Discover Nature Notes

Move over, lobster! Missouri is crawdad country. While coastal lobsters are famous all over, their downsized relative, the crawdad, lives in obscurity right here in Midwestern waters.

Life among nature’s creatures is not all sweetness and delight. There are conflicts in the wild over food, nest sites and mates. And these conflicts can result in life or death.

Did you know there’s an unofficial song of summer? And it comes from one particular insect.

One of our most common fish has an identity problem. The green sunfish lives in nearly all water. But it’s seldom called by its proper common name. Almost everyone calls this pugnacious sunfish a “black perch.”

Meet Bobwhite. Bobwhite is a popular fellow. In spring and summer across fields, fencerows and croplands, Bob whistles his name. He sounds cheerful, but Bobwhite’s life is often short and filled with hardship.

If you’re vacationing at the lake and you spot a peculiar-looking blue bird on the shore, there’s no need to do a double take. You’re looking at a great blue heron.

Cicadas are stocky, bug-eyed insects that make that buzzing, pulsating noise on summer days.

People used to joke about kissing toads, and in truth, they do taste bad.

Warmer temperatures and spring showers bring a plethora of green to our Missouri landscape. Look out your window. Grass is thriving!

Flowers add grace and beauty to our lives, and produce seeds for the plant’s next generation. But early plants had no flowers. In fact, flowers developed as insects used plants and plants used insects.