Owls are majestic but also mysterious, not often seen because they are most often active at night. The darkness of the night gives them good cover when they hunt for prey. Many of the owls that live in northern Illinois feast on rodents and other small mammals, but they also eat lizards, snakes and birds — sometimes even other owls. Although owls are skilled hunters, they don’t chew their food well. Some owls, like barn owls, swallow their prey whole. Others rip it into piece

Have you ever seen a deer with a large set of antlers and wondered how they grew so big? A deer’s antlers can grow very quickly. They are one of the fast-growing tissues in the animal kingdom. A white-tailed deer's antlers can grow as much as a quarter-inch per day. But that's nothing compared to an elk. Elk antlers can grow as much as 1 inch a day! Deer and most of their relatives all grow antlers. Usually only the males grow antlers, except for caribous. Both male and femal

We have heard of carnivores that eat meat and herbivores that eat plants, but what is a detritivore? Detritivores are animals that eat dead or decaying animals and plants. Decomposition and decay are nature’s way of recycling. It is the process of breaking down dead plants or animals into nutrients and minerals that can feed the living. Decomposition and decay do not happen all at once. Decomposers and detritivores such as bacteria, fungi and insects help the process get into

During fall, chipmunks and ground squirrels scurry across the ground in search of food as they prepare for winter. But can you tell the difference between the two? You may think you know a little about chipmunks from the popular “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies and cartoons. The chipmunks around here don’t have much in common with Alvin, Simon and Theodore, but they do look a lot like 13-lined ground squirrels. They look so much alike it can be hard to tell the difference. Ea

Have you ever walked into a spider web? It can be hard to get all of that spider silk off of your hair, skin and clothes. That’s because it is very tough and durable. But how do spiders make their silk? They actually have structures on their bodies specifically for making it. The silk starts as a liquid that spiders store in glands inside their bodies. It then turns to a solid, which the spiders spin into silk. Spiders use structures called spinnerets on the outside of their

It is almost Halloween! It’s a favorite time of year because for a day or a weekend, we get to pretend to be something we are not. Our costumes mimic our favorite monsters, villains, heroes and aliens. Sometimes our costumes may be so spectacular our friends may not even recognize us! Some animals in nature pretend to be something they are not all the time as a way to protect them or gain advantages. This deceiving behavior is call mimicking. An animal may mimic a sight, soun

Feathers are unique in the animal kingdom. All birds have them, but no other animals do. Even other animals that can fly, such as bats, don't have feathers. So why feathers and not fur or scales? Feathers are vital to birds for many reasons. Most importantly, birds use their feathers to help them fly. Feathers are made of a lightweight material called keratin. It’s the same thing our hair and fingernails are made of. Keratin allows feathers to be lightweight, but also flexibl

Have the leaves on the trees in your neighborhood started to turn yellow? Or orange or red or brown or purple? If you haven’t seen the green leaves start to give way to these new colors, you soon will. It happens every year. But why? The leaves change color each autumn because the days get shorter. When there is less sunlight, the leaves cannot make as much chlorophyll, the pigment that makes leaves green. Without the chlorophyll to make them green, other pigments in the leav

When walking around the Will County forest preserves, you’ll find lots of amazing animals: birds and butterflies, turtles and deer, chipmunks and dogs. Dogs?! Why, yes! While dogs don’t live in the forest preserves, they often visit with their humans. Let’s learn a little more about the natural history of our four-legged friends — and how we shaped each other. Descended From Wolves Before there were dogs, there were wolves. This is something most people know. But how did dogs

What’s that bug in the dirt with all those legs? It’s probably a millipede or centipede. But how do you tell the difference? Millipedes and centipedes are often confused with one another, but they are different creatures. Their names are based on their many legs, but they’re misleading. Millipede means “thousand feet.” Centipede means “hundred feet.” But millipedes don’t have 1,000 feet, and most centipedes don’t have 100 feet. Both have a lot of legs, but not as many as thei

If you’ve ever been sunburned, you know how painful it can be. But wild animals spend all of their time outside. Do they ever get sunburned? Animals can get sunburn, but most have protections to prevent it. Just like wearing clothes and sunscreen protects us from the sun, many animals have fur, wool, hair, scales and feathers to protect them. Animal defenses against sunburn work well until humans get involved. For example, domesticated pigs are bred to have less hair. This me

Summer break is almost over, but mid-August provides one more good reason to ask your parents if you can stay up late. That’s because this time every year is when the Perseid meteor shower fills the night sky with shooting stars — as many as 100 per hour! So where do these meteors come from? Meteors are space rocks that enter Earth’s atmosphere. They streak through the air, creating the appearance of a shooting star. These space rocks, or meteoroids, can be as small as a part

The forest preserves have lots of different types of water flowing through the woods and prairies. Some preserves are named after these waters. Whalon Lake, Monee Reservoir and Rock Run Rookery are examples of preserves with big bodies of water. Others, like Hickory Creek Preserve, Forked Creek Preserve and Sugar Creek Preserve, all are named after smaller waterways. Can you guess which kind of waterway? Creeks, of course! Rivers, Streams and Creeks, oh my! Waterways can be a

Birds make flying look easy. That’s because they were built for flight. In fact, the Wright brothers spent a lot of time studying birds flying before flying the first successful airplane. So how do birds fly? The short answer is with their wings, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Birds have many special features besides their wings that help them fly. Their bones are hollow, making them lightweight for flight. Their feathers are also lightweight and help them catch air

Rainbows give excitement, awe and inspiration to most everyone who views them. They are beautiful, magical and fleeting. Read on to discover the science behind rainbows. Rainbow Requirements A rainbow has three requirements: 1. Sunlight 2. Water droplets 3. The correct angle between the sunlight, the water droplets and the observer’s eyes. How It Happens To understand how a rainbow works, you need to understand three scientific actions. 1. Refraction: Put a pencil in a glass

The buzz of a bee may cause you to freeze in fear of its painful sting. But should you be worried every time you see a bee? And why do bees sting anyway? Honeybees and bumblebees sting for the same reason opossums play dead: It's a way of defending themselves. Bees away from their hives are searching for pollen and nectar. They aren't bothered by people nearby, so they rarely sting unless they are provoked or stepped on. And while you may have heard that a bee can only sting

We see all the colors of the rainbow. We learn the helpful name Roy G. Biv to help us remember the colors in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Colors are just light waves our eyes can pick up. But some animals really see the world differently than we do! Waves through space Light you can see is really a small part of something bigger called the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes radio waves (what allow us to make cell phone calls), microwaves (use

Do you like to stuff the pockets of your pants and jackets with things you find during the day? So do bees. That’s right. Some bees, including honeybees, have tiny pockets, called pollen baskets, that they use to store pollen from the plants they visit. When the bees are flying from plant to plant, the pollen sticks all over their bodies. When the bees are covered in pollen, they are able to use brushes and combs they have on their legs to collect it. They then store the poll

Have you ever had a perfect summer day ruined by mosquitoes? You’re not alone. These pesky insects sure know how to ruin a fun time. But why do mosquitoes bite, and why do the bites itch? Only female mosquitoes bite. They do because they need to eat blood before they can lay eggs. Mosquito bites are itchy because your body is having an allergic reaction. When the mosquito bites, it breaks the skin. Some of the insect’s saliva mixes with your blood, and your body views it as a

Mayapple is an easy plant to identify in the forest preserves. It grows in the spring and in a group. It gets about 1 foot tall, and the leaves are larger than your handprint. Some people say mayapple leaves look like a duck’s foot. They also look like umbrellas that would be perfect for a toad to hide under during a spring storm. The More the Merrier Mayapple grows in a unique way. It has an underground stem called a rhizome that sends out more shoots. When you see a bunch o