Nature Notes

Few wetland plants are as recognizable as the cattail. These remarkable plants are much more than a picturesque backdrop.

Lyme disease is most common in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and upper-Midwest regions of the United States. While a doctoral student Katharine Walter at Yale School of Public Health describes, “the Lyme disease bacterium has long been endemic,” she said, “but the deforestation and subsequent suburbanization of much of New England and the Midwest created conditions for deer ticks—and the Lyme disease bacterium—to thrive.”

Whether you love them or hate them, bats are incredible creatures. At over 1,300 species, they are the second most numerous order of mammals and make up almost a quarter of the entire mammal kingdom!