Calling all arachnophobes – 3 new species of spiders have been found in the Great Smoky Mountains Last year, a pair of scientists announced they’d identified 10 new species of spiders, three of them residing in the Smokies. Some are surprised when they announce a new species in the park. However, as someone who has lived around the mountains for
Get a good look – these animals will likely never be seen again in the mountains of East Tennessee As someone who has lived in the Smoky Mountains for nearly 35 years, I often think about the mountains’ history. What was it like when red wolves roamed the hills? Or what would it have been like to see a flock
What you should know about armadillos As an East Tennessean, I have seen plenty of armadillo carcasses. But I’d never found myself face-to-face with one of the nocturnal mammals until recently. I had assumed that armadillos are essentially possums with chain mail. However, it turns out that armadillos have more in common with the anteater than they do the possum,
What you need to know about bobcats As someone who has lived in rural areas up and down East Tennessee, I am familiar with the bobcat. So yes, they do live in Tennessee. In fact, there are bobcats almost everywhere. IN THIS ARTICLE Where do bobcats live? Are they common? Bobcats can be found from Florida and all the way
And why the white squirrel you spotted is probably not albino It may not be a surprise, but a true albino squirrel is significantly rarer than the white squirrel, according to squirrelgazer.com, which reports that 20-30% of the white squirrels in North America are albino. Most reports state that only about 1 in 100,000 squirrels are albino. So how can
Tennessee local lists favorite little-known facts about the Smokies I always say that it’s no surprise an ancient mountain range cloaked in a thick forest and shrouded in mist has secrets. Each year, the mountains reclaim that which was forgotten or abandoned when the park drove away those who’d lived in the mountains. Of course, the National Park Service has
How to tell the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat It’s been more than 100 years since mountain lions have lived in the Smokies. However, if you spend enough time around mountain folk, you’ll hear of someone who knows someone who knows someone who saw a panther – or its prints – in the national park. Sure, the mountains
Surprising facts about black bears and their cubs in the winter months It’s commonly thought that all black bears (both male and female) spend the entire winter sleeping in a dark cave, surviving off a bunch of stored-up body fat. So why do we see so many bears actively roaming alongside deer and elk around the Cades Cove Loop in