South Dakota is located in the Midwestern United States and consists mostly of rolling hills and grasslands. Thanks to its rivers and glacial lakes, it also boasts more coastline than… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
Gail Baker Nelson
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Gail Baker Nelson is a writer at A-Z Animals where she focuses on reptiles and dogs. Gail has been writing for over a decade and uses her experience training her dogs and keeping toads, lizards, and snakes in her work.
A resident of Texas, Gail loves working with her three dogs and caring for her cat, and pet ball python.
The state of New Mexico is home to thousands of different species, from tiny insects to gigantic bovines. We tracked down the seven biggest creatures to share with you. Some… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
The animal kingdom is full of surprises, and it seems that there's a new species discovered every day. The tactics they use to confuse predators and sneak up on prey… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
Key Points Disruptive camouflage is a feature which enables prey animals to blend into their surroundings thanks to colors that would make them stand out anywhere else.When bunched together, a… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
Quick Answer: Yes, cottonmouth snakes go away in the winter. They brumate during cold winter months in hollow logs or underbrush. The only place they may stay active year-round is… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
You wouldn't expect to see a snake out basking during the winter. After all, aren't they supposed to be hiding somewhere until the weather warms up? In areas where the… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
Eastern copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix) are common venomous snakes found in the southern and eastern United States. They're pit vipers in the same genus as cottonmouth snakes (Agkistrodon piscivorus), but their… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
Dragons are hard to draw. Learning to draw a dragon means you must become comfortable going off the beaten path because they have no real-world equivalent. Instead, there are many… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 1 year ago
Snakes are cold-blooded and rely on the sun's heat to maintain their body temperatures and support bodily processes like digestion. As we enter fall and winter in the northern hemisphere,… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
To learn how to draw a unicorn, I decided on the more modern western concept of a magical horse with a horn. I always liked fantasy books with unicorns you… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Key Points: The largest animal in Texas is the Texas longhorn, which weighs up to 1,500 pounds and stands 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Giant green darners are the… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Chickweed, dandelion, and mustard may seem like noxious weeds in your garden, but did you know that they — and many other "weeds" — are edible? Not only that, they… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Many animals have several common names, a fact that causes endless amounts of confusion. Take the cottonmouth and water moccasin snake — two names, same snake. This is but one… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Learning how to draw a wolf takes patience. Wolves are intense and possess a high level of intelligence that most dogs lack. You can see it in the way they… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Learning how to draw animals, plants, and anything else you see may look impossible, but it's nothing more than a set of skills that you can learn. Have you ever… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
While I love kids' turkey crafts and art projects, I decided that, rather than contribute to the copious number of that type of art, I wanted to offer a more… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Trees can be tricky. Their many leaves cast shadows and reflect highlights in ways that can catch you off guard. That said, I love drawing trees. Especially the ones with… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
We rarely find a snake that's died after biting off more than it can chew. Typically, when a snake discovers something is too big to swallow, it backs off and… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
The state of Washington is known for wet weather, great forests, and stunning mountain vistas. The Evergreen State is mild, giving the native plants and wildlife a great chance to… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Most of us want to think the best about our animals. We want to believe that our dog is pretty intelligent and our cats (of course!) are evil geniuses bent… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
The Chihuahuan desert is the largest in North America and, it's the most biologically diverse desert in the Western Hemisphere. It is home to thousands of plant and animal species,… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Butterflies are surprisingly complex. At a distance, they look like pretty wings attached to a little body. Then, there are those spindly legs that look like sticks attached to a… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
The hardest part about drawing a horse is getting the proportions right. I broke down the first step in this tutorial into several smaller steps to help make sense of… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Learning how to draw a sunflower is pretty easy, and it may be one of my very favorite flowers. Sunflowers are rustic, beautiful, and symbolic of summer - my favorite… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
The ocean's depths have always fascinated humanity. Stories of giant creatures that come up and attack ships have circulated for as long as we have sailed the seven seas. Yet,… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
I love the various expressions that dogs show. They can go from silly to laser-focused in no time flat. You can also tell when they're looking to cause some trouble.… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Cats are their own creatures, aren't they? You can't really shape their behavior the way you can a dog. They just have to be met on their own terms, for… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Snakes are popular pets — their needs are simple and few. Once you get their habitat set up properly, they're typically easy to keep with low requirements for attention or… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Dogs do things that we humans don't understand. They roll in our clean laundry, find something rotten and eat it, roll in something else rotten, and eat things that make… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Key Facts: The pygmy python weighs under half a pound and measures 24 inches at the most, making it the smallest of its kind on the planet. Their fondness for… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Although Washington, District of Columbia is more famous for being the seat of the federal government, the area also boasts several thousand plant and animal species. However, we’re only concerned about the… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
The Boidae family is a big one, with about 49 species. They're commonly known as boas or boids and include the monstrous green anaconda and diminutive rosy boa. Most boa… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Key Points: Copperheads are beautiful but dangerous snakes whose bite venomous bite is extremely painful. There are no plants that keep copperheads away. There are proven steps you can take… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
Key Points: Killing snakes can upset the ecological balance and doesn’t eliminate the reason they were in your yard.It’s better to make your garden an uncomfortable waste of time for… Read More
By Gail Baker Nelson 2 years ago
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