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Ohio Division of Wildlife

@your_wild_ohio

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We are dedicated to conserving and improving fish and wildlife resources for all Ohioans. est. 1873
wildohio.gov | 1-800-WILDLIFE

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🕷️ Marbled orbweavers come in a variety of color forms, but this bright orange pregnant female is really showing off! Look closely to view the alternating dark and light bands on the legs and the dark marbled pattern on the folium, which is where its common name comes from. 🧡 by @your_wild_ohio

🦃 NEWS: Like the 2026 spring season, the spring wild turkey hunting seasons include separate youth dates for the south and northeast zones.
📅 The spring 2027 wild turkey hunting season dates are:
⏺️ South Zone Youth: Saturday, April 17 to Sunday, April 18, 202
⏺️ Northeast Zone Youth: Saturday, April 24 to Sunday, April 25, 2027
⏺️ South Zone: Saturday, April 24 to Sunday, May 23, 2027
⏺️ Northeast Zone: Saturday, May 1 to Sunday, May 30, 2027

📍 Ohio’s spring turkey hunting season is split into two zones to align with the timing of turkey nesting in those regions. The south zone covers the majority of Ohio, comprising 83 counties. The northeast zone includes Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, and Trumbull counties.

🌤️ Hunting hours during the youth weekends in both zones are from 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. In the south zone and northeast zone, hunting hours for the first nine days of each season will be from 30 minutes before sunrise until noon, with hours for the remainder of the season from 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. by @your_wild_ohio

🎣 ICYMI: New Research Vessel 'Walleye' Launched on Lake Erie 🛥️
🙌 The new vessel was constructed beginning in 2024 at Andersen Boat Works. The Walleye is equipped with twin diesel engines, a hydraulic system for deploying and retrieving trawls and gillnets, a transmission that allows slow towing speeds for trawling with cruising capabilities at just under 20 miles per hour, advanced navigation and sonar equipment, and covered space for completing fisheries research work.🧑‍🔬 by @your_wild_ohio

Best Halloween mask EVER! 🦝
Male raccoons are called boars and females are called sows. While raccoons do not hibernate, they become less active in the winter months and spend much of their time holed up in dens.
📸 Michelle Wittensoldner by @your_wild_ohio

Happy Halloween! 🎃
📷 Dana Keller by @your_wild_ohio

What a FREIGHTFUL sight ☠️
After an aggressive display like this, the opossum's next defense strategy is to play dead by essentially passing out when confronted with danger. This technique usually causes the predator to lose interest and wander off. Then the opossum wakes up a short time later and goes about its business. 💅 by @your_wild_ohio

🙌 GOOD NEWS: We christened our new research vessel, the R/V Walleye, on Friday, Oct. 30 in Sandusky. The new vessel will improve the Division of Wildlife’s ability to safely and effectively survey fisheries in Lake Erie’s western basin. 🛥️
⏺️ The R/V Walleye, a 55-foot-long aluminum-hull boat, replaces the aging R/V Explorer at the Sandusky Fisheries Research Station. The new vessel is more stable and maneuverable in Lake Erie's challenging conditions. It also reduces noise and vibration for biologists working on the boat.
⏺️ The Division of Wildlife relies on research boats to complete trawl, gill net, and acoustic surveys, which contribute to the interagency management of sport fish in Lake Erie, known as The Walleye Capital of the World. These surveys allow Ohio to collaboratively set sustainable annual harvest levels for walleye and yellow perch.
⏺️ The new vessel was constructed beginning in 2024 at Andersen Boat Works in Douglas, Mich. The Walleye is equipped with twin diesel engines, a hydraulic system for deploying and retrieving trawls and gillnets, a transmission that allows slow towing speeds for trawling with cruising capabilities at just under 20 miles per hour, advanced navigation and sonar equipment, and covered space for completing fisheries research work.
⏺️ Our staff's fisheries research on Lake Erie plays a critical role in maintaining the lake’s excellent fishing. Walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, and other popular sport fish species are monitored for population abundance, growth, age, diet, and health to better understand and manage this important recreational and economic resource. by @your_wild_ohio

☠️ In Ohio we are lucky to have several prominent cemeteries across the state which serve as critical hotspots for migratory birds, rare plants, and diverse backyard wildlife. Some rural cemeteries harbor the ideal habitat for rare flowers and unique mammals like thirteen-lined ground squirrels.
📸 Laurel Decker by @your_wild_ohio

It was a beautiful day for duck hunting!

A big thank you to Ducks Unlimited for hosting Director Mertz and fellow ODNR staff for their annual Ohio Partnership Hunt. Lake Erie's Marsh is the perfect place to enjoy nature!

Learn more about duck hunting regulations by clicking the link in our bio 🔗

#ohiodnr by @your_wild_ohio

🎃 Jack-o’-lantern mushrooms sometimes glow faintly in the dark! Their gills can emit a soft greenish light, a natural phenomenon called bioluminescence. The glow is usually too weak to see in daylight but may be noticed in complete darkness.
📸 Alicia Maslar by @your_wild_ohio

🚨 NEWS: Cloverlick Dam Removal 🐟
🚧 We broke ground last week on H2Ohio's Cloverlick Dam removal project in Clermont County. The project is a collaboration between our H2Ohio Rivers Program and Division of Wildlife as well as the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District, the Clermont County Park District, the Clermont County Office of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Village of Bethel.
🌊 The defunct low-head dam has long degraded stream habitat by disrupting natural water flow, which raises water temperatures, lowers oxygen levels in the summer, and causes sediment to build up. As a result, fish populations have declined and overall habitat quality has suffered.
🙌 Removing the dam will return Cloverlick Creek to a free-flowing waterway, improving conditions for wildlife, eliminating a public safety hazard, and creating safer opportunities for paddling, kayaking and fishing.
💰 The H2Ohio Rivers Program will provide $920,000 to support the project. An additional federal grant totaling $1.1 million was awarded to Wildlife through the America the Beautiful Challenge Grant for this project. by @your_wild_ohio

📈 So far this season, hunters in Ohio have taken 30,861 deer. 🙌 24,354 deer were harvested during the same time period last year. by @your_wild_ohio