Wildlife

Penguins After Dark

Another Mountain Lion Caught on Camera Last Week in Shannon County

They keep coming. The Missouri Department of Conservation has confirmed that the animal in the photo to the right is indeed a mountain lion. It was photographed September 10 and 11 by a wildlife cam on public land near Eminence.  According to MDC, "widely scattered mountain-lion sightings have ... More >>

Albino Hummingbird Spotted in KC Is "Extremely Rare," Probably Going to Die Soon

A few weeks ago, a couple in North Kansas City saw this creature come to their hummingbird feeder. Here's how unusual that is:

Mountain Lion Spotted in Northern Missouri, 13th Cougar Verified in Past Year

The Missouri Department of Conservation confirmed this week the presence of an adult mountain lion in Grundy County. A trail camera captured an image (right) of the big cat on April 2 as it walked through a wooded area around 8:45 p.m. The cougar is the 29th verified sighting in Missouri since mount ... More >>

First-Ever Live "Bird-Cam" On Turkey Vultures in Missouri Picks Up Rarely-Seen Behavior

Last spring, the live "eagle cam" feed from Decorah, Iowa blew up the Internets, making national news and entrancing millions of people in 184 countries who watched bald eagles hatch their eggs in real-time. But this spring -- as you read this sentence, actually -- the folks behind that project are ... More >>

Winter Provender

Coyote Spotted In Maplewood

Hear ye, hear ye: A coyote makes a statement in Maplewood.​The City of Maplewood is warning its residents of a recent coyote sighting. Rachelle L'Ecuyer, community development director for the mid-county suburb, put out a media alert on the critter this afternoon. L'Ecuyer tells Daily RFT that the ... More >>

Animal lovers protect Canada geese from death -- by harassing them

The Six Best Crawfish Snuff Videos (Excluding Our Own)

​As we reported in this week's feature, "Stupid People Tricks: The raw crawfish conundrum," it's become something of a trend for people to film themselves -- or get filmed by their friends/enablers -- eating live crawfish and posting the results on YouTube. It's unknown how many of these dumbs ... More >>

Black Bears May Never Have Left Missouri

Missouri may have always had black bears. But the grizzlies depicted in its flag? Not so much.​New research from the Missouri Department of Conservation is challenging the belief that black bears were extirpated from the state in the 1930s. In recent decades, the bears, which can reach 900 pounds, ... More >>

Jim Carrey and his tuxedoed friends on a grim march to nowhere in Mr. Popper's Penguins

Why There Are No Cicadas In Your Backyard

Image viaWhy aren't they at your house? It's not you, it's them. Well, it's also you. ​STL has gone cuh-razy for cicadas, now that the 13-year periodical brood has come out in force. But this big ol' cicada party ain't raging everywhere -- only in certain pockets. What gives? It's actually a quest ... More >>

Calculating the St. Louis Heat Index

Cicadageddon Is Officially Underway

flickr.com/photos/coturnixBzzzzzzzzz Run for your lives!!! Becuase there are cicadas. ​HOLY EFFING SH$T WE GOTS CICADAS! Every thirteen years, they emerge to buzz out their 120-decibel love songs, and this year is gonna be off the chain, according to various news sources: The Associated Press said ... More >>

Leprosy: Another Reason to Avoid Those Armadillos Invading from the South

Be sure to cook thoroughly.​Drive outside of St. Louis, and invariably you'll see one or two of them lying dead on the side of the road. Armadillos first began arriving in southern Missouri some thirty years ago and can now be found throughout most the state.And -- as has been proven in other stat ... More >>

Watch Out! Black Bears Are Back

courtesy the Missouri Department of ConservationBlack bear, black bear, what do you see?​We've told you all about the return of prairie chickens, elk and hummingbirds to Missouri, but have you heard that black bears are coming back, too? Yep, it's true. Biologists at the Missouri Department o ... More >>

Chef Kris Janik vs. The Possum: Lessons Learned About Urban Chicken Raising

Photo by Nicholas PhillipsChef holding his Partridge Rock hen​Kristopher Janik, executive chef at Robust Wine Bar & Cafe in Webster Groves, has been raising chickens as a hobby in his South City backyard for the past year.  The man loves his birds. But he's not the only one. Gut Check: Wh ... More >>

Canadian Geese Attack Police Officer in Shrewsbury

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Untamed Evenings

This We Know: Juara the Orangutan Did NOT Die of Physical Exhaustion

Sorry if we hurt your feelings.​Wow. The coincidence. We almost wonder if we had something to do with it? Yesterday, Daily RFT reported new findings suggesting that orangutans are perhaps the laziest creatures in the animal kingdom. Then, hours later, the St. Louis Zoo announces that its 25-year-o ... More >>

The Morning Brew: 5.10

Food poisoning claims three lives at Louisiana mental hospital and sickens 40 others. The Associated Press reports that patients at Central State Hospital in Pineville, Louisiana, were served chicken salad for dinner on Thursday. Patients started falling ill the next morning, with the three deaths ... More >>

See Spots Survive

'Paca Pals

Top Five Shocking Facts about Missouri's War Against Feral Hogs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8104587@N08/ / CC BY 2.0​5) Feral hogs are exploding in Missouri!Not literally. Their numbers are swelling, says the Missouri Department of Conservation. The offspring of domestic swine, wild razorbacks and Russian boars have formed entrenched populations in 20 countie ... More >>

Mount My Squirrel! Local taxidermist Rick Nadeau has a lot of fun with his "little buddies"

ZOOMG, Relax

Re: Otter in Mourning

Aimee's post earlier today about the untimely death of Splash the otter may be the first in a recurring series. The Missouri Department of Conservation decided earlier this month that trappers in the state will be allowed to capture and kill an unlimited number of the critters this year. V ... More >>

Zoo's Herpes Outbreak Gets the New York Times Treatment

flickr.com/photos/bocavermelhaOver the weekend, the nation's paper of record decided that a bit of St. Louis news was fit to print. Former Riverfront Times staff writer Malcolm Gay penned a story for Saturday's edition of the New York Times about the mysterious herpes outbreak cu ... More >>

Ask a Cougar Nominees, Round 3

Cold Comfort

Owl Art

And other art, and owls

Shark Bites

JAWS Unleashed is as sloppy as it is gory.

Best Place to Bird-Watch

Riverland Environmental Demonstration Area

Wait Elephant

Flora prepares to pack her trunk once more -- but where's she headed?

Series/Festivals

Week of March 12, 2003

Film Openings

Week of January 9, 2002

Not Easy Bein' Green

A traveling exhibit now at the Missouri Botanical Garden details the grim plight of the world's amphibians

Laurie Anderson

Life on a String (Nonesuch)

Fly Away Home

Henry Marganski's pigeons fly the coop all the time. Some race back, and some don't.

Touch My Toads

Reptiles and amphibians have a friend in "Outback Ed" Kiernan

Eagle Eye

Peripatetic nature photographer Art Wolfe sets his gear down for a lecture at the St. Louis Zoo

Life in the Bughouse

The Insectarium's keepers are mad about their charges

Side Dish

Heeding the call of the wild at Fio's La Fourchette

Best Place to Bird-Watch

John F. Kennedy Forest, Forest Park

Best Riverfront Attraction

Two Pecan Tree Pond

Flora's Place

Flora, star of a popular local circus, may be on her way to her old stomping ground

GAME BOY

A wild time was had by all at Fio's La Fourchette

Letters to the Editor

Pigeons Droppings

Pigeons navigate better than any pilot, they're more sociable than any debutante, they've adapted to the urban landscape better than any human. But they poop. So we're poisoning them.