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Discover Nature: Missouri's Caterpillars and Monarch Butterflies

Discover nature this week with Missouri's caterpillars. The bright wings of butterflies catch your eyes, and many people notice. But few notice naturally drab caterpillars.

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Caterpillars and Monarch Butterflies

Discover nature this week with Missouri's caterpillars. The bright wings of butterflies catch your eyes, and many people notice. But few notice naturally drab caterpillars.

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Discover Nature: The Bald Eagle

In the early 1970s, America’s bald eagles were headed for extinction, and had become an endangered species. Although extinction is a natural process, the worldwide rate of extinctions has increased al

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Discover Nature: The Curious Nighttime Prowler

Your car’s headlights reflect bright red eyes from a hunchbacked form ambling across the road. The black mask and ringed tail identify it as a raccoon, the “curious nighttime prowler.”

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Discover Nature: The Curious Nighttime Prowler

Your car’s headlights reflect bright red eyes from a hunchbacked form ambling across the road. The black mask and ringed tail identify it as a raccoon, the “curious nighttime prowler.”

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Intoxicated Wildlife

Birds and other wildlife can sometimes find their surroundings overripe for intoxication. Fruit can become alcoholic in several ways. Sometimes in the fall, fruit matures too much and ferments. In the

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Holiday Thief

You might steal a kiss under its green branches, but in nature, mistletoe is a parasitic plant that attaches to and steals nutrients from trees.

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Discover Nature: Roadside Divers and Diners in Missouri

While on the road this holiday season, be on the lookout for these roadside dive-bombers: American kestrels.

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Discover Nature: Blue Jays

Blue jays are relatively large songbirds (about the size of a robin) with blue upperparts and whitish underparts. A blue crest on the head can be raised or lowered depending on the bird’s mood.

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Hawks

As you drive country highways, it sometimes seems that hawks are everywhere -- perched on telephone poles and fence posts or circling overhead.

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Discover Nature: The Incredible Flying Squirrel

If you venture out near the woods after dark, you might hear the high-pitched cry of a flying squirrel.

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Diving Ducks

Look around the Mississippi flyway this fall, and you may see the greater or lesser scaup (SKOPP). Scaups are diving ducks that can fully submerge and swim underwater for food.

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Discover Nature: The Deerly Beloved

November is prime mating season for white-tailed deer. It's not too hard to see deer today, but around 100 years ago they were hard to spot.

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Creepy Critters

Discover Nature this week with Missouri’s creepy critters. It's that spooky time of year -- when plastic bats and spiders abound. But the real critters are not as scary as people think – plus, they br

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Discover Nature: Missouri’s Peregrine Falcons

A speedy wanderer has returned to Missouri's skies. The Peregrine falcon was nearly wiped out in the mid-1900s due to pesticide poisoning. Historically, peregrines nested in small numbers on bluffs al

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Discover Nature: Missouri Copperheads

If copperheads are a fear factor for you, there is hope and help. Since they don’t look like other Missouri snakes, they are easy to identify and avoid. Contrary to popular belief, snakes do not go lo

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Tasty Fall Treats

Persimmons are a sweet fall treat often used in breads, puddings, and pies. They're also a favorite for wildlife (so you may have to race the raccoons to harvest them). This homegrown fruit comes from

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Discover Nature: Best Places to Hike in Missouri

Fall is a great time for hiking. The weather is cooler, the colors are changing, and our conservation areas offer many choices. Here are my top picks for fall hiking this year: Burr Oak Woods Conserva

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Discover Nature: Missouri Nuts

Discover nature this week with Missouri nuts. The beginning of fall is a great time to gather homegrown nuts in Missouri. Our top three featured nuts that fruit in September and October are black waln

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Discover Nature: Mushrooms in Missouri

Discover Nature this week with mushrooms in Missouri. As the fall air creeps up, mushrooms begin to make their way to the surface. Although spring is the most popular time for mushroom hunting, other

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Discover Nature: Garden Spiders in Missouri

Discover Nature this week with garden spiders in Missouri. It’s a shame that Little Miss Muffet was too frightened to meet the spider that sat down beside her. She would have discovered that spiders a

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Nocturnal Insects

Discover Nature this week with Missouri’s nocturnal insects. Why is it that when insects hit your windshield, they seem to hit right where you are looking? Who are these insects, and why are they out

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Discover Nature: Ladybugs in Missouri

They go by names such as the lady beetle or ladybird beetle, but you may be most familiar with one. There are more kinds of beetles than any other insect in the world. And of all the beetles, the most

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Discover Nature: Wildlife Impostors

Discover Nature this week with Missouri’s wildlife impostors. All wildlife seeks to endure. But rather than hiding from predators, some harmless animals flaunt their presence. They can be so bold beca

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Discover Nature: Crickets in Missouri

Discover nature this week with crickets in Missouri. The cricket’s song can recall the carefree summer days of childhood. But usually, we reduce the chirping to background noise. Field and house crick

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Discover Nature: Ants in Missouri

Discover nature this week with ants in Missouri. You see them as they scurry about on driveways, lawns, and sidewalks -- or maybe even in your home! Regardless, ants seem to be everywhere. Some tunnel

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Crayfish

Discover nature this week with Missouri's crayfish. While coastal lobsters are famous, their downsized relative, the crayfish (also called crawdad) lives in obscurity right here in Midwestern waters.

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Discover Nature: Wildlife Survival Skills

Discover Nature this week with Missouri’s wildlife survival skills. Life among nature’s creatures is not all sweetness and delight. There are conflicts in the wild over food, nest sites and mates. And

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Grasshoppers

Discover nature this week with Missouri's grasshoppers. Did you know there’s an unofficial song of summer? And it comes from one insect: the grasshopper. Their calls are the elevator music of summer.

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Discover Nature: Red, White, and Blue in Missouri

Discover Nature this week with red, white, and blue in Missouri. This week, in honor of Independence Day, we celebrate red, white, and blue in nature. Cardinal flowers bloom a fiery red in late summer

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Discover Nature: Nest Eggs in Missouri

Discover nature this week with nest eggs in Missouri. Bird eggs sport an amazing variety of sizes, colors, and shapes. Their colors could fill an artist’s palette, from robin's egg blue to a buffy pin

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Discover Nature: Missouri's Fish Fathers

In the early 1970s, America’s bald eagles were headed for extinction, and had become an endangered species. Although extinction is a natural process, the worldwide rate of extinctions has increased al3