Santa Ana Pueblo. Fitted with a GPS tracking collar by the pueblo’s Department of Natural Resources, the subadult male mountain lion made an extraordinary 558-mile journey…
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Bringing Wetlands Back to Life
MOLLIE WALTON KNOWS what the plants underfoot suggest. But just to be sure, the restoration ecologist steps out onto a green patch and bounces, a little like testing a trampoline. “Isn’t that…
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Visit These Wildlife Rescue Centers
NEW MEXICO WILDLIFE CENTER, ESPAÑOLA Off a rural road in Española, the wildlife center’s hospital helps more than 1,000 animals every year. A newborn bobcat kitten, for example, was found on Mother’s…
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Guide to New Mexico's Wildlife
1. Elk “At the turn of the century, there were no elk in New Mexico,” says Garrett VeneKlasen, northern conservation director for the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. “Their comeback has been an…
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