Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Here's to soaking up the last days of summer 🌅 What do you have planned?

📷 Emerson Bay on West Lake Okoboji, Christina Roelofs

Help us congratulate our newest state record holder, and the first for river carpsucker! 👏🏆

Way to go, Hope! Details 👇

Caught August 8 in Linn County
16.5 inches
1.85 pounds

If you've seen a deer showing the characteristics of EHD (sometimes called blue tongue), please let us know through our new reporting tool.

Details in comments.

The annual pheasant roadside survey is underway! Here's what we're expecting based on weather 👇

We usually see increases after mild winters with springs that are dryer and warmer than normal. While last winter was average to below average snowfall, spring was wetter than normal, with May coming in as the eighth wettest in 152 years of records. 😳

That means the weather model predicts populations will likely be lower for the 2024 hunting season.

The DNR's August roadside survey is the best gauge of what upland populations will be this fall, though, and those results will be available mid-September.

Photo by Kristie Burns/BEarthImages

The best birthday gift for a bear that wears a ranger hat? That would be not lighting all 80 candles on Smokey Bear's cake today! 🎂

Give ol' Smokey a cheer below and stop by to celebrate with him today at the DNR building at the Iowa State Fair!

Smokey Bear started helping the U.S. Forest Service inform and remind folks about the importance of fire safety in 1944. Smokey's iconic "only you can help prevent wildfires" message is as relevant and urgent today as it was in 1944.

Can't party with Smokey at the fair today? Libraries across Iowa will celebrate Smokey's birthday starting mid-April. Check with your local library to join in on their celebrations!

You have unique fingerprints. Bobcats have unique spot patterns!

Patterns can vary so much that sometimes you can identify specific bobcats by their spots.

Female bobcats tend to have more spots on their fur than males and tend to be slightly smaller in size.

Photo by Grant Webster Photo

Happy International Cat Day! 🐱

Which fish puts up a better fight - smallmouth or a wiper? 💪

When you dare to wear white in summer 🍓

Okay, so rose-breasted grosbeaks don't need to worry about stain removers - which is good, since they eat a lot of fruits, seeds and insects. Attract them to feeders with sunflower seeds and raw peanuts.

Photo: ShutterTraxs by: Eric Williamson

If you give a catfish a chicken liver...then he's going to want dip baits, minnows, chubs, green sunfish, bluegill, crawdads, frogs and nightcrawlers, too.

Catfish are biting right now - use baits fished on the bottom or suspended off the bottom with a bobber in lakes, or look for fish around downed trees and brush piles in rivers.

You don't have to care what brat summer is as long as you care about adding a bat summer house. 🦇💚

Bat colonies need a place to form in the summer, and with a bat house in your yard, they'll chip in for the rent by eating loads of mosquitoes.

Bat houses can be bought in a number of places, but search Bat Conservation International's site first to find the right type for your yard.

Bat houses are also easier for bats to find if they are mounted on poles or buildings at least 20-30 feet from tree branches (and definitely not mounted on YOUR house). And once they find them, they'll return year to year!

Congrats to our best Master Angler catches of July! 🥇
Which one's your favorite?

I don't fly, I glide 💅

Someone decided to name me the Southern *flying* squirrel, but I use a patagial flap between my front and back legs that works like a wingsuit when I glide. I don't get much for altitude, but I bring it all in the attitude when I glide up to a hundred feet at a time.

Now and then you'll catch a glimpse of me in the daylight, but I much prefer the nightlife.

I'm technically Iowa's smallest squirrel, but those other guys don't glow.

Seriously - under ultraviolet light, flying squirrels glow a bright pink. Humans haven't figured out why yet, but I don't mind being a little enigmatic ✨

Photos: Julie Blades and Mike Gould

You all have been sharing your sunflower photos, and we are not mad about it 🌻

Ready to explore more? 5 things to know before you go sunflower seeking 👇

ONE
These are dove plots first. They are here for dove hunting (season starts Sept. 1), and so locations of fields can and do change each year. Find this year's spots on the DNR website at iowadnr.gov/doves (look for "food plot sites")

TWO
If you happen to be a fan of Badger Creek, one of the most popular spots, know that the plots are on the west side of the lake, not the east side, which has been planted to prairie.

THREE
Remember, these are generally not state parks. These are public hunting areas, so don't expect bathrooms, concessions, etc. Stop at the gas station for a pit stop and pizza before you get there. (And carry out your trash, please and thank you.)

FOUR
Make sure that you are bringing lots of sunscreen and bug spray. There will be pollinators and insects everywhere! Also, it's Iowa, so it's HOT. Bring lots of water and good walking shoes.

FIVE (THIS IS IMPORTANT)
Finally, buy your habitat fee! That helps support these plantings and wildlife all across the state. You can purchase a habitat fee at any license vendor, through our Go Outdoors Iowa app, or on the Iowa DNR website.

Have fun!

Photos courtesy of James Tucker II /Tucker Wildlife Images (Lost Grove WMA) and Jerry Nordstrum (Badger Creek State Rec Area)

We don't know a double lutz from a double axel, but we give this fox a 🔟.

As a small predator, a fox must hunt efficiently. Different species of foxes may weigh as little as two pounds or as many as 30, but even the high end of that scale doesn’t guarantee enough strength to bring down prey in the typical canine grab-and-shake fashion.

Instead, foxes will carefully target prey and kill it by separating the vertebrae with one bite like a cat. In snow or grassy fields, foxes can sometimes be seen diving theatrically to get to their prey – usually mice.

Image courtesy Grant Webster Photo

If you like walleye, try...freshwater drum!

Scroll to see our biologists' thoughts 👉

We need you out there looking for turkeys, but you can't ever count out that they're not out there looking for you. 👀

If you have spotted one recently, please be sure to make an official record in our annual turkey counting survey! iowadnr.gov/TurkeySurvey

Backroads. Reconstructed prairie. Extensive songbird population. Eleven bat species and 60+ butterfly species. Oh, and excellent hunting, all over 3,700 acres in Decatur County.

Sand Creek Wildlife Area, tucked into the rolling hills of south central Iowa, is a destination for wildlife enthusiasts, hunters and hikers alike.

This public hunting area is popular for turkey and deer hunting. Wildlife researchers come to document the wide diversity of wildlife that call Sand Creek home.

Because it's a wildlife area first, there aren't established hiking trails, but the firebreaks in place for prescribed fire management are a great alternative.

Birders flock to the Sand Creek Woodland/Savanna, named Iowa’s 15th Bird Conservation Area (BCA) in early 2010. The designation encompasses more than 30,000 acres of woodland and grassland habitat on public and private land in Decatur, Ringgold and Union counties. The Sand Creek Woodland/Savanna Bird Conservation Area contains both woodland and grassland habitats providing homes to about half of Iowa’s nesting bird species.

Which species of tree is our forester hugging today?

Hints: these leaves have a common shape, but they’re pointed, not rounded.

We're sure you're *ready* with the answer by now.

Because these hints might get a-corny, but oakey dokey.

Still not sure? It's a northern red oak. 😉

Did we just become best friends??? 🐟

This bluegill had to check out what this little guy was up to.

Please note: the parents were supervising and were within arms' reach of the child.
Photos courtesy of Kylie Werden.

Drop your top way to upgrade s'mores.

(we'll add ours below, too)

Some areas of northwest Iowa received more than HALF A YEAR's worth of rain during the final week of June.

June’s preliminary statewide rainfall average was 5.22 inches, with Lake Park receiving the most at 18.46 inches. The Rathbun Dam area received only 1.96 inches.

As of now, only less than one percent of Iowa qualifies as abnormally dry in the U.S. Drought Monitor. That's the lowest drought rating for the state in 218 weeks.

As flooding continues to affect our state, please visit the Iowa DNR website for information on park alerts and closures, beach advisories, safety info, resources for impacted Iowans and more - iowadnr dot gov.

Photos from the Iowa Great Lakes/Okoboji area earlier this month.

Iowa Summer Pro Tip: Score more with these 300-point parks in the Iowa State Parks Passport!

Don't have the passport yet? Check the link in our bio, then visit state parks for the opportunity to win sweet prizes.

Here are 6 parks to get you started - check the passport for more big-point parks!

1. Yellow River State Forest, Allamakee County (Brian Gibbs photo)
2. Volga River State Recreation Area, Fayette County (lllbphoto via Instagram)
3. Waubonsie, Fremont County
4. Nine Eagles, Decatur County
5. Lake Keomah, Keokuk/Mahaska counties (hawkeyes4us via Instagram)
6. Lake of Three Fires, Taylor County ()

Stay up to date with weather and other alerts and closures by heading over to iowadnr dot gov and searching "park alerts."

These six Iowa fish put up a big fight - which is your favorite to catch?

(PRO TIP: peep some hints on each photo to win your next battle.)

So how does Iowa's wildlife react to flooding?

Just like us, most critters head for higher ground, when and where it's available. Some climb trees for a temporary home. Some look for new ground habitat that still provides food and shelter, but not too many neighbors, including those of their own species in some cases. (The deer in the photos was spotted at Copeland Bend Wildlife Area in Fremont County recently.)

For reptiles and amphibians, more water and more humid conditions help them thrive - less chance of drying out and more opportunity to colonize into areas new to them. However, flooding can bring fish into breeding ponds, which eat young tadpoles.

Plus, with fewer flooding events in the spring and more in the summer, animals that had adapted to spring flooding for nesting may now struggle to have a successful nest. Wood turtles and spiny softshell turtles nest on sandbars and sandy banks, but the floods that once scoured that sand to prep for a nest now wash the nest away.

Birds - as you'd expect - will generally move to higher ground if they can, but heavy rain and flooding is usually a problem for birds that nest on or near the ground. Many species will attempt to re-nest and try again, though second nests often produce fewer young.

In any case, it will take wildlife time to recover from a devastating weather event like this year's flooding, but having healthy populations will allow for that recovery to happen faster.

🦅 🇺🇸

The bald eagle became the feature of the United States’ seal in 1782.

In the late 1700s, bald eagles ranged from Alaska and Canada down to northern Mexico, possibly with more than 100,000 nesting eagles in the U.S.

Despite its significance as the national bird and emblem, bald eagle numbers began to drop in the late 1800s, along with waterfowl, shorebirds and other prey. Many incorrectly thought eagles were after their livestock and shot the birds. A hundred years later, the pesticide DDT caused reproductive issues with eagles, further lowering their numbers down to just 417 nesting pairs in the U.S. by 1963.

Iowa had lost all of its nesting bald eagles by the early 1900s.

Today, Iowa has about 450 nesting pairs of eagles, thanks to restoration efforts and big changes. In 1940, Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act. In 1972, they were one of the first species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. DDT use was banned. In 1977, Iowa again had eagles nesting.

The most recent national survey in 2006 counted 9,789 nesting pairs of eagles in the U.S., leading to its removal from the Endangered Species List. However, it’s still considered a Species of Special Concern in Iowa.

Friends, keep an eye on the weather this holiday week & be sure to check our state parks alerts and closures page for updates as they happen: iowadnr.gov/ParkAlerts

Pictured: Des Moines River flooding at Dolliver Memorial State Park on June 27

Velvet, if you please 🎶

The stage where a deer's antlers grow is known as the velvet stage. Deer antlers have been known to grow as much as a quarter-inch in a day, making the velvet the fastest growing animal tissue known in the world!

Photos by Ben Neff