Backyard birds and Nature 🦢
Monarch butterflies rely exclusively on this milky-sapped wildflower to lay their eggs, as its natural toxins make their caterpillars taste bad to predators.
Milkweed
Centuries ago, doctors placed these slimy, blood-sucking worms on patients' skin to "draw out bad blood."
Leeches
Often spotted in warm Florida waterways and nicknamed "sea cows," these gentle gray marine mammals graze on seagrass.
manatees
Located in the Atlantic Ocean between Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, this notorious stretch of water is famous for vanishing ships and planes.
Bermuda Triangle
Before candy became the standard Halloween handout, trick-or-treaters would receive these.
coins
Unlike most songbirds, only the males of this species sport bright red feathers, while the females are a warm tan with reddish accents.
Northern Cardinal
Discovered by accident in 1895, these invisible medical rays let doctors take pictures of the bones inside your body.
X-rays
Built along rocky coasts and sandy inlets, these tall towers shine rotating beams of light to warn ships away from shallow water.
lighthouses
Nicknamed "Nessie," this legendary long-necked lake monster has supposedly been spotted swimming in the deep waters of the Scottish Highlands for centuries.
Loch Ness Monster
This word for a supernatural double comes from German.
doppelgänger
Easily recognized by its peeling, papery white bark, this slender tree was historically used by Indigenous peoples to build lightweight canoes.
Birch tree (paper birch tree)
Generations of children dreaded taking a daily spoonful of this thick, fishy oil to prevent winter colds.
cod liver oil
Using a hard stone to crack open shellfish while floating on their backs, these playful marine mammals wrap themselves in kelp when they sleep.
sea otters
Leaving behind footprints up to 24 inches long in the Pacific Northwest forests, this giant, ape-like creature is also known as Sasquatch.
Bigfoot?
This classic horror movie originally had the working title The Babysitter Murders.
Halloween
Known for caching thousands of acorns each autumn, this noisy blue-and-white bird often mimics the call of a red-shouldered hawk.
Blue Jay
Introduced across American schools in the 1950s, Dr. Jonas Salk's famous vaccine protected children from this paralyzing disease.
Polio
Created when strong waves wash back out to sea through a narrow break in a sandbar, this fast-moving channel of water is often mistakenly called an undertow.
rip current
Stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris in 1911 and missing for two years, this famous Leonardo da Vinci portrait became even more famous after the theft.
Mona Lisa
This actress starred in the 1942 supernatural film I Married a Witch.
Veronica Lake
Named for its distinctive habit of climbing headfirst down tree trunks in search of insects, this small slate-blue bird wears a black cap.
white-breasted nuthatch
Originally made from willow bark, this common everyday white pill is taken for headaches, fevers, and heart health.
Aspirin
Living up to 40 years in warm Caribbean and Florida waters, this large, heavy-shelled sea snail can occasionally produce a rare pink pearl—and lends its name to a famous Keys republic.
conch(queen conch)
In 1971, a mysterious hijacker using this alias parachuted out of a commercial jet over the Pacific Northwest with $200,000 in ransom cash and was never found.
D.B. Cooper?
This horror film features the character Dr. Pretorius.
Bride of Frankenstein?