Westmoreland Conservancy

06/13/2026

(222/250) The cecropia moth is North America's largest native moth with a wingspan that can measure up to 7 inches across. They're mostly found east of the Rocky Mountains, where females lay eggs on a variety of host plants including cherry, maple and birch trees. Adults don't eat and only live about a week - their only focus is to reproduce.

Photo: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS

06/13/2026

If you've got a cracked flowerpot you were about to toss, stop. It's the best toad house money can't buy, and it goes together in about a minute.

A toad asks for exactly three things: shade, moisture, and a dark place to wait out the daylight. A broken terracotta pot delivers all three for nothing. Here's the whole build.

Take the pot — chipped, cracked, missing a chunk, all fine. Lay it on its side, or set it upside-down and prop one edge up on a stone so the gap becomes a doorway. Tuck it into the shadiest, dampest corner you have: under a shrub, beside the hose bib, behind the AC unit, along the north side of the house. Press the rim a little into the soil so the floor underneath stays cool and damp. That's it. That's the house.

A few touches make it a home. Set a shallow dish of water nearby, with sloped or rough sides so anything that climbs in can climb back out, and a toad will use it to soak. Skip the pesticides anywhere near it — the entire point is the bugs, and a resident toad will patrol your beds every single night and never hand you a bill.

Use terracotta over plastic if you can. Clay breathes and stays cool; plastic bakes. And then leave it completely alone. If the spot is right — shady, damp, undisturbed — something usually moves in within a few weeks, and toads are loyal: find the right address and they'll keep it season after season.

One broken pot, one shady corner, and you've hired a gardener for the price of nothing.

06/13/2026

Every summer somebody spots a wasp the size of a thumb and instantly thinks "murder hornet."

Here's the relief: the northern giant hornet was declared eradicated from the US at the end of 2024, with no confirmed sightings anywhere since 2021. The giant wasp patrolling your lawn is almost always an eastern cicada killer — one of the largest wasps in North America, and a gentle one. The big male that dive-bombs your head has no stinger at all; he's just guarding his patch of dirt. The female can sting but is so docile she won't unless you grab her, and she spends her days hunting cicadas, not people. Tell them apart by the belly, not the size: a giant hornet wears even orange-and-black bands, while a cicada killer has broken, jagged yellow marks on black and rusty amber wings.

The hornet from the headlines is gone. The giant dive-bombing your head can't sting you.

06/13/2026

You brake for a turtle in the road and your first question is the right one: is this one I can just pick up, or the one that'll take a finger? June is turtle-crossing season, and the shell answers it before the turtle can.

Here are the four you're most likely to meet, and the one-glance test.

The painted turtle — smooth, low, dark shell with red edges, palm-sized — is gentle. Lift it by the sides of the shell, keep it level, and set it across the way it was already heading.

The red-eared slider — similar smooth domed shell, with a red stripe behind each eye — is the same deal: harmless, just move it along.

The box turtle — high-domed shell with a hinge that lets it close up like a box — is the one you'll meet on land most. Completely harmless, and it has a tiny home range, so put it down on the same side it was facing and never relocate it.

And the snapper — big, rough, ridged shell, long saw-toothed tail, a head that can reach back over its own body — is the one that needs room. It can't pull into its shell, so it defends with its jaws. Don't lift it by the tail; that injures its spine. Slide it onto a mat or nudge it from behind, in the direction it was going.

One test sorts them all: a turtle that tucks fully into a smooth or hinged shell is gentle. The one with a long tail that can't tuck in is the snapper. Either way the rule is the same.

Help it across. Always the direction it chose.

06/12/2026

So very honored to be a part of this amazing group!

🙌 Collaboration is conservation in action.

Today we had the pleasure of hanging out with an incredible group of regional conservation leaders at St. Xavier Nature Preserve, and we hope the group will continue to expand! We were grateful to spend time with friends from Allegheny Land Trust, Westmoreland Conservancy, Indiana County Conservation District, Hollow Oak Land Trust, Conemaugh Valley Conservancy , Murrysville Area Watershed Association, and Westmoreland Conservation District.

While each organization serves a unique role, we share a common goal: protecting the natural resources, land, waterways, wildlife habitat, and special places that we all share. We left inspired by the knowledge and dedication represented around this tree—and excited about the possibilities for future collaboration.

Here's to working together to conserve more land, steward it well, and ensure future generations can enjoy the benefits of our shared landscapes that know no boundaries. 🌳💚

If your organization is interested in joining the conversation, please reach out!

06/10/2026

06/07/2026

Celebrating the graduation of Dr. Dalton Summerhill. Dalton was Westmoreland Conservancy’s very first Student Board Member in 2017. He played an active role, visiting properties and helping to finalize our “new” logo. He set a precedent that laid the groundwork for new outreach and activities.
Congratulations, Dalton! We’re proud of you🎉❣️

05/24/2026

Seasons on the Land Hike Series w/Lindsey, Spring Edition.