Photos, videos: Critters in the streets and yards of Lincoln
See the variety of wildlife around Lincoln. Have an image or video to share? Send it to yourpics@journalstar.com or upload it at .
WATCH: Coyote in driveway on South 57th in Lincoln
Coyote in trash
Deer
Deer at Holmes Lake Park
Wildlife near 76th and Van Dorn
Plains leopard frog
Plains leopard frog
Baby owl and wood ducks
Baby owl and wood ducks
Turtle on South 86th Street
Turtle on South 86th Street
Coyote off Sawgrass Drive
Coyote off Sawgrass Drive
Wilson's phalarope (female)
Wilson's phalarope (female) at Oak Lake on April 27.
Ducks on Rancho Road
Ducks on Rancho Road
Coyote
Coyote at Phares Park Monday, April 27.
Woodchuck
South First and J streets on March 30.
Political ducks?
"On a walk yesterday evening, my wife and I spotted these two ducks at 16th and J, just east of the State Capitol. We weren’t certain if they were lost or merely wanted to visit the Capitol building," Bill Davenport said.
Pioneers Park ducks
Duckling at Pioneers Park.
Golf wildlife
On the No. 1 fairway at The Highlands on Sunday, April 26.
Upton Grey Lane and Thompson Creek
Upton Grey Lane and Thompson Creek
Ducks in yard
Ducks in yard at 35th and C. "We got a duck egg laid in our yard," Beth Haase said.
WATCH: Baby fox on Yankee Hill Road near 27th
Turkey time
Turkeys at the corner of Old Cheney and Frontier Road on Saturday, April 25, 2020.
Heron on Bowling Lake
Heron on Bowling Lake
White moth on Runza drive-thru on West O in May 2019
White moth on Runza drive-thru on West O in May 2019
Fox
A reader said this fox at 3910 is a Husker fan.
Coyote
This coyote was spotted near 77th and Van Dorn streets in November by Peggy Stark.
Bobcat
This bobcat was found in the Lincoln VA building.
Deer next to O Street
A yearling deer at First and O.Â
Pair of Cooper's Hawks
Cooper's Hawks birds recently took to spending time in a central Lincoln backyard.
Fox
Mother and kit fox are living in a backyard near 27th and Sheridan. Â
Watch: Fox plays in the snow
Fox
A fox living on an acreage near Lincoln.
Opossum
Opossum
Raccoons sharing a meal
Raccoons sharing a meal
Fox catches squirrel at capitol
Video: Red fox in Lincoln
Armadillo in Lincoln
Lincoln police spotted an armadillo running downtown near 13th and O streets early Tuesday.
Snake on deck
15th and South area.
Robin's eggs
Robin's eggs in the 15th and South area.
Monarch caterpillar on milkweed
Monarch caterpillar on milkweed.
Young opossum hiding in a clay tile
Young opossum hiding in a clay tile.
Goslings
LINCOLN, NE - 05/10/2018 - A dozen Canada geese goslings go for cruise around a pond with their parents on warm spring day on Thursday, May 10, 2018, at Pioneers Park. FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
Geese
A pair of goslings flap their developing wings as they munch on grass with their siblings and parents on 80-plus-degree day on Thursday on the banks of a pond at Pioneers Park.
Snake
The snake at Oak Lake Park dog run can be seen in this photo.
Ducks
Ducks nesting in a Lincoln backyard.
Coyote
Lincoln Animal Control received several photos of coyotes near Holmes Park, including this one spotted about a month ago near 6100 Normal Blvd.Â
Backyard critter
An opossum on the deck.
Pelicans
Pelicans can be seen at Capitol Beach Lake.
Turkey
A wild turkey at 30th and Sherman
Video: Coyote playing with dog
Leftovers
Big Red Worms is offering a chance for Lincolnites to compost their decaying pumpkins.
Lincoln-area wildlife
Deer
A whitetail deer found himself on the course along the west fence at the Country Club of Lincoln on May 12, 2016. The male is starting to lose his gray/brown winter coat.
Foxes
Five fox kits follow the lead of an adult fox and stay alert for danger in east Lincoln.
Turkeys
Turkeys out taking a walk near Sheridan Boulevard.
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers on a fence.
Critter
Backyard spider in web.
Squirrel
A squirrel at Pioneers Park.
Raccoon
A raccoon on an acreage near Wahoo.
Critters
Critters
Critters
Critters
A paper monarch at the Sunken Gardens
Critters
A dragonfly at the Sunken Gardens.
Critters
A garden spider weaves a wondrous web in the backyard.
Butterfly
A painted lady butterfly alights on a white zinnia Tuesday.
Dragonfly
A dragonfly at the Sunken Gardens.
Deer in Yard
A doe found a comfy place to rest in June 2015 in the backyard of a house on the 1800 block of D Street.
Bald Eagle at Branched Oak Lake
Freelance photographer Gary Schenaman says he walked about a half-mile through snow and brush to set up a ground blind at Branched Oak Lake in mid-February, then waited about four hours for a collection of bald eagles to arrive. Lincoln Children’s Zoo President & CEO John Chapo said the bald eagle in the photo is an adult, noting that its head is white in plumage. “Immature birds do not have the complete white head,†Chapo noted.
Schenaman reports having observed between 40 and 50 eagles at the lake.
Baby Owls in Tree
A group of four young Eastern screech owls huddle in a tree under the watchful eye of a nearby parent on July 1, 2014, at Dean and Emily Kline's house in northeast Lincoln. Ellie Kline, 4, the Kline's granddaughter, spotted the owls and promptly woke up her grandpa to tell him the news.
County Fair Chicken
LINCOLN, NEB - 08/27/2014 - One of 9-year-old Evan Merrell's Black Orpington chickens in it's backyard pen on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014. DAN LITTLE/Lincoln Journal Star
Sunken Gardens
Salvia Mystic Spires is a deer-resistant perennial, but attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies and pollinators like this bumblebee, which paid a visit Wednesday at the Sunken Gardens.
Red-tailed hawk
Lincoln Memorial Park red-tailed hawk.
Birds of winter
A Cardinal and two gold finches wait for a warmer spring day in Pioneers Park on Monday.
Turkey
A wild turkey steps through a child's sandbox as it grazes through a yard near 53rd and "J" Streets, on Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014, in an area where it has been spotted frequently in the mornings and evenings in recent weeks. Turkeys were wiped out in the state of Nebraska by about 1915, according to the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, but were successfully reintroduced to the state beginning in 1959. Some of the birds seem to have found that citys offer a favorable ratio of food to predators. ERIC GREGORY/Lincoln Journal Star
"And they're off"
Leaving a wake of temporary water divots behind them, a pair of water fowl skim across the surface of Holmes Lake to join a group of fellow water birds who were feeding in a cove Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, at Holmes Lake Park.
Baby robins
Lincoln, NE - 7/8/2013 - Baby robins clamor for food in their oak tree nest on Monday, July 8, 2013, in the 40th and A Neighborhood. GWYNETH ROBERTS/Lincoln Journal Star
Audubon Tour bird and peanuts
A blue jay picks up peanuts in the Eastridge backyard June 4, 2013.
Rabbit
A rabbit, enjoying some peace and quiet on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. The university canceled classes because of the snowstorm.
Urban deer sighting
A deer was spotted roaming at Ryons Street and Sheridan Boulevard in Lincoln in 2010.
Pelican
A pelican flaps its wings at Capitol Beach in Lincoln on Wednesday morning, Nov. 30, 2011. One Capitol Beach resident is worried about the bird's health, and the Wildlife Rescue Team is working on a plan to help. (FRANCIS GARDLER/Lincoln Journal Star)
Robins
It's true, the early bird does get the worm! This robin pecked around the grass around 10:42 a.m. to find a juicy morning snack at Holmes Lake Park on Tuesday morning, April 5, 2011. Warmer weather returned to the Lincoln area after Monday's chilly, windy gusts. (FRANCIS GARDLER / Lincoln Journal Star)
Brown-headed nuthatch
A pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches, a rarity for Nebraska, were spotted during the annual Christmas Bird Count in Lincoln. (Courtesy photo)
Foxes in backyard
Backyard foxes at 27th and Lake in Lincoln.
Mourning doves
27th and Lake
Watch Now: Northeast Lincoln visitor
Coopers Hawk backyard 27th and Lake
Coopers Hawk backyard 27th and Lake
Vultures on William Street
Vultures on William Street.
Coyote
A coyote in front of a building on North Cotner.
Hummingbird
Hummingbird near 27th and Lake streets. It's taken control of the feeder and chases away other hummingbirds that try to feed.
Damselfly
Damselfly near 27th and Lake
Sleeping red fox
Sleeping red fox near 27th and Lake streets.
Red-bellied woodpecker
A red-bellied woodpecker that started hollowing out a home in a tree in December 2021 near 27th and Lake.
Squirrel
Harvesting crabapples from a tree near 27th and Lake.
Fox at 8th and E in Lincoln
Fox at Capitol Beach Lake
A fox at Capitol Beach Lake.
Deer
A deer crosses the street at 2nd and F in Lincoln.
Opossum
This opussum was feasting on crab apples in a Lincoln tree in December 2022 near 27th and Lake streets.
Victoria Ayotte
Senior producer, national desk
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is seeking information involving the killing of 25 antelope illegally shot and left near Broadwater in …
Someone found a deer lying near the bus stop at 11th and N streets early Wednesday morning.
Nebraska conservation officers arrested two men on suspicion of illegally killing 25 antelope near Broadwater, Morrill County Attorney Travis …
Barry Reutzel made a quick stop before heading to Branched Oak Lake, grabbing two packs of cold hot dogs at the store.
The obvious question is, of course, why did the prairie chicken get stuck in a Haymarket stairwell?
“Is it a water moccasin?†I hear this question a lot when doing public education programs about snakes. The answer is always: “No. We do not h…
About three years ago, Jerry Paul III finally started a Facebook account.
Two weeks ago, they were as naked as grocery store chickens.
Rough weekend for the urban coyotes of Hastings: On Friday, a homeowner shot an animal he said was going after his dachshund, and on the same …
The coyote was pacing outside the fence, eyeing the 10-pound dog inside.
Those white circles alongside the bike trail are not the work of zealots trying to shame dog owners for not picking up after their pets, as so…
All quiet on Lincoln’s coyote front: After fielding nearly 50 reports of the animals lurking around Holmes Lake earlier this summer, Lincoln A…
Painted lady butterflies are apparently migrating through the Lincoln area this week, with sightings of masses of butterflies.
The people who called the city's Animal Control Wednesday thought maybe there was a rattlesnake at the Oak Lake Dog Park.Â
The little pipsqueaks that’ve led many Lincoln residents to flee their porches this month have one thing going for them.Â
Nothing says Thanksgiving like a dead turkey on the dining room table.
The fox had just been passing through, with no apparent den nearby, when it was discovered injured on a sidewalk at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, a…
Some years ago I was pretty taken with the wild turkeys making their way into my neighborhood, a little piece of the country sauntering across…
He carries with him rancid chicken necks, a bottle of fox urine and a jar of gland lure, so it’s best to stay upwind of Kyle Dougherty when he…
State officials are reminding Nebraskans that active bat populations in summertime increase the chance for exposure to rabies.
Midsummer is the season of solitary wasps. These wasps are called solitary because they do not build large colonies like paper wasps or yellow…
A police officer investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle early Tuesday morning in downtown Lincoln stumbled upon a shifty, four-legged …
Question:Â Why so many butterflies this year in the middle of the highway?Â
Bobcats are shy, elusive and almost always see you before you see them — until they get stuck in a building on the Veterans Affairs campus on …
It’s been a batty year, a lesson Lincoln East students learned Wednesday morning when one of the critters made an appearance in a classroom.
Moving from late fall into winter is a transition period for wildlife. Colder weather and declining food sources make damage to landscape plan…
If you encounter a coyote, Animal Control says to look directly at the animal, raise your arms and shout or blow a whistle until it leaves.Â
A surveillance camera showed cows flying after a semi slid on its side. This video from Lucky Joe's Liquor and the Antelope County News may be disturbing to some but has gone viral nationwide.
Jim Walz took this video Wednesday evening on the west side of Holmes Lake Dam. A coyote was getting close to bikers several times.
A few thousand visitors have strolled around the zoo each day since it reopened on June 1.
A pair of incidents between a coyote and children in south Lincoln has caused Lincoln Animal Control to increase its presence in the area in a…
The three lives traps in southeast Lincoln have caught critters, but no coyotes yet.
The Pekin ducks will come waddling when their owners call, or when they hear the bag of mealworms.
The new sea lion exhibit opened Friday at the Henry Doorly Zoo and was a big draw for the more than 32,000 people who visited the zoo over Labor Day weekend.
Now is the time to get firewood ready for winter use. But the big woodpile that gives you such a feeling of snug security going into winter may also shelter rodents and insects.
Investigators are trying to learn who dumped them southwest of Air Park in what is being investigated as an animal cruelty case.
The cicadas, known as periodical cicadas, mature underground for 17 years before emerging en masse to fill the spring air with their incessant mating calls.
Should we wait to hunt turkeys when we have warm days with sunshine and slight to no wind? What if the weather does a 180-degree turn when we are in our blinds trying to call in a big gobbler?
A small dog's death near Wedgewood Lake was the second confirmed coyote-kill in less than a year.
The fox commits most of its crimes at the north end of the course, and usually in the evening.
Trout in the Classroom provides students a unique learning experience covering topics such as water quality, ecosystem and problem solving.
The Beyond BOW program participants learn how to hunt, where to hunt, what to wear, and tips and tricks from mentors.
The city will buy more than 7,600 dead mice, rats, chicks and rabbits -- one of its weirdest annual purchases -- needed as meals for the Nature Center's snakes and birds of prey.Â
Most of the coyote sightings came from east Lincoln, but the map shows outliers — including a downtown coyote at 15th and P.
For five years, starting in 1986, Nebraska imported 159 river otters, often by trading turkeys to other states. Now the state's otter population numbers about 2,000.
“Over 20 years of data has shown us that the monarch butterfly population is declining drastically,†said Kristal Stoner, executive director for Audubon Nebraska.
The man who shot a fox near 53rd and Sumner on Sunday could have faced more charges, but he likely won't.
"Now that we’re starting to get more sightings, I’m more than willing to say we have a population," a state zoologist said of flying squirrel sightings in Lincoln. "But I’m just dying to know how they got here."
After a few weeks in quarantine, the Riverside Discovery Center’s puma cubs have been moved to their permanent enclosure.
Since the news broke about the East Campus flying squirrels, biologists have fielded more reports from across the city.
Nebraska mountain lions have been killed in neighboring states, but this is the first time one was killed more than one state away.
“Most of the time, mom and dad, they are around. If you love wildlife, leave it alone. That’s the best thing you can do with it," said Lindsay Rogers with the Nebraska Game and Parks.
Although “urban wildlife†might sound contradictory, a lot of wildlife can be viewed from a backyard, city park or downtown Omaha or Lincoln.
"It's not really moving very much, because one head starts to go one way, and the other head starts to go the other way, and it’s a draw.â€
City officials say the beavers are causing no significant harm to Walnut Creek Lake or its structures. Park Superintendent Mike Cunningham said the city has no immediate plans to trap them.
The tale of the hospitalized woman and her lost dogs has struck a chord with the more than 58,000 followers of the Lost Pets of Omaha Area Facebook page.
A humane society in Papillion is asking for the public’s assistance after its complex of buildings lost heat and running water over the weekend.
These Omaha firefighters fell in love with six puppies left in a box at their fire station. They will be available for adoption in a few days.
A few foxes have decided that a Lincoln couple's backyard is the perfect place to raise their kits — all seven of them.
The Capital Humane Society has reduced adoption fees by 50% through Sunday in order to encourage adoptions after the organization received an unexpected number of animals earlier this week.
Pet adoptions from the Nebraska Humane Society and visits to the Omaha facility are on hold for at least three to five days as the staff investigates the possibility of highly contagious bacterial infection.
Natasha the Russian tortoise escaped her enclosure and backyard near 176th and Pacific streets on Friday. If she crosses Center Street, she is dead, her owner says.
In the Holmes Lake neighborhood, she’s a celebrity on the level of Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton.
Don't snuggle your chickens.
Because bats are very active this time of year, the potential to be exposed to rabies increases, according to the Nebraska Department of Healt…
My Facebook feed has been awash in red fox sightings the past week.