Shellie Puffer
Shellie grew up in the Midwest poking her nose around the local wildlife, collecting rocks, and writing outlandish stories in spiral notebooks. She earned dual undergraduate degrees in Biology and Chemistry, and worked towards a Masters degree in Ecology. After traveling to various corners of the world, she found her greatest adventures hiking around Appalachia and rafting the wild rivers there. When the west started calling, she and her husband made the leap to Flagstaff where their family grew by one energetic dog and one sweet daughter. She now works as a Wildlife Biologist focusing on conservation of reptiles and amphibians in the desert southwest.
Do the Funky Chicken: A Simple Method to Tie-Dye Easter Eggs
Enjoy a toddler friendly spin on tradition with thesetie-dye Easter eggs!
Though the evolution of the colored-egg-carrying rabbit around Eastertide appears to be somewhat murky in its folkloric roots, the funky hare that brings eggs...
Building A Great Relationship with Your Kids
“I will NEVER do this to my kids!” I thought heatedly, with deep conviction, for the thousandth time. I was a little kid with big emotions, one of them being frustration rooted in the...
Wildlife Watch: Take a Day Trip to See the Closest Native Turtle to Flagstaff
A case could be made that turtles are one of the coolest animals on the planet. It’s not just because Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo have been making turtles totally tubular since the ‘80s....
Oh, I Didn’t See You There! Pit Vipers and Why Arizona Takes the Rattlesnake...
Most Flagstaff residents might say they would prefer to avoid a run-in with a rattlesnake. Though, if you do happen to see a rattlesnake up here on the plateau, it would actually be an...
Oh, I Didn’t See You There! Debunking Rattlesnake Myths: They Aren’t as Scary as...
Did you know we have thirteen different species of rattlesnakes here in Arizona? Our state takes the cake! This is a short lesson to help you understand the mysterious, misunderstood, and cryptic behavior of...
You Need to Give Me Some Space: Body Autonomy from an Early Age
One sunny, cold winter morning, my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and I met up with some new friends for an outdoor playdate. Naturally, the kids were overflowing with excitement at the prospect of meeting someone new....
Journaling Tucks Away Little Gems of Happiness for the Future
One day during the infamous year of 2020, the gravity of colliding worldly occurrences was weighing heavily on me. I was sitting at the kitchen table, having just finished lunch, and my toddler was...
Christmas Presence – Creating Salt Dough Magic with your Kids
We’ve all heard it and experienced it before, each and every year, that the holidays are such a busy season. Brimming with the work of creating the magic for your children, finding creative gifts...
Make-ahead Camping Recipes – Prep in the Kitchen, Relax in the Wilderness
Ah, the great outdoors. So peaceful and relaxing. Basking in the serenity of nature, feeling a cool raindrop on your face, letting the leaves of a fern slide between your fingers as you gently...
The ABC’s of Camping with Little Kids
A – ACCEPT that there is a lot of work involved in camping with littles. Acquiesce to the fact that, unlike the carefree trips of your youth, it will be a bit exhausting (because...
Peering Behind the Mask – Reviving Eye Communication in 2020
“The eyes don’t lie.”
“The eyes are the windows to the soul.”
There are endless old adages about eyes, and so many are related to communication and what we perceive in others. That’s because eye communication...
The Great Bottle Battle of Thursday morning. An Epic.
If there’s one thing I know as a mom, it’s that solidarity and the knowledge of I’m not alone in my struggles with raising kids is extremely important to my mental health. One of...
Meet the Contributor: Shellie Puffer
Family: Well, there’s me (lofty ideas and ideals central, here), there’s my husband (excellent helper in implementing ideas and ideals), our almost 2-year old daughter (ideas and ideals still developing, seems kind of erratic)...