YAKIMA, Wash. - We live out in orchard country, so we're never far from nature. Our home, particularly an unfinished part of the basement, seems, much to Ellen's consternation, to be habitat for mice.

On a recent hike on Bothe Napa Valley State Park's trails, I happened upon a beauty of a Pacific gopher snake. As I rounded a bend in the trail near the creek, I nearly stepped on it, as its ...

This time of year, it is not uncommon for hikers to encounter three of our most common and charismatic local snakes – the garter snake, the gopher snake and, of course, the northern pacific ...