As the cold weather creeps in and winter approaches, we start preparing our house, our wardrobe, and our minds for the cold months to come. The bees, butterflies, squirrels, bats, and other Illinois wildlife have to prepare for the cold winter months ahead as well. Learn how our wildlife overwinters and what you can do to support those animals (without them making a winter home in your house!).

Questions: 

1. What are the challenges for wildlife in the winter?
2. Sometimes it’s so quiet, What are animals doing in the winter?
3. How can I support wildlife in the winter?
4. I don’t want my yard to look like a forest, can I still support wildlife? 
5. Is there cases in which I wouldn’t want to support wildlife?

The role of fire is important for many of our Midwest native plants and ecosystems. Prescribed burning is a way to reintroduce fire in landscapes in a controlled manor. Fire can early emergence of many of our native grasses and forbs. In timber, fire helps promote regeneration of oak and hickories species while limiting the natural succession to other timber species. It is also a way to control some undesirable species such as invasive plants and woody thickets.

Extension Educator Peggy Doty talks about how to select a good bird food seed mix, and selecting a bird feeder. She also corrects a couple of common misconceptions about feeding birds.

Bats have been at the top of news headlines with concerns about health and safety. Learn more about these creatures with Extension’s Energy and Environmental Stewardship Educator, Abigail Garofalo, and find out why bats are important to our ecosystems, how we can stay safe around bats, and how we can support these flying mammals.