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 and making maple syrup.
- 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 Find Missouri conservation areas, nature centers, fish hatcheries, natural areas and shooting ranges where 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.
- Peregrine Falcon Web CameraMDC, Ameren Missouri and the World Bird Sanctuary have partnered to provide a bird's-eye view of peregrine falcons raising chicks in a nest box at Ameren’s Sioux Energy Center in St. Louis.
- Chiggers!Chiggers are the worst thing about a Missouri summer. Learn some practical tips for avoiding chigger bites and relieving the misery they can inflict.
- SnakesDon't let fear of snakes keep you indoors—or compel you to kill every snake you see. Encounters with snakes are rare, and these animals control rodents and other pests. Getting to know the kinds, natural history and range of Missouri's snakes can help you overcome your fear of them, and appreciate their role in nature.
- 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.
- SpidersMissouri is home to more than 300 species of spiders, and most are our friends. They control insect pests in our farms and gardens. This page helps you get to know and appreciate Missouri's most common spiders.
- Early Signs of SpringAs we shovel snow and brace for cold north winds this week, it’s hard to feel very encouraged that spring is just around the corner.
- Free Nature Fun - Spring BirdsThis weekend is perfect for stepping outside with a pair of binoculars and your ears wide open to catch sight and sound of some colorful birds on their way north.
- We're Frost FreeIf you prefer warmer temperatures and you’re looking for the bright side of Tax Day, April 15 is also the average day of last frost in central Missouri.
- Plant a Tree, Sink Some Carbon!Since 1886, Missourians “officially” have counted the first Friday in April as Arbor Day.
- What’s This Thing In My Yard?Every spring I get a few contacts about a strange object in someone’s yard.
- What is that blob outside?With the wet spring we’ve had (3 to 5 inches of rain above normal February to April in many Missouri counties), it’s no surprise that unusual things are growing out there.
- Attracting bright orange birds to your feederFor eye-popping color, it’s hard to beat Baltimore orioles (called northern orioles for a while, then back to the earlier name).
- Why Missouri Native Seed?Nothing works better than native plants when it comes to creating a healthy landscape.
- Spring Wildflowers Popping UpThis is my favorite time of year when finally I start seeing new life pop up in the woods, along the streams, across the fields.
- Rods, Guns and Wild RosesWhen I started working for the Conservation Department, I felt a sense of being at home with people who deeply enjoyed nature and the outdoors as much as I did.
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mdc.mo.gov/node/91
