Nebraskaland Magazine

Just because ticks aren’t your favorite creatures doesn’t mean you can’t admire their life strategies. Story and photos by Chris Helzer I found a deer carcass one April day while walking around my family prairie. I’m not a trophy hunter, but I’m pretty sure my friends who are would have been happy to see it beneath their tree stand the previous fall. I don’t know how long the dead deer had been lying there. By the time I found the …

Time for my first report from this spring’s turkey fields! If you have been reading my blog for some time, you know my attention in the spring gets drawn from fins to feathers–gobbling, turkey feathers.  Our Nebraska spring shotgun season has been open for over a week now.  You may also know that I like to take a casual approach to my turkey hunting.  Oh, I am focused on punching tags, but I like to enjoy the process and every …

Flanagan Lake in Omaha offers anglers action-packed fishing in the spring. Story and photos by Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley “You call this a lake?” said my friend Hank Shaw as we unloaded out of the truck on a weekday morning in April. From the southwest parking lot near Fort and 168th streets, Flanagan Lake in Omaha looked little more than a pond. Hank didn’t know that the rest of the lake was obscured, and I had forgotten it. The last time I was …

I love Nebraska’s sandhills.  The original Bauer homestead was on the western edge of those beautiful hills.  As a child, my first residence was just a couple of miles from there.  Although I have not lived directly in the ‘hills for most of my life, I have always felt I was going home whenever I get back there.  I do that every chance I get. It thrills me that the University of Nebraska Press has recently published The Nebraska Sandhills. …

Topside photo of a dryad’s saddle, a.k.a. pheasant’s back or hawks wing, in Nebraska. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Along with finding and picking morel mushrooms, there is another edible wild fungus growing in your moist woodlands that you should know and consider harvesting and making for dinner — the dryad’s saddle. The Dryad’s saddle. What the heck is that? The dryad’s saddle (Cerioporus squamosus, formerly known as Polyporus squamosus), and referred to as the pheasant’s back or …

Community science specialist Alie Mayes talks about the challenges in sharing her love of nature with her nephew. By Alie Mayes, Community Science Specialist As I was scrolling through the photos on my phone the other day, I realized that the majority of my pictures consist of three things: nature, nature for iNaturalist and the people/pets I love. There were a few pictures that made me stop and smile. Last summer, my nephew, Aiden (then 8 years old), came to …

It is that time of year again.  Spring!  The fish are biting, the ‘shrooms are popping, turkeys gobblin’.  I hate that I have to do anything this time of year other than spend time on the water or in the field!  So much to do, and so little time!  I wish I could completely clear my schedule! The urgency of it all, spring is only gonna last for so long, can put me in a poor state of mind.  You …

Meet a Nebraska woman working for more inclusive and accessible birding in the state. By Renae Blum In conversation, Cassandra Dean smiles easily and laughs often. But her eyes well up with tears remembering a birding event she led last fall at Indian Cave State Park. Hosted on a newly-built trail designed to be accessible, Dean’s outing was described as “birding for everybody and every body” – inclusive to people with disabilities and other health concerns. At the event, Dean …

Believe me, I LOVE fish pictures!  Do not think that I ever get tired of looking at them. Unfortunately, I have to admit, I cringe at many of them. Yes, that is mostly because I am a pointy-headed fisheries biologist.  I know how sensitive fish can be to being caught, handled and released.  On the other hand, let me also say this:  I know that they also can be very robust.  That is especially true when the water is relatively …

Try a new outdoor activity this spring. Herping is the practice of searching for reptiles and amphibians. By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist Looking for ways to get kids outside and away from their screens and tablets? Taking a nature walk or going on a scavenger hunt in the backyard are classic examples. Families with children also love the idea of “firsts”: The first time their children sleep under the stars, the first time they reel in a fish or …