Urban Rivers

In case you missed it… our 2025 Annual Report is out!! It has bugs, plants, river, and pretty much all the other cool stuff we’re known for. Check it out - link in our bio!

Our Fishstravganza was a success! 🐟🐟🐟 Huge thanks to everyone who joined us to help prep supplies for this year’s fishing events. If you want to see what all the fishy hype is about, join us for one of our Wild Mile fishing days - the first one is coming up on April 18th!

He (turtle) has risen (out of brumation)! 🤩

During the chilly winter months, our local freshwater turtles brumate - a process similar to hibernation. They “breathe” through their highly-vascular cloacas (if you don’t know what a cloaca is, just Google it), and slow their metabolism to a tiny fraction of its summer levels. The calcium in their shells even helps protect their bodies against the lactic acid buildup that results from their extremely low-oxygen conditions!

Turtles might emerge from brumation temporarily to sunbathe during especially warm winter and spring days, but you can expect to start seeing them somewhat regularly around this time of year. Thank you, dear turtles, for your long-awaited return! 🐢🙏🏼

We’ve been sitting on this information for a while since we’re not sure what to make of it. Our researchers and Camera Crew volunteers have noticed a strange new trend sweeping the local beaver community - turtle hats.

Research Director Phil Nicodemus postulates that the beavers are responding to increased scrutiny of their kind - both from trailcam research projects like our own, and from conventional press.

“Put yourself in the shoes of the beaver” says Nicodemus. “You see your South Branch brethren Ida Beav Wells become a media sensation overnight. She’s going about her day, and suddenly there are candid shots of her all over the internet. No makeup, crappy angles, and no cool hat. Wouldn’t you worry about the same thing happening to you, or your kits?”

The particular motivations behind this trend will be a focus of our research efforts going forward.

Since our team lacks herpetology expertise, we cannot speak to the feelings of the turtles about this arrangement. However, since it’s quite early for them to be coming out of brumation, we assume that their participation is begrudging, at best.

We should also take this opportunity to warn you that in addition to the turtle hats, the beavers have started sinking yachts. If you own a watercraft that cost over $500k, or if you currently work for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, we suggest steering clear of the river for a bit.

Spring is right around the corner! Swing by the Wild Mile to check out all the lovely new growth! Or at least, everything that hasn’t already been mowed down by the muskrats :)

River Ranger shoutout! A few weeks ago, Rangers Joe, Claire, and Ben brought Joe’s AWESOME Lego-Wild-Mile activity to the engineering fest. Kids built their own floating eco parks using Lego native plants, garden modules, and even 3D-printed river critters!!

This activity has been iteratively improved upon after being painstakingly crafted by Joe over a year ago. It debuted at last year’s engineering fest, and we’re so pumped to have been able to bring it back, better than ever!!

📸 #1: Sergio Mantilla/CAC

Some fascinating, awesome work done to track the movement of fishes throughout the river system!

Obligatory green river post!! (Do NOT talk to us about the main branch 🫠)

For those of you enjoying fool’s spring… DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE!!!! We’re not there just yet!!

Fortunately, the Wild Mile (and all the lovely wildlife it hosts) are weathering the chilly season just swimmingly. We frequently get asked - “what happens to the floating wetlands in the winter?” The answer is that they behave like any other midwestern ecosystem; storing energy in their root system and seeds, while continuing to provide food and shelter for the animals that overwinter in our lovely city. The docks and pontoons are built to last, and continue to provide a buoyant platform for our year-round ecosystem, even when the river freezes over!

🎸🐢Wanna help us discover even more hidden talent in the local watershed? Check out the link in our bio to learn how to identify wildlife in photos we’ve captured through our monitoring initiative!! We’ve just added OVER 200,000 NEW PHOTOS to the database - so we need your help!!!

There’s months between us and the growing season, but beaver researcher Sammie Clark () is still gathering valuable data! 🦫🙂‍↕️ Sammie, Stephen, and Maddie took to the river to place some trail cameras in areas with clear signs of beaver activity. These cameras will capture data as part of multi-year research on urban beavers, their behaviors, and the emerging ecology around their homes!