Did you know that some Missouri frogs freeze nearly solid in winter and their hearts stop beating. Then they revive! Some owls start nesting in January and their eggs can survive temperatures of 10 degrees or below freezing! Ground squirrels sleep the winter away from October to April – without waking up! Some snakes crowd together in dens by the thousands to spend winter together!
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) invites everyone to learn more about these and other strange-but-true facts about native animals and plants by joining its online Wild Webcast on Winter Wildlife Survival on Wednesday, Dec. 14, from noon to 1 p.m.
Register in advance for the MDC Wild Webcast on Winter Wildlife Survival at short.mdc.mo.gov/4GC and then join the webcast live at noon on Dec. 14.
MDC Naturalist Sarah Easton from the Runge Conservation Nature Center in Jefferson City will share more fun facts about Missouri wildlife using the new MDC book, Strange but True. Adapted from the pages of MDC’s award-winning children’s magazine Xplor, Strange but True is a 136-page, full-color book that offers more than 350 fun facts about Missouri wildlife at its strangest.
The Strange but True guidebook makes a great holiday gift and is available for purchase for $8.95 from the MDC Nature Shop online at mdcnatureshop.com or at MDC nature centers around the state. Get information on MDC nature centers at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/nature-centers.
