The world is home to 40 wildcat species, but only one, the bobcat, lives in Illinois. However, many people aren't aware of its presence,...

Redspotted sunfish have little spots speckling their bodies, but the tiny dots do not look very red. In males the spots are orange, and...

Robins are among our most familiar birds, and many of us learn to recognize them at a young age. We love them because we know them — what...

Signs of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations can be found all around in March. Shamrocks (or three-leaf clovers), leprechauns and pots of gold...

If you spot a furry, brown animal along the edge of a local waterway, several possibilities may spring to mind. Is it a beaver or a...

Common goldeneyes are awesome ducks. They have great colors and patterns and super-cool mating dances and diving moves, and they are...

If you dig deep enough into the land, eventually you will reach past the soil and hit layers of solid rock. These layers are called...

Snowy owls are one of those birds that people get excited about. One of the things that makes them so special is their rarity in northern...

Have you ever seen a bird hopping upside down on a tree? It’s probably a white-breasted nuthatch that you see! Unlike most birds that...

In your lifetime, you’ve probably seen a white-tailed deer or two — or maybe even dozens — hanging out on the side of the road or in our...

Thanks to their distinctive appearance, red foxes aren't easy to confuse with other animals. Although they are quite common, they do a...

Will County is home to eight of the 19 owl species living in North America. Among those eight species are short-eared owls and long-eared...

Different animals handle winter in different ways. Some have built up thick winter coats and hide food to get them through the season....

Sandhill cranes are the supermodels of the bird world: tall, elegant and eye-catching with their gray plumage and crimson eye patches....

Mussels live private lives, sunk in streambeds or hidden in the murky bottoms of lakes and ponds, quietly filtering food and cleaning the...

Raccoons are known for their mischievous ways, making them both beloved and bemoaned by the humans they live alongside. These crafty...

Fall is hunting season, and northern shrikes fly into the northern reaches of our state in October and November just in time to take...

In October, bat decorations can be found anywhere you look, and they often look really similar to each other. But bats aren’t just fall...

It’s fall, which means spider season! There are so many spiders around us. Do you see one? Is the spider super fast? Very hairy? Drab...

Garter snakes are a snake most people are familiar with because of how common they are across most of the United States. If you see a...