Willy's Wilderness

All Posts
The More You Know
Try It!
Get Outside
Creature Features
Books for Kids

Oct 22, 2019
3 min

Chipmunks Scurrying Around To Prepare for Winter

Welcome fall! The animals in Will County are using this time to get ready for winter. Groundhogs, deer, squirrels and chipmunks all start...

Sep 19, 2019
2 min

The Bold Osprey Was Built To Hunt

An osprey isn’t like the birds you probably see in your back yard. It’s bigger, and it soars high up in the air looking for its next meal...

Sep 17, 2019
3 min

These Insects Are Masters of Camouflage

Did that stick just move? Your eyes may not be not tricking you! You may have been lucky enough to see a walking stick insect. More than ...

Sep 5, 2019
2 min

This Snake Is Equally at Home in Water and on Land

Maybe you’ve seen a snake slithering along on the ground, but did you know some snakes live in the water? Illinois is home to several kin...

Aug 29, 2019
2 min

Harmless Daddy Long Legs Aren't Spiders At All

More than 6,000 species of daddy long legs exist in the world, with 235 in North America and 19 species right here in Illinois. Daddy lon...

Aug 15, 2019
2 min

The Crafty Killdeer

Killdeer are a common bird in the United States, and they live all across our country. They are shorebirds, which means they live near wa...

Jul 30, 2019
1 min

The Boisterous Bullfrog Makes Quite a Racket

You may have learned that frogs say ribbit, but that isn’t exactly true of the American bullfrog. Bullfrogs are named for the loud sound ...

Jul 23, 2019
2 min

River Otters Are Built To Swim

River otters are so much fun to watch. It’s almost like they are putting on an acrobatic show in the water! We don’t see river otters too...

Jul 9, 2019
2 min

Fireflies Are Brightening Up the Night Sky

Lightning bug season is here, and these glowing bugs are the perfect reason to ask your parents if you can stay up past your bedtime. War...

Jun 28, 2019
2 min

When Ants Go Marching, They Have Work To Do

Have you ever drawn a chalk circle around an ant to stop it in its tracks? It works, but only temporarily. This chalk trick works because...

Jun 25, 2019
2 min

Is It a Bird? Is It Part of a Tree? No, It's a Gray Tree Frog

You don’t have to travel to Costa Rica to see a tree frog. Right here in our own back yards we have gray tree frogs. As their name sugges...

Jun 7, 2019
2 min

The Lovely Luna Moth

With its big green wings, the luna moth is often thought to be one of the most beautiful creatures seen in nature. Like butterflies, luna...

May 30, 2019
2 min

Turtle Power: The Mighty Snapping Turtle

Common snapping turtles are known for their bite, but like most animals they would rather avoid humans than bite them. These turtles, one...

May 14, 2019
2 min

Pretty Punctuation: The Question Mark and Eastern Comma Butterflies

There are many beautiful butterfly species, and trying to learn them by name can be difficult, especially when they are similar in size, ...

May 2, 2019
2 min

The Big and Beautiful Great Blue Heron

Great blue herons are big birds, much larger than the birds we often see in the trees in our yards and parks. They look a little awkward w...

Apr 30, 2019
2 min

Bug Out With These Fun Roly-Poly Facts

Who hasn't seen a roly-poly and given it a gentle touch to watch it form into a little ball? Rolling into a ball is how these bugs protec...

Apr 25, 2019
1 min

Red-Headed Woodpeckers Are Birds To See and Hear

Woodpeckers are a bird with a perfect name, because they are known for pecking wood. And red-headed woodpeckers are even more perfectly n...

Apr 18, 2019
3 min

Everything Earthworm

Do you love earthworms? Do they creep you out? Either way, there are thousands under your feet all the time. We want earthworms under our...

Mar 22, 2019
2 min

Creature Feature: The Odd-Looking Opossum

Have you ever heard the phrase “playing possum” and wondered what it meant? Playing possum is the same as playing dead. It’s something op...

Mar 11, 2019
1 min

Great Horned Owls Are a Real Hoot

We don’t often think of birds as predators, but the great horned owl is a strong hunter, able to take down animals even bigger than itsel...

{"items":["5daf25d5c3cfb900174525ec","5d83a8b2a5748d00171f3dad","5d80e33213da0c0017ae4951","5d7152cc142a1c0017931941","5d67e508601b9800166da9e8","5d55958d13538c0016c120a6","5d4089603d4949001622bbd0","5d373736662d810017ed95f1","5d24ce394700490016e5f521","5d164049d78fd000168b755a","5d122cf4b911480016d850ae","5cfa7dec2087820015f69ddd","5ceffa5cd2c1600015546e84","5cdaff40ad4aad0af484d42d","5ccb1c1ed3eed80015ca49fa","5cc8542fd175fa005dbff0c4","5cc1eb8d743dd700156c2d60","5cb88c9a5ed6f9001546e6b1","5c9a4fbd233bb9001520f55e","5c05823aa210de001a624f98"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":false,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":940,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"value":"#E8E6E6"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"targetItemSize":940,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}

1 2