Have you ever woken up in the morning and looked out the window to find everything covered in a thin layer of frost? It can be so pretty,...

Have you ever wondered why the moon looks different in the sky each night? We see the moon in the night sky because it is being...

Sandhill cranes are among the oldest birds on Earth! Fossils of these birds dating back 2.5 million years have been found in Florida....

Have you ever made a wish upon a shooting star? These “stars” that streak across the sky are actually meteors and meteorites. They are...

Do you have pumpkins on your porch for the Halloween season? Pumpkins are native to Central America and wouldn’t grow here naturally if...

Did you know Illinois is home to two fox species? In addition to familiar red foxes, gray foxes also live across the state. They are most...

Have you ever seen a mouse in your house? Don’t blame the white-footed mice. Some mice species do make their way into our homes and other...

Turkey vultures are interesting-looking birds. Once you see one, you aren’t likely to forget what they look like. For starters, they are...

Illinois is home to several frog species, but only two kinds of toads. And only one kind of toad, the American toad, lives in northern...

Lovely luna moths are one of the easiest moths to identify because of their green color and the long, curved tails on their hind wings....

Northern map turtles are one of 17 turtle species living in Illinois and one of 11 living in Will County. They are medium-sized turtles,...

Meet our Illinois state snake, the eastern milksnake. These snakes are common across the northern third of Illinois and typically lives...

Tornadoes are one of the most violent weather phenomena on Earth. They are dangerous and scary, and tornado warnings should always be...

Insects may be hard to recognize, but pretty much everyone knows an ant when they see one. There’s a lot of different kinds of ants,...

You’ve probably seen gray squirrels and fox squirrels scurrying about our forests and trees, but have you ever seen a flying squirrel?...

Have you ever woken up on a foggy morning and wondered where all that fog came from or even what fog is? Essentially, fog is a cloud...

Did you know Illinois has a state flower? In 1908, the common blue violet was designated the official state flower. You can find our...

When you think of spring, what sounds do you think of? Probably birds chirping, maybe rumbles of thunder with some spring storms? How...

When you’ve grown tired of winter, look for skunk cabbage as a sign that spring is on the way. This plant is one of the first to emerge...

Can you guess North America’s largest mammal? It’s the American bison, or what you might call a buffalo. Male bison can weigh as much as...