Loti’s Lens

Loti’s Lens

Curious as to where the only wild red wolves live in the US, why flying squirrels glow pink in the dark, or what it is like to walk with polar bears? Want to learn more about the underdogs in nature?

Join us as we look through our lens and follow our fascinations in learning all about our misunderstood critters. Fall in love with opossums, bats and yes, even snakes.

And let us know your fascination. You just might see it featured here!

Moths vs Butterflies: Both are Amazing Pollinators

Moths vs Butterflies: Both are Amazing Pollinators

I never thought of moths as pollinators until recently. Their cousins, the butterfly, get a lot more attention. But moths are vital parts of nature and come in so many varieties.  And they are fascinating so let’s learn more! First, what is a moth? An insect, of course, which is a group of animals with six legs and antennae. An interesting side note, spiders are not insects because they have eight legs. Hmm.

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Gray Foxes: The Joy of Living with Them

Gray Foxes: The Joy of Living with Them

The leaves next to Dale’s studio are rustling. Cool, it must be our resident black snake, who we haven’t seen in a long time.  Then a tiny nose pokes around the corner. This isn’t our snake, but a baby fox. I’m about to have heart failure I am so excited. We have a baby fox living under our studio! Wondering if it’s a red or gray fox, I can’t tell. We have both living in our woods and this one is so little.

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How to Plant a Tree

How to Plant a Tree

How do you plant a tree? Ok, I have to confess I have never really thought about it. You dig a hole and put the tree in it. Wrong! Apparently, we are one of the last to know the proper way to plant a tree. Adding over 1,000 native trees and bushes to our landscape the past several years, we have planted them all incorrectly. Who knew there is a right and wrong way?

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How to Do Successful Wildlife Rescues

How to Do Successful Wildlife Rescues

Are you helping or hindering when you do wildlife rescues? Well, let’s start at the beginning. What happens when you see an animal in distress? You want to help it, of course. But, are you helping or hurting the very animal you are trying to save…

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Creating a Red Wolf Sculpture

Creating a Red Wolf Sculpture

A red wolf sculpture was not on our minds when we visited the NC Zoo in 2018. But after seeing their red wolves for the first time, we learned the only wild ones in the entire world (yes, on the whole planet) live in our home state of North Carolina. And with less than 20 left in the wild and just over 250 in captivity, they are critically endangered and may soon become extinct (again) in the wild.

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Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles

What exactly are sea turtles? We think of them as the mariners of the sea. And they have superpowers! But let’s start at the beginning. First, what are they?

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Frog Skin: The Ultimate In Recycling

Frog Skin: The Ultimate In Recycling

Frog skin. I never really thought about it.  Other than it feels slimy to the touch. Hmmm, bet you never thought about it either, did you? But it could just be the best use of recycling we have seen. No way. Frogs (& toads) are good recyclers?

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Porcupines

Porcupines

Do you know porcupines climb trees? American porcupines are another misunderstood animal. Many folks believe they can shoot their quills at you? But it’s just not true.

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Horseshoe Crab Blood: How It Can Save Your Life

Horseshoe Crab Blood: How It Can Save Your Life

We just got our first COVID-19 vaccine. Which is a little scary since the vaccine is brand new. But we take comfort the vaccine is free of bacteria since it is tested with a substance called LAL. But our comfort quickly vanishes when we learn LAL is made from the blood of horseshoe crabs. Whoa. Horseshoe crab blood! How can that be?

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Jellyfish

Jellyfish

Have you wondered if a jellyfish is a fish? You know the slimy blobs you see on the beach?  When you start learning some jellyfish facts, you realize they are really cool creatures. So let’s dive in (and yes, pun intended!)

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Amazing Pollinators in the Garden

Amazing Pollinators in the Garden

How many pollinators in the garden can you name? Well, of course, there are bees and butterflies, but what about hummingbird moths, lizards, wasps, ants and opossums? Wait, they all help pollinate your flowers? They do and wow, are they all misunderstood.

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Two Best Trees For Wildlife

Two Best Trees For Wildlife

Who would have thought oak trees support more wildlife than any other tree. I know it came as a surprise to us. Trees and wildlife. We never really thought about the connection until we started learning how to help wildlife on our 3-acre homestead. And what we learned? Hundreds of animals count on trees to help them survive.

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Why Wildlife Corridors are Critical to Our Wildlife’s Survival

Why Wildlife Corridors are Critical to Our Wildlife’s Survival

A wildlife corridor. Now, what might that be? We have to admit, we haven’t thought much about them until recently. It goes back to the silly joke “why does the chicken cross the road?” The answer: “to get to the other side”. But what if there is a major highway in the way? It might not be able to cross at all or it might get smushed while crossing. Uh oh. Not good.

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Benefits of Bogs

Benefits of Bogs

Have you ever slogged a bog (a new term we made up to describe walking through a bog)? If not, you have missed a unique, very fun experience to learn about the benefits of bogs. They are one of the most important and oldest (some are thousands of years old) ecosystems on our planet. Yet very few of us have actually experienced being in one.

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Extinct No More

Extinct No More

Extinct species? What do a giant tortoise and a giant bee have in common? They are both big? True, but even better, they both were thought to be extinct and have been newly discovered alive. How exciting! A Giant Tortoise on Fernandina Island in The Galapagos was discovered on Feb 17, 2019, during the filming of an episode of Animal Planet. The female is estimated to be over 100 years old and had not been seen since 1906. Now the hunt begins for other members of her species.

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Falling in Love

Falling in Love

Fate. Falling in love. A broken sculpture, a missed art opening, and a chance encounter. It sounds like a mystery. Hmmm. We hear so much about “it is meant to be”,  “things always have a way of working out”, and “as one door closes another opens”. In our case, it is all of the above.

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Keystone Species: The Remarkable Benefits

Keystone Species: The Remarkable Benefits

I keep reading about keystone species. But what is one exactly?  Is it a new type of animal or plant? Not exactly, but let’s start with a comparison. Think about what a starfish and an elephant might have in common. They eat different things. Starfish eat meat (hmm, that’s interesting) and elephants eat plants. There are only 3 species of elephant, but over 2,000 species of starfish.

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Lynn, North Carolina, 28750

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