Mi Nature

05/30/2026

💪💪💪

If you’re looking to join the pack of responsible campers, here’s your starter kit. It’s got the essentials I look for before we get a campfire rolling. 🐻

05/29/2026

Our latest Essential Educator newsletter is hot off the press and it is chock-full of ways for educators, students and families to engage with nature this summer!

Essential Educator: Summer 2026 Michigan Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 05/29/2026 10:45 AM EDT Share or view as webpage | Update preferences Essential Educator – May 2026 From all of us at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, thank you for partnering with us this s...

05/28/2026

Our pals at the Michigan Forest Association are hosting a Women Owning and Appreciating Woodlands Weekend, and you are invited! Some of the sessions include:

🦉A guided owl prowl hike
🪚 Chainsaw safety and maintenance
🦎Vernal pool sleuthing
🍄 Foraging basics

Learn more and register at https://www.michiganforests.org/woaw/ before the June 10 deadline!

05/27/2026

How many of these little critters have you seen lately? 👀

You can find a link to download a PDF copy of the handout in the comments.

05/22/2026

Are you going on an outdoor adventure this weekend? Tell us about your plans in the comments! 🏕️🥾🎣

05/20/2026

Ladies, eight-year-old you and eighty-year-old you will be so proud you attended this workshop!

Sessions include:
Archery 🏹
Fly fishing 🎣
Kayaking 🛶
ORV safety 🏁
Basic survival 🏕️
Wilderness self-defense 🥋

Learn more and register at Michigan.gov/BOW

05/20/2026

Want to learn more about one of North America’s rarest songbirds? We’re hosting two free tours of the Kirtland’s warbler and its jack pine habitat this spring in Grayling!

DNR to host free Kirtland’s warbler outings this spring Michigan Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 05/20/2026 09:05 AM EDT Share or view as webpage | Update preferences DNR to host free Kirtland’s warbler outings this spring Want to learn more about one of North America’s r...

05/18/2026

Have you attended our Academy of Natural Resources? What was your favorite session (and why)? 🌲🦅🫶

05/15/2026

When I get stressed, I like to go for a walk.

When trees get stressed, they don’t have that luxury. Instead, they can sometimes grow something called a burl. These are a sort of “band-aid” of dense, contorted wood that seal off damaged or infected areas on the tree that are causing it stress.

Burls are generally harmless to trees, but can look a little funny.

This particular burl is growing on a very old and very large white pine at Interlochen State Park, but we’d love to see pictures of any burls you’ve found! 🌲🌳🌲🌳

05/12/2026

For some of you, these might be pictures of a nope rope. For others, you might recognize these pictures to be of eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, the only venomous snake found in Michigan.

If you've never seen an eastern massasauga rattlesnake in the wild, there might be three possible reasons for that:

🐍They're federally protected because they're becoming more and more rare due to habitat loss and negative human interactions.

🐍 They're really shy. If they're disturbed, they will try to seek a new hiding spot.

🐍 You might not be hanging out enough in wetlands, which is their preferred habitat.

These snakes were found during a recent survey near Grayling. The team found 48 snakes during the weeklong survey, which involved carefully catching snakes and transporting them to a local field lab where they were aged, weighed and checked over by researchers. Before being released, the rattles on the snakes were painted with bright pink nail polish to let researchers know that particular snake had already been caught that week so they weren't disturbed more than what they needed to be.

If you find a snake in the wild, the best thing you can do is to leave it alone --- they play an important role in our ecosystem.

If you would like to learn more about Michigan's threatened and endangered species, check out https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/species