Wildlife

Opossums hiss, growl, click, screech and sneeze, but the hiss is almost always bluff. What each sound means and why most night noise is not an opossum at all.

Most red butterflies are really orange. The red admiral comes closest in North America. Which species qualify, why true red is rare, and what a sighting means.

A baby hognose hoods like a cobra, strikes with its mouth shut, then plays dead. All bluff. Identification, whether they bite, and what keeping one really involves.

The red-spotted purple mimics the toxic pipevine swallowtail and never visits flowers. Identification, host plants, why it seems rare, and how to attract it.

Ladybugs are beetles, not bugs, and the spots mark the species rather than the age. Life cycle, colours, biting, the Asian lady beetle problem and garden value.

A deer crossing your path signals gentleness, intuition and a new direction. Traditions across cultures, plus why deer appear at dawn and what to do on the road.

Rabbit sounds decoded: what thumping means, why rabbits scream at night, and the critical difference between a contented purr and pain tooth grinding.

Antennae settle it: butterflies end in a club, moths never do. Every other rule has exceptions. Posture, cocoons, colour, and why butterflies are technically moths.

Crickets chirp with their wings, not their legs, and only males can. The four cricket songs, why they call at night, and how chirp rate tells you the temperature.

Owl pellets come up through the beak as dry fur and bone. Owl poop goes out the vent as white whitewash. How to tell them apart and read an active roost.