Think of a patriotic song and there's a good chance it sings the praises of America's prairies. From "Oh give me a home where the buffalo...

If you were to list all the smells you know, many good and bad smells would come to mind. The good smells would probably include the...

Autumn is here, and the leaves on our deciduous trees are changing colors and falling! It is a great time to collect these leaves and...

You probably learned at a very young age that you should never touch power lines and should always follow warning signs near electrical...

Beetles are tiny little animals that live in a great, big world. They deal with predators that want to make them the first item on the...

When a tiny creature with a lot of legs walks in front of you, you might not take the time to wonder if it was a bug or a spider. This...

At the Forest Preserve District, we get asked a lot about if a particular snake is venomous. Our answer is always the same: There are no...

Clouds can make or break our day. They are what deliver the precipitation all life on Earth depends on. They also make us more...

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my? Maybe in some parts of the world, but not in Illinois. The mammals that live here are a little more...

What is soil? It’s the unconsolidated mineral and organic matter that is on the immediate surface of the earth. Let’s break that down....

More doesn’t always mean better. One good example of that is spiders and their eyes. Most spiders have eight eyes, but most don't have...

You may have heard that a snapping turtle has a powerful bite. So much so that it’s a good idea to keep your distance if you see one in...

When it comes to animals that produce a bad smell, a certain black-and-white critter immediately comes to mind. However, skunks aren't...

Almost nothing in nature is cuter than a baby animal, but some of the terms used for baby animals are almost as cute as the babies...

June is the start of thunderstorm season in Will County. And thunderstorms have a weird side effect. They make grass greener! But how...

At the Forest Preserve District, one of the more common questions we get is whether a particular snake is poisonous or if there are any...

Have you ever looked at a bird’s nest up close? It is impressive how they are able to weave together their nesting materials into such a...

Walking up to Plum Creek Nature Center, visitors see a big blue cement creature named Spot. Spot is on our signs, in our playground and...

Cats kill billions of birds every year in the United States and Canada, but there's another culprit in as many as 1 billion additional...

Do you love dandelions or hate them? They can be a pretty pop of yellow in your yard in the spring, but many people do not like them...