More Hairy than Scary: Tarantula Study

Grab your mask or googles and head into a Missouri stream or creek this spring and early summer and you may just see some colorful tropical looking fish. Discover Missouri’s showy minnows and where you can see them come together around chub mounds in this Discover Nature Note.

Discover how a massive ancient fish is making a comeback in our big rivers. With a sharklike body, a long snout, and no teeth, Lake Sturgeon live long and travel far and wide. Reports of them spawning in the wild have led to an historic event for MDC Fisheries staff at our Blind Pony Hatchery. Journey underwater in the Osage River, to a spawning site on the Mississippi River and inside the hatchery to see the restoration of a species with a long circle of life in Missouri waters.

Shirley Carpenter has gone where very few have travelled. Up a hacking tower to help feed young bald eaglets. Jeff Cantrell was there during the incubation process and research as a college student. Both helped out during a 10-year program to restore America's iconic bald eagle to nesting and winter population success in Missouri. Watch their story that Shirley describes as the adventure of her lifetime.