Durham Wildlife Stewards

06/13/2026

On Thursday, June 11, the Durham Wildlife Stewards hosted a Frog Walk at Sandy Creek Park, led by Dr. Nicolette Cagle of Duke and her veterinarian husband, Dr Mark. We saw northern cricket frogs, green tree frogs, a green frog and a bull frog. We also saw fishing spiders (and their green eyeshine), beavers swimming, and bats flying over the water — and a northern water snake!. The four children there made it even more magical. Next up: Moth Night, July 24 - registration opening soon. Photos by Gloria Johnson. With Betsy Ross and 2 others at Sandy Creek Park.

06/08/2026

Excellent story on the red wolf, which was nearly extinct in the wild and then reintroduced in eastern NC on two National Wildlife Refuges. People running over them on U.S. 64 and people actually shooting them have put them back on the brink. Featured in the story is Durham resident Ron Sutherland, chief scientist for the Wildlands Network and an expert on conservation and ecology.

Over 25 years, the red wolf went from being declared extinct in the wild to becoming hailed as an Endangered Species Act success story.

06/08/2026

Eastern Rat Snakes (Pantherophis alleghaniensis = P. obsoletus obsoletus) are a common sight this time of year around homes, buildings, forest edges, and on road surfaces. Many people call them Black Rat Snakes or Black Snakes. Regardless of what you might call them, Eastern Rat Snakes are non-venomous (they’re constrictors), are not aggressive, and pose no risk to people, cats, or dogs. As with other snakes, if you simply leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone.

Eastern Rat Snakes are generally active during the daytime and are semi-arboreal (spend part of their life in trees). It’s not uncommon to spot one in a tree, bush, or up in the rafters of a building. They’re large, growing to a length of 5 - 8 feet, which is probably why some folks fear them. Mice, rats, voles, and chipmunks are common prey, so these harmless snakes are a *great* form of natural pest control around the your yard or on the farm.

This one is displaying its kinking behavior. It’s thought that they do this when they feel threatened while on the ground. Its irregular outline may aid in camouflage from predators in certain situations. Copperheads, hawks, raccoons, and coyotes will eat Eastern Rat Snakes but their biggest threats are likely cars, lawnmowers, and people with a misguided fear of any snake.

06/08/2026

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1459881705868604

05/27/2026

Book recommendation: Crossings, by Ben Goldfarb, about how roads and cars are a major threat to all wildlife - splitting and isolating populations so that they get in**ed, for instance -- and of course slaughtering them by the millions. Wildlife crossing structures are a big solution - special over- or underpasses across highways, with fences guiding the animals to the pathway.

05/27/2026

Update on the snapping turtle: The next day a neighbor emailed me to say he'd been seeing that turtle around that area for ten years, that she'd been hit by a car and her shell had cracked. He had borrowed my cart, which I keep at the project site, to transport her from the road back to the creek. People really care about animals. And cars and roads are the biggest threat to them.

05/26/2026

On Memorial Day morning, a snapping turtle burrowed into a path in the Elderberry Wood* and laid eggs. We'll see what happens with them -- the vast majority of turtle eggs get eaten by other animals. Which is why the turtles lay lots of batches of eggs. I was surprised; I've seen box turtles in the EW but this is my first snapping turtle.

* the habitat restoration project I lead in the Woodcroft neighborhood in Durham

05/26/2026

This guy is hilarious, who is he and what is he doing in Richmond County, NC with his Northern accent? (Which exit? Ah, this guy.) He says we should be planting dwarf sumac (Rhus michauxii) on NC roadsides. Not likely since this is actually an endangered plant, since habitat fragmentation has largely separated the male from the female populations. The state is managing the populations that exist. But maybe we SHOULD start propagating this and planting it on roadsides. It's a host plant for the Luna moth.

05/15/2026

N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson thanked all of us who work to protect and conserve our wild lands and animals at the N.C. Wildlife Federation's conservation awards banquet on Saturday, May 2. "The reason they're [future generations] going to be able to enjoy these natural resources is because of you, and your work. Because you saved it for them. If you hadn't, it wouldn't be there, because of the pressure that always exists to take more and more, and to treat these finite resources as if they are fully expendable. The protection and the care, the strategy and the thoughtfulness, all of it is combined to give to the next generation -- to give to my kids - exactly what we all had. I'm so grateful for that - grateful for you. And you have a partner at N.C.D.O.J."

05/14/2026

Come to our Nature Walk this Saturday from 8:30am to 10am at Sandy Creek Park. Did you know this park is full of wildlife, from birds to beavers to frogs to crayfish? Did you know what the land was before it was a park? DWS board member and birder Betsy Ross will tell you all the fascinating secrets. Children welcome. Register here: