Wildlife Wednesday 04/30/25

Happy #WildlifeWednesday!  It’s that time of year when white-tailed deer babies begin to be seen curled up in yards and on lawns. Fawns are born in Ohio between May and July and although they are able to walk at birth, they need to spend several weeks with their mother for food and protection. Mother deer…

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Wildlife Wednesday 04/23/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! It is almost the delightful time of year known as “baby bird season” and geese and ducks can be spotted swimming and waddling around with their numerous adorable offspring in tow.  Canada Geese and Mallards are the most common waterfowl that make their homes at TWC’s Wilderness Lake and it can be tempting…

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Dekay’s Brownsnake

Dekay’s brownsnake is common, small, secretive, nocturnal and seldom found out in the open.  Their Latin name is Storeria dekayi.  The species name dekayi honors James Ellsworth Dekay, a naturalist/zoologist who collected the first specimen of this snake on Long Island, New York and Storeria honors David Humphreys Storer, an American physician/naturalist/ zoologist.  This is…

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Wildlife Wednesday 04/09/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! You may have noticed more than the usual number of large dark birds circling and soaring in the sky overhead lately. Welcome back, Turkey Vultures! While some Turkey Vultures stay in Ohio all year, most migrate for the winter, traveling to the southern USA and even as far as South America. Often associated…

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Wildlife Wednesday 03/26/2025

Hoppy #WildlifeWednesday! Wood frogs have recently been treating vernal pool habitats to their loud quacking chorus of song, so let’s learn some fun facts about these fascinating amphibians! Wood frogs are forest-dwelling and spend most of their time during warm months on the ground near freshwater wetlands. They have extreme cold tolerance, and in the…

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Snowshoe Hares

Snowshoe hares are found throughout Canada and in the northernmost part of the U.S.  They were native to the northeast corner of Ohio but disappeared in the early 1900s due to the clearing of forests to create farmland.  Early attempts to reintroduce these hares to Ohio were unsuccessful; however, in 2000 the ODNR Division of…

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Wildlife Wednesday 03/19/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! We are celebrating today with some interesting facts about the Virginia opossum! The Virginia opossum is the only species of opossum found in Ohio and is also the northernmost marsupial (animal that carries its young in a pouch) in the world! It is an omnivore and has 50 teeth, more than any other…

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Wildlife Wednesday 03/12/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! It is the time of year when we observe, appreciate, and celebrate Ohio’s state amphibian (and a TWC mascot), the spotted salamander! A type of mole salamander, this cute creature with bright yellow spots and a perpetual smile lives most of its life underground. After a long winter of brumation (similar to hibernation),…

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March 2025 Full Worm Moon

The full Worm Moon occurs at 2:55AM EDT on March 14, 2025.  For Southern Native American tribes, the name Worm Moon came from the observation that earthworms begin to appear as the soil warms in spring.  However, early northern Native American tribes did not see earthworms in March because glaciers had wiped out all soil…

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Wildlife Wednesday 02/26/2025

Happy #Wildlife Wednesday!  The fisher is a forest-dwelling carnivorous mammal in the mustelid family. Mustelids include animals such as otters, weasels, badgers, ferrets, wolverines, and minks. Fishers have long thin bodies with glossy fur coats and weigh around 5 to 15 pounds, with males being larger than the females. Despite their common name, fishers do…

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