Claire Barber

Last week, a wolverine was captured on cell phone and security camera footage walking through the streets of Eugene, Oregon. “This sighting and where it occurred is probably a once in a lifetime observation. So the people that were able to see the animal should really cherish that moment,” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Regional Biologist Christopher Yee told KEZI. Learn how to subscribe to the new Field & Stream magazine here! William Gonia ran out of his home with a camer…

We wanted to know: Can you Hinger or Tinder your way to a ski community?

In late July, a black bear was found taking a nap in an unusual spot: A six-foot-wide bald eagle nest. The nest and the bear were seen at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage, Alaska during a wildlife study conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). “In the past, a few eagle nests have been raided by black bears with predictably bad results for the nesting eagles,” wrote the USFWS in a recent Facebook post. According to agency, the eagles that occupied the nest w…

A recent video out of Florida shows an alligator preying on an unsuspecting snake in an unlikely place. The footage was posted to Facebook by homeowner Sean O’Malley on May 1 and shared in an article by Fox 35 Orlando on July 18. It captures the gator crawling through O’Malley’s well-manicured lawn before it bum-rushes and locks its powerful jaws on a long black snake lying in the sun. See it for yourself below. “Little gator vs big snake. Who did I root for?” O’Malley wrote in the post.…

Great white sharks are making their presence known off the coast of Massachusetts this season. Last year, 133 sharks were reported off the Cape. This year, boaters and beachgoers are seeing the sharks with even more frequency. The rise in great white shark sightings represents a marked increase from the early 2000s, when researchers were hard-pressed to find and tag Great Whites in New England waters at all. Greg Skomal, a well-known great white shark researcher in New England told Scientifi…

Malea Tribble and Gabriel Barajas were paddling the 80 miles between Bimini, Bahamas and the Florida coast when a hammerhead shark decided to investigate their paddle boards. Tribble, who is a three-time participant in The Crossing event—an annual fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis community—was followed closely by the shark until her husband directed her to the safety of a nearby support boat. “I didn’t have time to allow myself to be scared,” Tribble said in a Facebook post from the event.…

On May 19, a 13-inch northern snakehead, an invasive fish from East Asia, was caught in Southeastern, Missouri in the Duck Creek Conservation area. The fish, believed to be about one year old, spells trouble for the region. Snakeheads are known to be able to survive out of the water for days. The fish can grow up to 3 feet long and eat any prey that can fit in their wide mouths, including crayfish, small fish, insects, and even ducklings. According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch, the first nor…

For one fishing team, the “tax man” took a brutally large chunk of change and just a small chunk of flesh earlier this month. Not that the shark would care. The incident took place in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, which had 271 participating boats and took place in Morehead City, North Carolina. One team “Sensation,” came into the dock at 11:30 p.m. on June 17, after fighting a blue marlin catch for six hours. The fish weighed in unofficially at 619.4 pounds. But, as the fish was…

This month, the world’s largest captive crocodile reportedly turned 120 years old. The croc, named Cassius, holds the Guinness World Record for its size — a whopping 17 feet, 11.75 inches long. The “birthday” is just an estimated milestone, according to researchers, as the crocodile was originally born in the wild. “He was big and old when we caught him, and 38 years later, he’s still alive,” crocodile researcher Graeme Webb told the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC). “That’s giving us s…

Ryan Campbell was riding on a gondola at Mammoth Mountain in California when he spotted something unusual out the window: a wolverine running up a ski jump. Once Campbell had a chance to capture the wolverine on camera, the animal darted into nearby trees for cover as a skier approached. Wolverines were wiped out of California during westward expansion. It was thought that the last wolverine in California died in 1922. But, Campbell’s sighting is an exciting sign and the second wolverine to…

A video of a massive snapping turtle dubbed “Chonkosaurus” is going viral—for good reason. The video was posted to Twitter by Joey Santore. It shows a particularly chunky snapping turtle basking on some old chains in the Chicago River while Santore paddles by. Santore is a YouTuber, who calls his media strategy a “Low-Brow, Crass Approach to Plant Ecology & Evolution as muttered by a Misanthropic Chicago Italian.” He is a self-taught botanist and his channel is dubbed “Crime Pays but Botany D…

Amber Hall was enjoying her new dream home in Colorado—until she noticed her dog staring at a spot near the back of her garage. When Hall went to investigate, she saw snakes slither up the wall. The snakes were coiled up in a crevice near the door to the garage and were unusually large. In a span of just over a week, Hall found 10 snakes. “It’s rough. I’m 42 years old, and this is my first home,” Hall told ABC 7. “I’ve worked my whole life for [this house], and I can’t enjoy it.” Hall has…

As their mating season begins, alligators are out in full force in the sunshine state, disrupting traffic and daily routines, sometimes evenly severely injuring residents. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), “alligators are more active and visible” as the weather warms and the mating season kicks off. So, all the chaos this season is relatively routine. Relatively. The likelihood of getting seriously injured by an alligator is slim, but attacks are not unheard of and…

Last week, Oklahoma angler Gabe Brannick caught a truly massive bighead carp. At 110.1 pounds, the carp is over 20 pounds heavier than the standing IGFA world record—a 90-pounder caught by Jeffrey Rorex in 2005. Brannick was fishing with High Water Guide Service. They were trying to snag a paddlefish on the Neosho River when Brannick inadvertently hooked into the jumbo-size carp. Since the fish was caught by snagging, it is not eligible for the world record spot. “These fish pack a lot of…

A two-foot-long rodent, which most resembles a beaver and muskrat, is wreaking havoc in Californian wetlands. Nutria — introduced to the U.S. from South America in 1899 — are a highly destructive animal, whose deep burrows have been known to take down levees and dams and decimate vegetation. The Mendota Wildlife Refuge, known for its legendary duck hunting in the San Joaquin Valley, is a recent victim of this rodent’s invasion. Greg Gerstenberg, former head of the nutria eradication project…

This past week, Kym Clark, a hobby wildlife photographer, came across one of the Everglades’ most well-known residents: Croczilla. The crocodile is estimated to be 14 feet long and is rumored by park staff and tour guides to be the largest in the park. “There he was right there on the shoreline looking right at me. He almost didn’t look real. He was huge,” Clark told F&S. “I couldn’t pull myself away. It was so interesting, and I knew it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Th…

The Florida Everglades is having an ecological crisis beneath the water’s surface. A recent study published in Science of the Total Environment shows that the Asian swamp eel, which has been spreading through the Everglades since 2010, has drastically impacted native crayfish and fish populations. Researchers found that the Everglades crayfish and slough crayfish populations have fallen by 99 percent. Additionally, the flagfish population has declined by 99 percent, and the marsh killifish by 91…

Six men from the Denver metro area have pleaded guilty to taking salmon using illegal methods in October of 2022 while in Michigan. The group now owes over $6,000 in fines for their actions. According to a press release, conservation officers Josiah Killingbeck and Scott MacNeil from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) were conducting a fish patrol along the Manistee River when they received a tip from an angler that men were using illegal methods and equipment to take fish.…

Some things make you think: only in Florida. This is one of them. A recent viral video posted on Instagram by an account known as “Only In Florida” appears to show a man at a Florida spring feeding an alligator a piece of bread or sandwich. The man is sitting chest-deep in the water with a woman while others appear to be partying and filming on the bank nearby. The pair in the water feed what looks like a bit of sandwich to the gator, and the man gives the dangerous reptile a pat under its jaw b…

In an attempt to understand the ski cat phenomenon, we attempted to interview Gary and Liebchen. Forgive the language barrier. Meow.