Willy's Wilderness

08/23/2026

Creature feature: The groundhog, aka woodchuck or whistle pig

This mammal of many names gets a lot of attention each year on its namesake holiday, but groundhogs don’t usually emerge from their months-long hibernation until later in February than the Feb. 2 holiday. They live in their underground burrows year-round, but they have separate burrows they use for hibernation. Their cold-weather burrows are typically in woodlands, but their summer burrows are often in grassland or near farmland.

When we see groundhogs aboveground, they are often eating. They are omnivores, but their diet mostly consists of plants like grasses, leaves, bark and fruit. They have to eat a lot in the warmer months to prepare for hibernation. They can sometimes eat more than 1 pound of plant material a day!

Fun fact: The underground burrows where they live can be large and complex, with many different chambers. They even have a chamber that they use as a bathroom!

08/21/2026

Are bullfrogs carnivores? How about great horned owls? What do rabbits eat? And deer? See how much you know about animals and their diets with our 10-question quiz. Quiz link in comments.

08/19/2026

Do you what a group of squirrels is called? It's a scurry. How about a group of geese? That's a gaggle. Here's your chance to learn more about the interesting and sometimes amusing names we have for groups of animals.

Animals don’t care what we call them, but naming helps us understand, appreciate, and protect them. We use different names for different types of animals in the same species - like a doe (female deer) or a kit (young skunk). Learning names makes animals more interesting and can inspire us to care ...

08/18/2026

Hibernation is for winter, but when temperatures get too hot, some animals enter a similar state called estivation. Learn how frogs, turtles, snails and more rely on this state of inactivity to survive when it gets too hot outside.

What do animals do when summer gets too hot? For some, they enter estivation, a survival trick that helps frogs, turtles, snails and more beat the heat.

08/14/2026

Are you a good angler? Ospreys are. Their diet is almost exclusively fish, and they catch a fish on 75% of their attempts.

Ospreys are impressive birds of prey that are built for catching fish. Learn all about these impressive birds.

08/13/2026

What does an American robin have in common with a European robin? More than you might think. Meet these two colorful birds and discover what sets them apart.

American and European robins share orange breasts, similar diets, and habitats, but they aren’t closely related. American robins are larger, darker, and belong to the thrush family, while European robins are smaller flycatchers. Both species eat insects, fruits, and worms and are common in parks a...

08/11/2026

The three little pigs built their houses from straw, sticks and bricks, but have you heard about the little water bugs that build protective mobile homes from sticks, stones, leaves and more? Meet the caddisfly, an amazing underwater architect that can carry its home wherever it goes.

Discover how caddisfly larvae use silk, sticks, stones and leaves to build underwater homes, and learn why these tiny bugs are important to healthy waterways.

08/05/2026

Have you ever heard an insect chirp and wondered who's making the noise? Was it a grasshopper? Or maybe a katydid or cricket? Learn the simple clues that make these backyard insects easy to tell apart.

08/04/2026

Ready to see nature in a new way? Try kayaking to experience your Will County preserves from a fresh perspective. Check out this article to learn how to get started and where you can kayak in the preserves.

Get the scoop on kayaking the preserves, including cool spots to check out, how to stay safe and what to do on the water.

07/31/2026

Most of this critter's life happens underground. Learn how plains pocket gophers dig their tunnels, find food and help keep our soil healthy.

The plains pocket gopher spends almost its entire life underground, digging long tunnels through sandy soil. Learn how this little mammal helps the environment, what it eats and how to tell its tunnels apart from a mole's.