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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Gray Tree Frogs

The gray tree frog is one of two native species of tree frogs.  The other is Cope’s tree frog which happens to look exactly like the gray tree frog though a bit smaller in size.  They can be distinguished by their calls – the gray tree frog has a slower, more musical call.   The gray…

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Wildlife Wednesday 02/19/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! While bird migration during spring and fall can be thrilling with colorful warblers, rarities for your life list, and huge flock numbers, winter birding in Ohio is exciting too, even if simply through a window of your warm and cozy home or local nature center. With leaves having fallen from the deciduous trees…

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Wildlife Wednesday 02/12/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Valentine’s Day is approaching and love is in the air, especially for coyotes! February is the peak of coyote mating season, which spans from late January until early March, and is one of the best times of year to hear their howls! Coyotes are highly adaptable animals that make their homes in a…

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Wildlife Wednesday 01/29/2025

Happy #WildlifeWednesday from the woolly bear caterpillar! Woolly bears are the larval form of the Isabella tiger moth, a yellowish orange moth with black spots that occurs in the United States and Canada.  Being found in very cold locations including the Arctic, there is much folklore surrounding woolly bears and their ability to predict the…

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Wildlife Wednesday 11/20/24

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! As the freezing autumn and winter weather approaches, an animal that uses hibernation as a survival strategy is the thirteen-lined ground squirrel. Also known as the striped gopher and leopard ground squirrel, this rodent is related to prairie dogs and is found in grasslands and open areas of Ohio. They may also use…

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Wildlife Wednesday 08/07/2024

It’s #WildlifeWednesday and we are showcasing an intriguing ephemeral plant that is coming up in the area, ghost pipe! Monotropa uniflora, also called ghost plant and Indian pipe, is a herbaceous plant that is usually completely white in color, though sometimes will have hints of a pink hue. It flowers from early summer through early…

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Bats & Dark Skies

Bats are amazing! They have lived on Earth for more than 50 million years.  There are over 1,400 different species of bats, making them the second largest order of mammals.  Bats are extremely adaptable and can be found in forests, wetlands, deserts, prairies, urban areas, and even cold places like Alaska and Siberia, and they…

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