Discover Nature in Your Area
Find events, nature centers and conservation areas in your region.
Was it a bird or butterfly?
Not sure what you just saw? Use our online field guide’s advanced search to identify Missouri’s plants, animals and mushrooms in your area.
Get to know Missouri’s wildlife
Missouri’s first online field guide helps you identify and understand the plants, animals and mushrooms that make their home in the Show-Me state.
Discover Nature
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Conservation Areas
Find public land close to where you live.
Who's My Local Contact?
Find local MDC conservation agents, consultants, education specialists or your MDC regional office with our quick lookup system.
- Avoid Outdoor Pests Going outside? Find out how to avoid or cope with chiggers, ticks and other common outdoor pests.
- Habitats Love Missouri's many different kinds of wildlife? Then you gotta love Missouri's different kinds of habitats, too. They're what makes wildlife diversity possible. Get to know Missouri's glades, prairies, savannas, caves, forests, wetlands and other kinds of natural communities.
- How To Browse step-by-step instructions on how to do lots of popular outdoor activities, including cooking, navigating by map and compass, making historic crafts and preserving fall leaves.
- Outdoor Recreation Outdoor Missouri is a paradise for hunters and anglers, but there's a long list of other fun things you can do outside, too. Use this section to get acquainted with everything from nature viewing to mushroom hunting.
- Places to Go Missouri is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts or just plain folks who enjoy a walk in the woods. With 1,000 Missouri Department of Conservation areas, including nature centers, fish hatcheries, natural areas and shooting ranges, you can pursue your favorite outdoor activity close to home or across the state.
- Programs Our Discover Nature programs are designed to help you and your family make deeper connections to nature and each other. There's a program or event for your interests close to home. Find it here.
- Regulations Enjoy exploring nature on Missouri's conservation areas, but be sure to know the regulations. Even seemingly "low impact" activities can leaving a lasting impression on sensitive wildlife.
- Wildlife Sightings Among the large animals you might see in Missouri are black bears, coyotes, feral hogs and mountain lions. Use this section to learn more about them, their tracks and field signs, and to report sightings.
- Chiggers!The worst thing about the Missouri summer isn't sunburn, heat or humidity--it's chiggers.
- Edible MushroomsPictures and descriptions show you how to hunt, identify and cook Missouri's wild edible mushrooms.
- Poisonous MushroomsAmanitas, false morels and a catch-all category known as little brown mushrooms (LBMs cause virtually all the fatal mushroom poisonings in the United States, with amanitas alone accounting for 90 percent of mushroom-related deaths. Pictures and descriptions will help you avoid them.
- How to Build a Bluebird HouseLearn how to make a bluebird house.
- How to Build A Wood Duck Nest BoxLearn how to build a wood duck nest box.
- How to Build a Rabbit Live-Trap ILearn how to build a rabbit live-trap.
- Did I See a Bald Eagle?As the winter season approaches, bald eagles are moving into Missouri from breeding areas to our north.
- Birds Beat Cold the Same Old WayAs I sat in front of the fireplace last weekend and listened to winds gusting in a 2 degree day, I tried to imagine what it was like to live in Missouri 4,000 years ago.
- Life Blooms Despite the ColdIt was another windy, cold winter day.
- Missouri’s 15 Million Acres of WoodsMissouri has a wealth of woods—15 million acres in fact. There actually are more trees today than there were 50 years ago.
- Your Own Wreath from NatureCelebrating the holiday season with the help of nature’s bounty is a comforting break from going from store to store.
- Owls in the NightIt’s easy to get so closed up into the house on those dark winter nights that I forget to step outside, see the stars and listen to the life out there.
- Drought and deer diseaseThe coincidence of this blog and what I found on a walk along a creek where we live is quite bizarre.
- Cardinal ConventionCardinals come to visit Powder valley!
- Who are the Creatures in Your Neighborhood?After a good snow, check the front yard and see if any animals left tracks behind!
- No fog, but snow on the frog!A winter haiku inspired by a snow-covered frog.
