Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium

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The Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium is next to the Bass Pro Shops National Headquarters in Springfield, MO. It’s a place we passed by frequently over the past year but had not toured; the visit from my sister was a good prompt to finally buy tickets!

My main interest was the Aquarium but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the museum portion – history of hunting, fishing, and conservation with sculpture, taxidermy animals/models in realistic habitats, paintings, artifacts (fishing lures, taxidermy versions of ‘largest’ bears, boats). The animal exhibits were a much-improved version of the Natural History museums I toured as a child and I found myself picking up details of the scenes….enjoying them more than I would a zoo where the animals so often look stressed and uncomfortable.

The aquarium has a living fish, of course, but there were also models of animals too. The sperm whale with giant squid was one of the first that I noticed. There were models of different kinds of sharks on the wall – making it easier to notice the shape and size differences.

One of the larger tanks had a ‘shipwreck’ theme. I took a few pictures as we walked through the aquarium areas. The octopus tank seemed small for the animal…hopefully there was another space that gave it more room to move about.

The jellyfish were probably my favorite exhibit. Their shape and movement are somehow calming…and I’m always surprised at how different they can look.

There was also a smaller exhibit with different kinds of coral.

Toward the end of our tour, there was an area for lesser flamingo and a great egret. It was relatively dark. I liked the picture I took of the egret…but I wondered if the birds were rescues since a dark habitat is not what I associate with these birds. Earlier on we had seen some great horned owls that were rescued birds. Their habitat allowed them to be well away from the people and they seemed calm enough…but probably very different than they were in the wild.

Overall – an interesting place but I’d rather be outdoors. Next time we have someone visiting, I want to visit Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 15, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 birds of the week: Camouflage – Birds that blend in….a photography challenge sometimes – finding the bird then zoom in enough to make the bird easy to spot.

You Can Now Explore the Louvre's Entire Collection Online | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Next best thing to being there.

The radical coral rescue plan that paid off – Restoration after Hurricane Iris hit Belize in 2001.

Experimenting with Tucson Night Lights – Streetlights accounted for only 13% of the light visible after midnight….so we need to address other types of lighting to reduce the impact of outdoor lighting. Streetlights have been the easiest to address because they are a single source, and the local government has direct control over them.

1,200-year-old children’s hand prints found in Mexican cave – Made by Mayan children…perhaps made during coming of age ritual…in black handprints at first…then red.

Pileated Visitation – The joy of having a pileated woodpecker around long enough to photograph.

Forget Stonehenge: the first know massive monuments are much older – 6th millennium BC (7,000 years ago) structures on the Arabia Peninsula. Mustatils built as monuments by cattle herders.

Bald Eagle Cams Are Active. Here are the best 4. – It’s the time of year to watch nest cams!

Prairie Ecologist – Photographs of the week – April 23 2021 – Prairie dandelions on different than the dandelions that come up in my yard in Maryland!

Photography in the National Parks: the yin and yang of a composition – A Rebecca Lawson post…beautiful and instructive.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 21, 2019

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Waterbirds and Camouflage and Forests and Birds in Pairs – Starting out this week’s list with some bird pictures….catching up the backlog

Liver cancer deaths climb by around 50% in the last decade -- ScienceDaily – Survival rates are low too. Obesity and smoking are two preventable causes.

How Climate Change Will Affect Maryland's Birds | Audubon – I looked at the page for Maryland because that is where I live. The red-headed woodpecker is on the ‘high vulnerability’ list. The data is available for other states as well (scroll down on the ‘home’ page and select by state or zip code). The red-headed woodpecker appears on the high vulnerability list for Texas and Missouri too (those are two other states I checked).

First Global Map of Saturn's Moon Titan Reveals Secrets of Earth's 'Deranged' Twin | Smart News | Smithsonian – There are plains, sand dunes, mountains, labyrinthine valleys…and lakes of methane.

'Self-cleaning' concrete could keep buildings looking new -- ScienceDaily – Maybe a new building material…but can it be made in a ‘green’ way?

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Turkeys – I’m just catching up on some reading…this would have been more appropriate for the Thanksgiving week gleanings…but better late that never. Turkeys are interesting birds!

Air Pollution Tied to Brain Cancer: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - Combustion-related nanoparticles can reach our brain! The concentrations of these particles in highly polluted areas are also causing other health related problems as well. For example, the air pollution in Kabul, Afghanistan may be causing more deaths than war in that area

Owling: A Field Guide to Finding Winter Owls – Seen any owls? They are often easier to hear than see.

Slideshow: Images from The World Beneath | The Scientist Magazine® - A few pictures from a new book about sea creatures and coral reefs. Lots of vibrant color and camouflage.

Eating in sync with biological clock could replace problematic diabetes treatment: An early-morning, carb-filled meal improves glycemic control among diabetics -- ScienceDaily – We are shifting our meals…largest one at midday…smallest one at night. If we eat a high carb meal it will be at breakfast. I had gingerbread cake this morning!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 23, 2017

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Celebrate Cassini’s Historic Voyage in Eight Incredible Images | Smart News | Smithsonian – Cassini has crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere (intentionally) and there have been quite a few retrospective articles about its long mission. I liked this one…so am including in the gleanings for this week.

Eighteenth century nautical charts reveal coral loss -- ScienceDaily – The study compared the coral documented in the Florida Keys in nautical charts from the 1770s to satellite data. More than half the coral reef has disappeared completely. Nearer to land, the loss is closer to 90%.

What We Still Don’t Know about the Health Benefits of Nature – THE DIRT – I noticed this article first because the picture under the heading is of Klyde Warren Park in Dallas (I visited there several years ago and enjoyed it) but thin the article was worth looking at too. It defines some priorities for research to understand the health benefits of nature better although most people already agree that is it beneficial…but how exactly does it happen. Some doctors are already prescribing time in the park!

North American Ash on Brink of Extinction | The Scientist Magazine® - In Maryland many of the Ash Trees are already dead or dying. Very sad.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #105 – National Geographic Society – There’s an Eastern Bluebird toward the middle of this collection….perched a little differently than I usually see them.

A Monumental Road Trip in Northern Arizona - National Parks Traveler – I’ve been to most of these places…..and enjoyed them all.

BBC - Future - How we’re creating ‘super plants’ to help humanity – The article highlights 4 ideas: cross-breeding super plants, using plants as medicine, bananas on steroids, and fire-fighting plants.

Learn How to Create Zentangle Art, a Meditative Form of Drawing – This article is about doing Zentangles (drawing patterns) rather than buying an adult coloring book. I started doing doodles and graduated to Zentangles and never was tempted by the ‘coloring book’ craze.

Ruins of a Roman City Found Off the Coast of Tunisia | Smart News | Smithsonian – The area of ancient Neapolis is off the coast of Tunisia. It was destroyed by a tsunami in 365 AD.

Why are fossilized hairs so rare? -- ScienceDaily – Evidently, fossilized hair is 5 times rarer than feathers.  Chemistry? Environmental conditions? The research includes statistical analysis of where hair and feathers have been found in the fossil record and make some predictions about where and how to look for them going forward.