discover nature

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).

Fall is a great time for hiking. The weather is cooler, the colors are changing, and our conservation areas offer many choices.

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 underground, while others reside in rotting wood or leaf litter.

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.

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 these conflicts can result in life or death.

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.

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.

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 pink, from purple to green.

Discover Nature with Missouri's fish fathers. Father’s Day comes around during a popular time of year for family fishing. And two of our more popular fish make pretty good fish fathers.

Discover nature this week with Missouri Hummingbirds. A “glittering fragment of the rainbow” is how an early American naturalist described the hummingbird. He must have been impressed with its shimmering green plumage and crimson throat feathers.