Crittering About Me
My name is James Beissel. I combine wildlife, photography, and adventure into something that I just call “crittering”. Colorado is home to approximately 130 species of mammals. My quest is to find and photograph as many of them as possible, to share their stories, and to pay tribute to the incredible biodiversity of this state. Since 2012, I’ve been working my way through a list of 70 of these species and now… Read More
Next Tuesday, January 21st, is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. Initially founded in 2001 by North Carolina wildlife rehabilitator Christy Hargrove, this event celebrates the squirrel and all of its unique squirrel-ness. Let’s dig in and explore some of the top five reasons to appreciate squirrels! They Provide Beneficial Ecosystem Services Squirrels can be messy eaters, and that is good news for the trees and plants that produce the pine cones, nuts, and… Read More
There is often some confusion among newcomers to Colorado between bighorn sheep and mountain goats. I often overhear this at places like Mount Evans, where you could very likely see both in the same day, or maybe even at the same time! I’ll admit, I was a little “fuzzy” on the differences when I started on my journey. One of my first photos of bighorn sheep in Colorado came from Ouray, where… Read More
What’s the difference between a possum and an opossum? In the United States, the two words are used interchangeably to refer to the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), even though, technically speaking, a possum is an Australian marsupial of no close relation. Whatever you prefer, this is is a fascinating creature that often carries an undeserved bad reputation. I grew up in rural Michigan where we called them ‘possums, and if you said… Read More
The flying squirrel may own the title of Colorado’s rarest mammal because just one single specimen has ever been recorded in the state. Although they are only found in a small sliver of the state, this probably has more to do with how difficult it is to find them, and not as much to do with the size of the population. The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) is common in northern latitudes of the… Read More
Madera Canyon, Arizona, is one of my favorite places to unwind, explore, and photograph nature. Just a few miles from the mouth of the canyon, Bill Forbes has a backyard pond that provides a unique opportunity to photograph bats in flight using a camera trap system called the Phototrap, which Bill builds and sells. With my sights set on capturing photos of Colorado’s rare flying squirrels, I thought trying my hand at bats… Read More
Blue light fills the cab of my pickup as lightning crashes into the ground all around me. In the midst of a fierce desert thunderstorm, I am watching an animal that hasn’t been documented in Colorado for nearly 20 years – Vulpes macrotis, commonly known as the kit fox. The kit fox is an arid land fox inhabiting the sagebrush and shrubland west of the Rocky Mountains. It has a slim body… Read More
Somebody pinch me. Did this really happen? I just returned from visiting Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and photographing not one, but two, Canada lynx in the wild. The Canada lynx is a Colorado state endangered species. For the protection of these animals, details regarding whereabouts have been omitted. You may wonder, how does one go about photographing a Canada lynx in the wild? When I set out on this project three years… Read More
The short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) is Colorado’s smallest native carnivore. In summer, this diminutive weasel sports a chocolate brown coat with a light underbelly. In winter, it transforms to pure white except for a black tipped tail. In this white phase, the short-tailed weasel is often referred to as an ermine. I have now photographed 56 species of the 70 species in my Colorado Mammals Project. Of the 14 species that remain, ten are… Read More
Crittering 