Exploring the Ozarks Outdoors: freshare.net

Water treatment plants only filter out so much material. Mineral levels, for example, are typically much higher downstream of treatment plants than they are elsewhere. That fact is driven by salt expelled by the body, but not captured during treatment.…[more]

Skunks soon will emerge from their winter naps, and state officials urge Missourians to exercise caution in encounters with these formidable little creatures.

Missouri’s only common skunk is the striped species, Mephitis mephitis. Skunks spend the winter holed…[more]

Thanks to cultural evolution, some birds change their tune, especially to attract female birds.

The birds sing distinctly different songs today than did their ancestors 30 years ago – changes passed along generation to generation, according to a…[more]

The green stink bug may emerge as a primary rather than secondary pest in the coming growing season, said Wayne Bailey, University of Missouri Extension entomologist.

Bailey said increased numbers of green stink bugs might be due to…[more]

Dogs and wolves are so genetically similar, it’s been difficult for biologists to understand why wolves remain fiercely wild, while dogs can gladly become “man’s best friend.” Now, doctoral research by evolutionary biologist Kathryn Lord at the University of Massachusetts…[more]

Despite the unfavorable environmental conditions they encounter in town, many wild animals have colonized cities as a new habitat. In cities they must deal with greater numbers of humans along with more light and noise pollution than they encounter in…[more]

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has confirmed a photograph of a mountain lion taken by a trail camera on Dec. 21 on private land near Van Buren in Carter County. The department also confirmed photographs of a mountain lion…[more]

While they are not native to the United States, feral hogs have made Oklahoma their home, and farmers and ranchers have the damage on their property to prove it. Much like white-tailed deer, hogs are quite secretive, making population estimates…[more]

With more than a half million white-tailed deer in Oklahoma, many landowners experience nature in its purest sense as the deer can be viewed at close range.

However, this has become a problem over the years as the…[more]

The University of Missouri has Jesse Hall and Truman the Tiger. It now has its own insect.

Aphis mizzou, a member of the aphid family, has been officially described in October in Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that…[more]