[...] 
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Chris Wemmer describes a school program that uses camera traps (a/k/a scout cameras, game cameras) to interest kids in wildlife.
Theodicy at the bird feeder, from Partially Clips, "a Web comic for grownups." (Click image to embiggen.) 
With strikes by postal workers underway, a British newspaper looks fondly at a pigeon-mail system in Larimer County, Colorado. [...] 
Not really new stuff -- there were man vs. horse races in the 19th century, and the man could win over distance -- but the New York Times joins the reaction against high-tech running shoes. [...] 
A Kansas hunter photographs a mountain lion, documenting their return to that state. The photo was taken near WaKeeney, in west-central Kansas.
Above: Earthwatch volunteers excavate Columbian mammoth skeletons. The skull of a short-faced bear sits on the green sheet of paper at lower center.
Above: Kids peer up at calcite crystals as our Park Service tour guide describes the formation of Jewel Cave.
Above: the State Game Lodge at Custer State Park, built in the 1920s, with its two recent wings.
Wind Cave National Park ranger Garrett Roke leads a tour underground.
When the first tinge of orange appears on the scrub oaks, the Mexican sunflowers (a/k/a Maximilian['s] sunflower—Helianthus maximiliani) are blooming. They are a New World plant, although not native this far north, where they need extra water, especially in early summer.
From Popular Mechanics, one version of a "10 Most Dangerous Plants" list. I am not surprised that one of the Daturas made the list. I think the New World wins, overall. [...] 
