Jim Gilbert

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Jim Gilbert

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Outdoors Journal: Red foxes monogamous for one season

Red foxes are relatively solitary animals but by late January we sometimes see two sets of fox prints, side-by-side. They probably are monogamous for one season at a time, but might mate for life. They breed in January or February, and the females usually bear four to six young after a 51-day gestation. The family occupies a burrow, which the foxes dig themselves or remodel from the den of another mammal.

Updated: January 29, 2009, - 10:54 PM

Outdoors Journal: Early sounds of spring

Sounds of the awakening season fill the late January air. Listen for the "what-cheer, cheer, cheer ..." spring song of...

Updated: January 22, 2009, - 11:07 PM

Outdoors Journal: Fish under the ice

Ice covers all Minnesota lakes except Lake Superior at this time. Under this concealment, fish and other animals are...

Updated: January 08, 2009, - 10:00 PM

Outdoors Journal: Northern cardinals

The northern cardinal is a nonmigrator and is one of the common year-round birdfeeder birds in the Twin Cities area.

Updated: December 25, 2008, - 11:33 PM

Outdoors Journal: Flying squirrels

Flying squirrels don't hibernate, although during an extreme cold spell they might huddle together in groups in a state of light transitory hibernation known as torpor. Because they are strictly nocturnal, we rarely see these restless little squirrels. However, they are common woodland creatures and readily come to wildlife feeding stations for seeds and suet. A spotlight aimed on your feeders will not keep them away, but will give you an opportunity to watch them feed.

Updated: November 20, 2008, - 11:12 PM

Outdoors Journal: Those that fly in V-shaped wedges

As a bird flaps its wings, it disturbs the air and leaves whirling eddies behind. Some species, such as the Canada goose, have learned to take advantage of the upward disturbed air created off the wings of others in the flock by flying in a V-formation. Each bird thus adds the lift lost by the bird ahead to its own. This "drafting" allows the geese to travel at an easier pace through their long flights. Researchers have found that the reduced resistance allows geese flying in V's to fly as much as about 70 percent farther than they could individually.

Updated: October 30, 2008, - 08:21 PM

Outdoors Journal

Of all the tree species in North America, quaking aspen has the widest distribution. It is found from northern Alaska to Labrador, and south to Pennsylvania on into the alpine reaches of Mexico. Those long, flattened and flexible leafstalks make the silver-dollar-sized leaves flutter in the slightest breeze, creating a rustling serenade and a quivering appearance as if the tree is being viewed through hot, shimmering air. From this arose the two popular names for Populus tremuloides, "quaking" and "trembling" aspen. The leaves are dark green in summer and turn golden yellow in the fall.

Updated: October 09, 2008, - 11:49 PM