By Grace Gaard, Outdoor Educator Crayfish – also known as crawdad, crawfish and mudbug – is no fish. It’s an arthropod and more specifically, a freshwater crustacean. With their jointed legs and protective exoskeleton, crayfish are a unique part of Nebraska’s aquatic ecosystems. A crayfish’s body is comprised of three main parts: head, thorax and abdomen – similar to their distant insect relatives. Where crayfish begin to differ from insects, however, is that they have five pairs of legs, giving …

Veteran Jessica Niccoli suffered from PTSD and MST, and she found the outdoors to be therapeutic. She hunts, fishes and participates in many other outdoor activities. Jessica has given back by leading many organizations that support Veterans. Hear her story! She Goes Outdoors Podcast · Veteran: The Healing Power of Outdoors About She Goes Outdoors: Join a team of all-female hosts from Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa to learn a little, laugh a lot and get inspired to get outdoors! To …

By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska The story went like this: A “blazing aerolite” crashed near Benkelman in the southwestern corner of Nebraska. Local cowboys found metal machinery scattered over the prairie, but the intense heat kept them from getting too close. Returning the next day, they found the remains of an object “about 50 or 60 feet long, cylindrical, and about 10 or 12 feet in diameter.” That was how the Lincoln-based Nebraska State Journal broke the news on …

By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist I grew up believing that the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), also called European honey bee, was the god of all bees. Now as an adult, I see things differently. Sure, the species is crucial to the production of honey and a central money maker in agriculture, but let’s face it: The western honey bee is essentially cows with wings. And because they are a domesticated species, almost all of their genes have been …

Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do By Jamie Bachmann, Wildlife Educator The words “risk” and “children” rarely fit comfortably in the same sentence. Well-meaning parents, myself included, do all we can to protect the most innocent from what we perceive as risk. We bandage every scrape. We make them aware of every potential danger they, assumingly, can’t possibly see. We remove every possible hazard within a two-mile radius. What happens, then, when those children inevitably go out into …

She Goes Outdoors Podcast · Designed to Fit Our Bodies We talk to Ditale Outdoors, apparel designed for women to get outdoors and hunt. Here’s how the business started and where it is going. List to the program for a coupon code! ditaleoutdoors.com/ About She Goes Outdoors: Join a team of all-female hosts from Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa to learn a little, laugh a lot and get inspired to get outdoors! To learn more, visit https://www.sgooutdoors.com/ She Goes Outdoors is …

Eyewitness Account of an 1870s Nebraska Roundup By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska By the mid-1870s Nebraska’s open-range cattle industry … was experiencing growing pains,” writes historian Jim Potter. In the Platte Valley and the Panhandle, people worried about the “introduction of Texas cattle to supply the Indian agencies, unregulated ‘round-ups’ that caused ownership disputes (in winter, long hair made brands hard to see), and bulls running at large year round.” In early 1875, cattlemen met in Ogallala to organize …

Story and photos by Marissa Jensen Quiet amid noise seems like a contradiction, and yet, I’ve discovered it in the most surprising of places. Omaha is a bustling city where everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere — now. This incessant busyness is overwhelming. Every day, as weekdays feel longer and demands scream louder, I feel a part of me slipping away in all the noise. It was on such a morning, while in search of something “more” both …

By Allison Barg, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Research Graduate Assistant Welcome back! We are now a little over halfway through the pheasant breeding season, a.k.a my field season. Here is an update on what’s going on in the field this week. If you missed reading Part I of this series, catch up here: http://magazine.outdoornebraska.gov/2022/04/a-researchers-field-season-part-i/ May 2, 2022 3:30 a.m. – If you read my last post, you may be thinking, “Wow, that seems a lot earlier than last time.” That is …

A busy outdoor educator spends a day outside on her own. By Grace Gaard, Outdoor Educator When I was younger, time seemed to go on forever as I spent much of it exploring the outdoors. Now as an adult, I’ve recently realized that my time in nature has changed. While I absolutely love facilitating students’ exploration of nature as an outdoor educator at Game and Parks, I’m realizing that making time to explore nature for myself is something I need …