Nebraska wildlife takes center stage in amazing photographs
See the magnificent wildlife in Nebraska parks and rural habitats.
Bighorn sheep
A pair of rams at Fort Robinson State Park in Sioux County during breeding season. Males seeking dominance.
Elk
Bull elk on Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.
Great blue heron
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) perched on a dead log on the bank of the Missouri River in Dixon/Cedar county.
Tom turkeys
Tom turkeys in Sarpy County, near Louisville.
Canada geese
Canada geese loaf in an icy pond at Pioneers Park.
White-tailed buck
Why does this deer have antlers? A free webinar series from the state Game and Parks Commission will answer that question Sept. 3.
Bald Eagle
A bald eagle at the spillway on Lake Ogallala below Kingsley Dam.
Bison
A bouquet of sunflowers adorns the horn of a bison that has just finished wallowing at the Niobrara Valley Preserve in Cherry County.
Pronghorn
Buck pronghorn gather in a pasture on the Oglala National Grassland west of Toadstool Park in Sioux County.
Sharp-tailed grouse
Sharp-tailed grouse stand out against the white backdrop of a late spring snowfall at Fort Robinson State Park in Dawes County.
Northern river otter
Northern River Otter (Lutra canadensis) in a small pond near Brea, Box Butte County.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes rest on the Platte River at Martin's Reach Wildlife Management Area in Hall County in 2017.
Mule deer
Mule deer stand in ponderosa pines near the Snake River in Cherry County.
Blue-winged teal
A drake blue-winged teal swims in the shallows of Cottonwood Lake State Recreation Area near Merriman.
American avocet
The American avocet can be found on lakes in western Nebraska during spring and early summer.
Bull elk
Bull elk in North Platte River valley forest near Lewellen, Garden County.
Snapping turtle
Snapping turtle.
Bluegill
A male bluegill stands guard on its nest in a southern Nebraska pond.
Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep near Chadron State Park, Nebraska National Forest.
Jackrabbit
A jackrabbit (Lepus) sits in the snow in Sioux County.
White-tailed deer
White-tailed deer browse on the shoreline at sunrise in Area 1 at Wagon Train State Recreation Area.
Bison
Bison are driven toward the sorting facility at Fort Robinson State Park.
American bullfrog
An American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), an amphibian, on a private pond in Sarpy County.
Goslings
Goslings at Louisville State Recreation Area.
Northern prairie lizard
Northern prairie lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, in a Sandhills blowout 2 miles west of Wood Lake in Cherry County.
Greater prairie chicken
A male greater prairie chicken puts on a courtship display northeast of Haigler in Dundy County.
Ring-neck pheasant rooster
A pen-raised ring-necked pheasant rooster in natural habitat in a controlled shooting area in Chase County.
Trumpeter swans
Two trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) loaf on the icy waters of a marsh east of Whitman in Grant County.
Blanding's turtle
A Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) on the Calamus River.
Elk
Elk roam the grasslands of Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Cherry County.
American bullfrog
An American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), an amphibian, on a private pond in Sarpy County.
Northern prairie lizard
Northern prairie lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, in a Sandhills blowout 2 miles west of Wood Lake in Cherry County.
Trumpeter swans
Two trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) loaf on the icy waters of a marsh east of Whitman in Grant County.
Elk
Elk roam the grasslands of Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Cherry County.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes rest on the Platte River at Martin's Reach Wildlife Management Area in Hall County in 2017.
Goslings
Goslings at Louisville State Recreation Area.
Greater prairie chicken
A male greater prairie chicken puts on a courtship display northeast of Haigler in Dundy County.
Ring-neck pheasant rooster
A pen-raised ring-necked pheasant rooster in natural habitat in a controlled shooting area in Chase County.
Blanding's turtle
A Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) on the Calamus River.
Sandhill cranes
Sandhill cranes rest on the Platte River at Martin's Reach Wildlife Management Area in Hall County in 2017.
A state conservation officer suspected it was a wolf, but it could take months to complete genetic testing at a federal lab.
Ten years in the making, the Baldwin Wildlife Center and Hubbard Family Wildlife Hospital will offer a place for people in the state to take injured and orphaned animals.
A trail camera took photos of the mountain lion east of Lincoln near U.S. 34 and the MoPac Trail.
The discovery marked the Lincoln area's second confirmed big cat in less than a month.
The lion could be from the same litter as a young male found abandoned in the area last fall and sent to the Scottsbluff zoo.
Duane Arp, assistant administrator with Nebraska Game and Parks’ law enforcement division, said only half of the 300 geese were cleaned and breasted.
In interviews with the game warden, Florida hunters said that they’d paid Darryl W. Futch up to $7,000 each to join him in the Nebraska Panhandle to shoot a deer.
Flip Licking, the owner of Stable Productions, travels the state with his reindeer and petting zoo and welcomes guests for tours of his ranch in the Sandhills.
A Wahoo couple videotaped what they suspect is a mountain lion outside their home. Nebraska Game and Parks says a mountain lion also was spotted on the northwest edge of Lincoln.
Kit Lemon spent 31 years in law enforcement handling all types of tense situations. Nothing, she said, compares to her recent encounter with a coyote in Sarpy County.
Everyone had warned Mark Rezac the young owl might not survive after being caught in a fence in Nebraska, but after eight weeks of care it was released.
If it keeps traveling east, the Nebraska-born cat would have to reach Florida to find a compatible mate.
The Nebraska lion suffered a wound during its long walk. “Like he had something dragged across him. Or somebody took a shot and grazed him.”
The Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park near Ashland is lengthening its season thanks to mild fall weather.
For now, the Nebraska mountain lion is living in an enclosure originally built to house leopards confiscated from a meth lab.
The goat had eluded Lincoln's Animal Control officers since early November.
Name candidates for the big cat include Capone, Abe, Little Buddy, Neil, Springfield and Omaha.
One of two armadillos being treated at Nebraska Wildlife Rehab for rodenticide poisoning gave birth to the identical baby boys on Monday night.
About 20 of the creatures make up 14 vignettes that stretch from the visitors center to the bison overlook.
This year’s festival, to be held June 8-10, will be the last series of concerts after 23 years.
FedEx driver Matt Govier killed a rattlesnake he found on the front porch of a home he delivered to in Sumner.
Nebraska Game and Parks officials are asking people to give space to a moose that has been observed along the North Platte River in Scottsbluff and Gering.
Three trumpeter swans were found dead from gunshots near the entrance to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument along the Niobrara River.
Kiersten Black, 15, of Sidney, harvested an animal in the state that none of the others can claim — a bighorn sheep.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation and Game and Parks Commission were awarded a $400,000 federal grant to explore ways to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions in western Nebraska.
A new short documentary film tells the story of an effort to install wildlife-friendly fence that makes it easier for animals to roam.
The Pioneers Park Nature Center recently acquired six more bison from the Crane Trust near Alda, bringing the total number of its herd to 12.
Eagles in the city are no surprise to Nebraska Game and Parks. “They will get into areas we didn’t think they would ever be a few years ago," Joel Jorgensen said.
The Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri toppled its record for trumpeter swans with 4,199 birds on a January day.
The sandhill crane migration is one of the biggest shows of the spring. But there are lots of other birds and wildlife to see in the next few months.
