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• Try the taste of spring. Redbuds start blooming in late March. Their blossoms add a pop of color and tangy flavor to salads.
• Many Missouri turtles become active in late March.

Dead Snag

Even after death, trees provide homes and food for lots of life.

Spring

Look

Woodpeckers hammer on dead snags to find insects to eat, make nest holes, and tap out messages to fellow woodpeckers. The next time you visit a snag, keep your eyes peeled for these head-banging birds.

Did You Know?

Red-bellied woodpeckers have super-long tongues that they use to probe inside hammered-out holes. The tongue is needle sharp — perfect for harpooning bugs — and barbed at the tip so dinner can’t wiggle away.

Eastern Gartersnake vs Short-Tailed Shrew

The struggle to survive isn’t always a fair fight.

Backward Biters

A gartersnake’s teeth curl inward. Once prey is seized, the only direction it can move is toward the snake’s tummy.

Jumbo Jaws

Special jawbones allow a snake to stretch its mouth around prey that's much larger than the snake's head.

Tiny but Toxic

Short-tailed shrews produce venomous saliva that paralyzes small prey like insects and hinders the heart of larger victims.

• Ruby-throated hummingbirds can fly up, down, forward, backward, sideways, and even upside-down. The tiny birds can streak toward a flower at 25 mph and come to a dead stop in a space no longer than your pointer finger.
• Better than a bulldozer: Woodchucks dig a network of burrows and underground chambers in which to live. Their tunnels may stretch almost 80 feet, and the woodchuck may remove nearly 700 pounds of soil during construction.
• Why so blue?

Hang a Homemade Hammock

Nothing is more relaxing on a warm spring day than lying in a hammock and swinging with the breeze. No hammock? No problem. Here’s how to rig one with supplies you likely have at home.

Spring Woods Bingo

A springtime walk in the woods is a delight for your senses. The forest turns green, birds sing, and the sweet scent of flowers hangs in the air. To make your walk even better, play “Spring Woods Bingo.”

Instructions

Cut out the bingo cards. Bring the cards, a couple friends, and some pencils on your next hike. When you spot an item in the woods that’s listed on the card, put an “X” in the corresponding box. When you get five X’s in a row, yell “Xplor!”

Baby Red-Shouldered Hawks

These nestlings are waiting for mom or dad to bring home lunch — maybe a frog or a mouse. Their parents will tend to them until they are ready to hunt on their own, sometime in mid-June. Red-shouldered hawks start nesting in mid-March, and their eggs hatch in late April or early May. You may spot nesting pairs in woods along creeks this spring. Listen for the parents’ calls — a loud kee-aah! Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/field-guide.

Xplor: January/February 2021