Spot the blue creature at Plum Creek Nature Center is a blue-spotted salamander not a lizard. While lizards and salamanders look similar lizards have dry scales and claws while salamanders have smooth moist skin and no claws. Salamanders live near water and go through a larval stage while lizard babies hatch as tiny adults. Spot has smooth skin and no claws which confirms it is a salamander not a lizard.

Cases of discoloration can be caused by genetic mutations like albinism or leucism, where an animal appears to be either completely or partially white rather than its normal color, or melanism, a condition that causes fur to be black. However, it is normal for some animals like coyotes, birds and red foxes to have multiple color variations, where color can very from an animal’s most common color or between males and females. Mistaken IDs are more common than an animal being t

Beaver’s front teeth, called incisors, never stop growing, so they must gnaw on hard surfaces like wood to shave them down. Their incisors appear to be yellow because of the iron present on their incisors tooth enamel, which also makes them tuff and resistant to acid. Beavers’ incisors are sharp and historically made for perfect tools 11,000 years ago.

Rings around the sun or moon, called halos, form when light passes through ice crystals in high cirrus clouds. These 22-degree circles are usually white but can show faint color. Moon halos may signal rain as the clouds often come before storms. Sundogs are rainbow-like spots beside the sun and sun pillars are vertical beams of light seen at sunrise or sunset. All are caused by sunlight interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers are often confused, but they look quite different. Red-headed woodpeckers have fully red, deep crimson heads and bold black-and-white bodies. Red-bellied woodpeckers have red patches on their heads and faint red bellies that are hard to see. Both live in wooded areas, nest in dead trees, and eat insects and plant matter. Red-bellied woodpeckers visit feeders more often, while red-headed woodpeckers rarely do.

Crows and ravens are all-black birds often mistaken for each other, both unfairly seen as bad omens. In Illinois, you’re likely seeing a crow, as ravens are rare here. Ravens are much larger, have shaggy throat feathers, large, curved beaks, and make a croaking sound, not a caw. In flight, crows have fan-shaped tails and flap often, while ravens soar with wedge-shaped tails. Crows gather in flocks while ravens are usually seen in pairs.

Animals show love in many ways, from gift-giving to dancing and lifelong partnerships. Field crickets offer wings to mates, gray squirrels help build nests, and bald eagles and sandhill cranes mate for life and perform bonding dances. While it’s hard to define animal love like human love, these actions suggest deep connections.

Fossils are rare remains or signs of ancient life, with some over 3 billion years old. Due to decomposition, fossil formations are very rare and need the right conditions to form. Less than 0.1% of organisms become fossils. There are four types: trace fossils (like footprints), mold fossils (imprints), cast fossils (replicas formed in molds), and true form fossils (actual body parts, often petrified, frozen or trapped). These fossils help scientists learn about life long ago.