We've got a lot critters here in the Ozarks. Starting with some of the cool bugs, we have tarantulas, scorpions, praying mantis, walking sticks, luna moths, the cicadas are popping out of the ground this year and the forest is constantly buzzing. We have mice, rats, moles, chipmunks, squirrels, flying squirrels, skunks, rabbits, possum, raccoon, groundhog, beaver, river otter, bobcat, fox, coyote, deer, black bear, wild pig, and elk. I've seen all of those in the wild here. We also have big cats, wild mountain lions, and some others that were released by their owners. I've maybe seen a mountain lion twice, but I saw too little too fast to be sure.

For snakes, I've seen pygmy rattlers, cottonmouths, and copperheads, as well as big black snakes, and smaller garden and grass snakes. I hear we have diamond back rattlers here, but I've never seen one. We have tiny little Tree Frogs (Peepers), and big huge Bull Frogs, Box Turtles and all kinds of other turtles, including "Alligator Turtles", which are rare, but my wife and I saw one a year or two ago and got several pics and some video of it.

Among the many fish we have, notably there are the Gar, which get up to 5ft long, and Paddle Fish, which get just as long, and we have the largest species of crayfish in North America right here where I live, as well as a type of cave crawfish that is blind. I've seen them all but the last. The caves they live in are protected and I'm not much of a caver anyway, so I probably never will see one of those.

Notable flyers that you'll see often are Redheaded Woodpeckers, two breeds of Vultures, Bald and Golden Eagles (there's a pair of baldies nesting just a few miles from where we live) and several kinds of Owls. Right now you'll hear Whip-or-Wills just after sunset. In the winter we have beautiful white Pelicans that migrate through. I was pretty surprised the first time I saw those here!

With the exception of the elk and bear, I've seen all of the critters I've mention on property. I've been told by others that they've seen bear and mountain lion on our property. I don't mind not running into them myself, I'm fine with that.

If you sit quiet in the forest here for about 20 minutes critters will start coming out of their hiding places, but if you go tromping along all day you might not see a one.