[caption id="attachment_3062" align="alignright" width="458"] An Eastern Milk Snake.[/caption] By Assistant Regional Wildlife Biologist Kendall Marden “Its brown and black with diamond patterns on its back and it is a couple of feet long!”  That's the usual statement received by MDIFW Biologists and Game Wardens from concerned callers who have come across an unidentified snake.

[caption id="attachment_3087" align="alignright" width="346"] Beal Pond has a reputation for producing quality size brook trout.[/caption] By MDIFW Fisheries Biologist Liz Thorndike The nights are getting cooler as fall is approaching (if you don’t believe me, Dunkin’ Donuts is already serving pumpkin spice coffee!) and sportsmen’s thoughts are shifting from fishing towards hunting.

[caption id="attachment_772" align="aligncenter" width="640"] American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus Doug Hitchcox[/caption] A great and fun way to support the Maine Bird Atlas project is to Sponsor a Species. Each of Maines 224 breeding bird species have been divided into sponsorship levels ranging from $30-$2,000 and are available to sponsor for each year of the project.

[caption id="attachment_769" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus Doug Hitchcox[/caption] July is a great month for atlasing Adults can easily be seen carrying food, baby birds are chasing their parents around begging for meals, there are even some birds working on a second (or third) brood already.

By Assistant Regional Wildlife Biologist Brad Zitske Working as a wildlife biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in the busiest region in the state means I spend a lot of time talking with people. In fact, we tend to work with people more than we work with wildlife itself. Many wildlife biologists get into the career to further their education of species and habitats and to spend time outside enjoying the natural resources that we are mandated to protect, preserve, and enhance.

By Jeremy Clark, Resource Manager – Lands Program Since Fall 2016, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) Regional Biologists and Resource Managers from the Lands Program have planted over 3,100 shrubs to bolsterwildlife habitat at Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area. The Scarborough planting project aims to fast-track the succession of once-maintained fields to shrubland and young forest habitat.

By Assitant Regional Fisheries Biologist Wes Ashe Maranacook Lake is an 1800-acre water in Kennebec County, and is one of the jewels in the Winthrop lakes region.  Maranacook is almost like two lakes, with its northern basin that is relatively shallow and approximately 700 acres, and the 1,000 acre south basin that reaches depths of 118 feet and boasts a robust cold water

[caption id="attachment_3034" align="alignright" width="323"] Tom Schaeffer was all smiles when getting ready to retire after over 40 years with the Department in the Downeast region.[/caption] Yesterday, The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said good bye to the third of three biologists who have retired in in the past month.