The loggerhead shrike doesn’t just hunt — it skewers 😈
A concerned Ray County resident recently called MDC Lieutenant Jason Braunecker after finding skinks, snakes, and mice unusually impaled on barbed wire. Braunecker was able to explain the habits of a unique bird called the loggerh...
Spiny softshell turtles will hide at the bottom of a river and dig in the sand, mud, or gravel to camouflage themselves. They’ll also do this in the colder months to regulate their body temperature. This spiny softshell, located at our Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Education Center in Branso...
Wanting to try using electric fence to keep out bears? Remember- if you can reach it, they can too! Check out this video more things to consider when using fencing in bear country. Find more tips from @bebearwise at bearwise.org #livingwithMOwildlife
Flowering Dogwood is Missouri’s official state tree and is found naturally mostly in the Ozarks, but is a favorite ornamental tree that can grow statewide. Its fruits are eaten by squirrels, deer, wild turkey and many other species of birds. The trees are also a larval food plant for several sp...
Squirrel season runs May 24 through Feb. 15, 2026. Find more info on permits and allowed hunting methods by checking out the Missouri Hunting and Trapping Guide at the link in bio.
#squirrelseason #hunting
A hunt to remember! Dautry Hamilton harvested this rare leucistic turkey on opening weekend of the spring turkey season. He was hunting with his dad, Jared, when he bagged the bird in Gentry County. Biologists say domestic birds would have larger waddles and the legs wouldn’t have large scales li...
Sneaky but non-venomous! 🐍💧
This northern watersnake may look intense, but it’s just out hunting small fish and frogs. These snakes are often confused with cottonmouths and killed because of unwarranted fear. Cottonmouths are heavier-bodied with a larger, chunky head; and have a ligh...
Visitors to the Springfield Nature Center will find 3 miles of hiking trails that showcase different types of landscapes found in the Ozarks. These trails also connect to the Galloway Creek Greenway trail on the East side of the area. #mdcdiscovernature #trails #nature 📷Kevin Muenks
#ParksAndRecreation #GetOutdoorsDay #Raytown
TUESDAY TWEET 🐦
These birds are “grrreat” hunters while wading in shallow waters. Great Egrets we’re once over hunted for their feathers and sparked a conservation movement to protect birds. They fly slow and powerfully. Look for neon green plumes around the eyes during mating season....
Just in time for #earthday 💧Lake sturgeon have done it again! This is the fourth year in a row spawning in the wild has been seen by these endangered fish. The first spawning activity of 2025 was just confirmed Monday, April 21 at Maple Island access, just below the Melvin Price Lock and Dam in ...
Have you paused for moss lately? No, like, really looked? 👀 It’s easy to traipse past them on a trail and see only a blur of green. But stop for a moment to truly look at them, and you might be surprised!
Read Dianne Van Dien’s Marvelous Mosses in the Missouri Conservationist at the ...
