North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Habitat Stewards of Northeastern NC has organized the hands-on volunteer effort from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday to uproot the invasive Japanese stiltgrass along the park’s Coleman Trail.
Wildlife
Biologists heartened by red wolf program’s recent successes
While still far from recovered, more endangered eastern red wolves in northeastern North Carolina are breeding, more pups are surviving, coyote hybridization has been cut, and there are fewer mortalities from vehicle strikes and gunshots.
Wild herd, long shadows
Wild horses cross tidal waters from Town Marsh to Bird Shoal along Beaufort’s barrier islands, which are part of the Rachel Carson Reserve, in Carteret County. The cluster of islands includes Carrot Island, Town Marsh, Bird Shoal, and Horse Island, and the horses are descended from those brought to the islands by a Beaufort area resident in the 1940s, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The state manages the horse population for its health and for the health of the environment, but the herd is otherwise left to fend and forage for itself. Photo: Dylan Ray
Coastal habitats are North Carolina’s hidden climate engines
North Carolina’s abundant coastal wetland ecosystems are highly effective carbon storehouses, serving to slow climate change’s pace while also providing vital fish nurseries, wildlife havens and storm buffers.
US Fish and Wildlife proposes listing Southern hognose snake
More than 12 years after the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the agency, its officials proposed on Thursday listing the southern hognose snake as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Conservation group’s US 64 study finds ‘remarkable carnage’
More than 5,000 vertebrates representing 144 species of wildlife were killed on U.S. Highway 64 just halfway through a two-year survey.
Night flyer out on a limb
A male luna moth, or Actias luna, finds a perch in the branches of a Japanese maple near Russell Creek in Beaufort. The easily identified species flies mostly at night and is found statewide this time of year in and near hardwood forests, wooded residential areas and, on North Carolina’s barrier islands, in maritime forests. Adult luna moths do not feed and live off food they consumed as caterpillars for the moths’ seven- to 10-day lifespan.
Driver who struck wild horse in Currituck County identified
Trevor Odell Belcher of Greenville, Tennessee, was driving a 2010 Chevrolet, traveling south on Sandfiddler Road when he struck the horse that was crossing in the path of his vehicle.
Coexisting with coyotes workshop set for Aug. 27 in Ocracoke
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are cohosting the public workshop on coyotes.
Driver strikes, kills 10-year-old stallion in Currituck County
Francisco was an otherwise healthy wild horse with a harem of four mares, a yearling colt, and a four-month-old colt.
Cape Lookout duck blind permit lottery to run Aug. 26-28
Lottery winners will be able to select their duck blind location within the Cape Lookout National Seashore during in-person appointments Sept. 12 at the Harkers Island visitor center.
State wildlife agency seeks conservation steward nominations
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is accepting nominations for the annual Thomas L. Quay Award through Friday.
Tales from the dunes: Butterflies in science, sentiment
NC State and North Carolina Aquarium researchers have traipsed across sand to study the crystal skipper, a butterfly known for its white speckled wings that can only be found in the Bogue Banks area.
Wildlife agency releases draft species management plan
Public comments will be accepted through July 5 to the draft update of the North Carolina State Wildlife Action Plan, which identifies and prioritizes species of greatest conservation need in the state.
Shorebirds among species in steepest decline in latest count
Audubon’s 2025 State of the Birds Report shows East Coast species such as least terns, American oystercatchers and piping plovers are diminished in numbers with shorebirds most heavily represented among those at a perilous tipping point.
Tabb’s Trails: Jockey’s Ridge State Park celebrates 50 years
The 426-acre state park in Nags Head is a harsh environment but rewards with self-guided trails taking hikers through dunes, foliage and by flowering plants swarmed by pollinators.
