Ticks?
Ticks? - Yes. We pulled a tick off of our pup here in Baraboo yesterday! Ticks are typically most active in Wisconsin from May to November. However, adult deer ticks can remain active all year, emerging on warm winter days.…
Frozen 2024
The sun rose for the first time this winter over a completely frozen Devil's Lake on Jan 14th, 2024. The temp at dawn was -10 to -12. The first ice fisherman was out on the ice just one day later,…
Rethinking Our Pines
We all know that planting trees benefits our environment...usually. Looking back, Wisconsin was the nation's top timber producer between 1890-1899. By the 1920s, logging had decimated Wisconsin’s seemingly endless forests. Reforestation efforts ramped up in the 1930s and 40s. In…
Still Color… Thanks Oaks!
There’s still color out there thanks to the oaks! Oaks, being the tough trees they are, wait to change colors after most other trees. Rather than the flashy hues of maples, oaks go for the warm reds, browns, and russets…
Beautiful Green?
There’s still quite a bit of green out in the forests right now. In fact, the less healthy the landscape, the more green it is! This is because when Wisconsin’s native plants are dormant or preparing for winter, foreign invaders…
Fall Color Report Sept 21 – 28, 2023
A little color, mostly green. Yep, it's going to be a quick report this week! The first place we see colors changing with Devil's Lake State Park each year is around roads and parking lots. These trees not only get…
Fall Color Report #1 – 2023
It's that time of year again! Going forward into October we will be sharing our fall color observations for Devil's Lake State Park & the Baraboo Hills each Thursday as we've been doing for many years now. While the Wisconsin…
That Little Blue Flower
What is that blue flower lining some of the roads around Devil's Lake State Park right now? It's chicory! Chicory is native to Eurasia and was brought to America by settlers in the 1700s, originally for medicinal purposes. During the…
A Little Good News for the Bats
Back when I worked at Devil’s Lake State Park in the early ‘90s, naturalist Ken Lange (the park’s first naturalist) would tell us that the north shore bat colony was over 1,000 strong. By 2010, that often-quoted number had dropped…
Air Quality Alert
Now through Thursday, June 29th, our area is under an air quality alert which will impact everyone including those in good health. Keep this in mind before hiking, biking, or putting in any outdoor exertion over the next couple of…