Creatures & Critters: Tarantula Edition

Meet Pink! Pinki is a Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula. Chilean Rose Hair Tarantulas are exotic to Iowa and they would normally be found living in the dry grassland region at the edge of the desert in South American countries such as Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. They are the most common tarantula seen as pets in Read More »

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Tiger salamander fun facts

tiger salamander

Sy the tiger salamander is huge. The Dickinson County Nature Center has two tiger salamander animal ambassadors, named Manny and Sy, and they are members of the largest land salamander species in North America. Tiger salamanders usually grow 7-13 inches long, but Sy is around 14 inches in length from head to tail. That’s one Read More »

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Why prairie skinks lose their tails

prairie skink missing its tail

Prairie skinks (Plestiodon septentrionalis) are common in Iowa, but you may never have seen one before. They are so tiny, that they blend in extremely well with their prairie surroundings. Prairie skinks range from 5-8 inches in length typically. Schnoodle the prairie skink Some skinks are is a little smaller than a typical prairie skink Read More »

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Five facts you probably didn’t know about painted turtles

painted turtle

Annie and Jeff loved the Dickinson County Nature Center. But they’re not visitors. They don’t even work here. Actually, they live here! That’s because, even though they have human-like names, Annie and Jeff are the nature center’s painted turtles (Chrysemys picta.) Annie the painted turtle Everyone loves checking out our painted turtles, so here are Read More »

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What animal ambassador are you?

[wp_quiz id=”6319″] Are You Smarter Than a Naturalist? By kiley | April 13, 2020 Personality quiz: Which pollinator are you? By kiley | June 10, 2019 Earth Day trivia quiz By kiley | April 24, 2018 What animal ambassador are you? By kiley | February 26, 2018

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Feeding the nature center snakes

snake sticking out its tongue

The naturalists make sure to wash their hands after handling the mice before picking up the snakes. They don’t want the snakes to associate people with food or being let out of their enclosures with food either so that they don’t expect to be fed every time the enclosure door is opened. How a snake Read More »

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Ada & Darling: Red-Eared Sliders

red-eared slider turtle

See more about the Dickinson County Nature Center’s other turtle ambassadors: Teddy the turtle looks for a friend Five facts you probably didn’t know about painted turtles 7 things Teddy the turtle wants you to know

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