UpNorthica

 If you’ve been out in the Northwoods this year you may have noticed it’s a little easier to catch a glimpse of black bears (hopefully not while the’yre eating your food). While they aren’t as thick as mosquitos, the black bear population is at an all-time high. A study done by Timothy Van Deelen, a […]

Recent heavy rains have caused flooded basements and washed out roadways, making things rather difficult (if not disastrous) for human-types in far Northern Minnesota. So, how are the wood-folk handling the high waters?
This article details which fish and wildlife species are struggling, and which may serve to actually benefit from the changes. Most of those […]

We just posted some images from a recent 3-day hike along the Superior Hiking Trail. It’s been a few weeks since, but we’re still enjoying the blazing green hues of new growth; the fresh signs of wildlife in the mud and mossy duff; and the smell of chili with chorizo sausage links at the […]

These photos made me smile. A family in Alaska had only assembled their backyard playset the night before they spied these bears breaking in the new equipment.
This is exactly why the idea of ‘fun-looking’ family tents like REI’s Hobitat 4, worries me just a tad. I’ll stick with plain and utilitarian, thank you.
via Treehugger.

Last Mother’s Day, I packed my wife in a boat and sent her down the river.
I didn’t buy any presents. There were no flowers or truffles, no pomegranate-clove scented facial scrubs in a gift bag with curlicue paper confetti; not this time. Instead, I launched her and her kayak into a half-day’s worth of solitude […]

Research findings of a Brigham Young University wildlife biologist show bear spray to be a far more effective deterrent to aggressive bears, than guns are. On average, it takes four shots from a gun to stop a bear, with your odds of success being about 66%. But based on the research, opening up a can […]

It was announced yesterday that the Minnesota state bird is receiving a 1.8 million dollar inheritance. Retired schoolteacher Iva Weir vacationed often here. Apparently, often enough to become quite attached to the estimated 12,000 loons that inhabit Minnesota’s waterways. Having lived frugally, she donated all her cash savings to the Minnesota chapter of The Nature […]

Lately, I’ve been posting a bit about Northern Minnesota wildlife that’s either become increasingly uncommon, or increasingly unwelcome. But I’m happy to report there are all kinds of wonders for new eyes to discover, as well.
It was my wife who first spotted several odd things floating just under the surface of Ruby Lake, as we […]

We’ve added a few new pieces to the Vintage Wildlife Illustrations Flickr set. Grab your fieldglass and have a look.

It’s the first confirmed presence in the state in over 100 years, in fact. After an Oshkosh resident spooked the large cat from a his neighbor’s barn, he called in state biologists for a look. Though results on the cat’s paternal DNA aren’t yet in, testing has revealed its mother to be North American, meaning […]

I just read this article on the discovery of a certain code within the territorial calls of the male loon. Behaviorists have observed that when a loon responds to an intruding male’s call, he does so in a distinctive yodel. The pitch of this yodel, contains information about that resident loon’s weight, in answer to […]

Check out our collection of Vintage Wildlife Illustrations, a new set in the UpNorthica Flickr Pool. I’ll post about respective authors another time, but the pen and ink illustrations and overall page designs really deserve appreciation. Enjoy, there are more to come.

There’s no shortage of exotic ways to tackle Northern Minnesota’s backcountry. There’s canoe camping, dogsledding, snowshoeing with pulk sleds in winter… you can even x-country ski from yurt to yurt. But here’s something we don’t yet have:
Pathfinder Lapland is a reindeer-trekking guide service in the northernmost reaches of Sweden. Lennart Pittja’s business not only keeps […]

John James Audubon may have never made it to Minnesota, but he knew the birds of our state better than most any of us ever will. His seminal work Birds of America contains 435 incredible full color life size plates. The University of Pittsburgh, which owns a rare full copy, has made each plate available […]

As today’s Duluth Tribune reports, Minnesota is among several states under consideration for more designated critical habitat lands for the Canada lynx. How much more? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is wanting as many as 8,266 square miles. This, up from 317, as proposed in 2006.
Furthermore, these areas would cover much of the […]