Forest Preserve Offers Online Art And Creature Contests

The Forest Preserve District of Will County continues to offer nature-themed activities and information online during the governor’s COVID-19-related stay-at-home order.

Here are some of the latest features:

Nature Takes Flight Art Competition: View 55 amazing pieces of art entered into the "Nature Takes Flight" contest and vote for your favorites on the District’s Facebook page, Facebook.com/WillCoForests. Voting will conclude on April 25. The art selected for the contest has been broken down into five categories: photography; paintings; sculpture; pen, pencil and prints; and mixed materials. This contest was moved online after Forest Preserve visitor centers closed due to the new coronavirus pandemic. For more information, visit www.bit.ly/artshowvote.

Ultimate Animal Battle: This competition pits cute and cuddly animals against creepy crawlies in a 16-team field. The northern saw-whet owl is the No. 1 seed for cute and the wolf spider is the top creepy seed. Voting is simple. Each day at 10 a.m., that day’s matchup will be posted on Facebook. So far, the northern saw-whet owl, river otter, and bullfrog have won their matches. The competition ends on April 24, so be sure to vote for your favorites. For more on this critter contest, visit www.bit.ly/animalbattle.

Backyard Nature Photo Contest: The contest has already attracted more than 100 photos from participants’ backyards or neighborhoods. This contest will last for the duration of the governor’s stay-at-home order. Participants have the chance to win gift cards valued at $100, $50 and $25 for first, second and third place finishes, respectively. To find out more about submitting photos and all the rules, visit www.bit.ly/backyardpics.

What’s the Difference? Photo Edition: This brain teaser launched on April 8. Participants put their eyes and brains to the test to see if they can spot the differences in a photo taken at a preserve. Some changes will be obvious and others not so much. The photo brain teasers will appear over the next few weeks on the District’s Facebook page.

Mystery 360 Photos: This feature will debut on April 20. The photos will test how observant people are when out in the preserves. The District post 360-degree photo once a day from a different location on its Facebook page. The first five people each day to correctly guess the spot will be entered into a drawing for one of five prize packages of native seeds. Each prize will contain between seven-nine seed packages.

In addition to the contests and brain teasers, the Forest Preserve District continues to provide interesting nature stories for people to read while sticking close to home. The online content which is posted at ReconnectWithNature.org under News and Events and also on the District’s social media platforms, has been a welcome diversion during the governor’s stay-at-home order. One teacher wrote this after seeing a story about the full moon’s illusion:

“Thank you for posting this. I am a life science teacher in the middle of E-Learning with my students. It’s been hard not being able to share my random-fun-facts about nature with my students. I posted this link as an assignment for them today. Next week I am doing a segment on salamanders. I’ll be adding your salamander video to that lesson too.”

And another wrote in praising the many interesting nature facts and story links posted to the Forest Preserve’s social media platforms:

“It seems like I'm always clicking on fascinating articles and learning lots of new things! Like beavers are monogamous! Who knew?”

More stories can be found in The Buzz, The Big Picture and Current Headlines.