Male cardinals are bright red while females are pale brown with red highlights. Their red beaks and tinges of red on their crests, wings, and tails help tell them apart. Cardinals are easy to spot and well loved. Seven states including Illinois have named the cardinal their state bird.

Opossums play dead when threatened by lying still with their teeth showing for minutes or even hours. Before that, they may hiss, growl, and show their teeth. This behavior is not a choice but an automatic response, similar to fainting in humans.

Those spinning helicopters you see each spring are called samaras, the seeds of maple trees. Their winged shape helps them gently whirl to the ground. Norway, red, and silver maples produce the most. They’re fun to toss in the air and watch spin, and if conditions are right, they can even grow into new maple trees.

Not all ducks quack only female mallards make the classic quacking sound, while males make a quieter raspy noise. Mallards are common around waterways, but feeding them bread or crackers isn’t healthy. These foods are like junk food and not part of their natural diet. In the wild, mallards eat plant matter, insects and crustaceans.

Real maple syrup comes from maple trees. In late winter or early spring, trees are tapped to collect clear and slightly sweet sap. The sap is mostly water, about 98 percent, so it is cooked to evaporate the water and leave behind sweet syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Real maple syrup is thin like water and much sweeter than imitation syrup found in stores.

Raccoons are omnivores that eat both plants and animals. In spring and summer, they mainly eat insects, birds, small mammals, and turtles. In fall and winter, they add fruits, grains, and seeds to their diet. In residential areas, raccoons often raid unsecured garbage cans for food scraps, earning them the nickname “trash pandas.”

Eastern gray squirrels love nuts and seeds and bury many for later. However, they forget some, which can grow into new trees and plants. By burying mostly healthy nuts and eating the damaged ones first, squirrels unintentionally help with reforestation. Their forgotten food plays an important role in spreading and growing new plants in the forest.

A blizzard isn’t just about heavy snow—it’s defined by strong winds causing blowing snow and low visibility. Winds must gust at least 35 miles per hour, reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less for three hours or more. Blizzards can happen with falling snow or when wind blows snow already on the ground, called a ground blizzard. This makes travel difficult and unsafe, even if no new snow is falling.