When the sun goes down, you may think nature observations are over for the day, but darkness brings out a whole new group of creatures to look for. With the City Nature Challenge on iNaturalist coming up April 24th-27th, we wanted to give you some tips for observing nature at night.

Using Your Senses

It’s harder to see at night, so you should try using some other senses to explore.  What can you find if you listen very carefully, or use your nose as a guide? You can even record sound files and share them on iNaturalist – they count for the City Nature Challenge!

Safety comes first, though, especially in the dark.  Try not to startle or disturb animals, and keep them (and you!) safe by avoiding any physical contact.

Nighttime Observations

• Earthworms, snails, and other creatures with damp body surfaces tend to take cover during the day to protect themselves from drying out in the sun. At night, try spotting their slimy trails across pavement or grass with a flashlight. You may not find the animals, but their trails will let you know they’re nearby.

• If you have a porch light, you may be able to watch creatures from the comfort of your home. The light will draw in insects like moths, in turn attracting hungry creatures like spiders. Can you find a web-spinning arachnid hunting for its next meal?

• Try exploring with a red light! Use a headlamp with a red light setting, or tape a piece of red paper to the front of your flashlight and explore your backyard. Red light is easier on your eyes and causes less disruptions of animal behaviors than a white light.

•Be sure to check any flowers in your yard. Pollinators visit them both day and night!

•Attract bugs with a white sheet. Hang or lay a sheet in your back yard and shine a light on it. Insects will fly around then settle on your sheet so you can observe and photograph them.

We want to see your nighttime discoveries! Share your photos and sounds on iNaturalist between April 24-27, or use the hashtag #CityNatureChallenge and tag @CarnegieMNH on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Fun Fact

When you hear the word “nature,” what scenes do you think of? Mountains, streams, and forests? Cities are probably not the first places that come to mind. Living in Pittsburgh, you might notice buildings and roads at first glance, but what happens when you start looking a little closer? Try searching for nature in unexpected places and you’ll see that nature has the power to survive in and transform spaces all around you.

Growing in Strange Places

Nature is most likely crawling past you while you’re walking on the sidewalk. Most sidewalks and roads have cracks where small amounts of soil form and different plants can begin to flourish. Shallow cracks will house things like mosses while larger cracks favor small weeds or flowering plants. Anything growing in a sidewalk crack or groove must adapt to harsh environmental conditions like heat and lack of nutrients.

Some people have even gone as far to purposefully grow plants or herbs in their sidewalk cracks. With replacement concrete being expensive, some homeowners have grown herbs like thyme or mint so when someone walks by the scent is released. Although this may expand the sidewalk cracks further, it’s a fun way to incorporate nature in your urban life.

Exploring Sidewalk Cracks

Pat Howe, coordinator of the Natural History Interpreter program at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, shared photos of plants growing in unusual places right in her neighborhood. She was able to find moss growing on rocks and inside of a sidewalk crack, garlic mustard growing between stairs, and grass beginning to sprout on a manhole cover.

If you’re having trouble identifying what you found, iNaturalist is a great tool for learning the names of some things we see daily but don’t know much about. Download the app, snap a photo, and let other users identify your findings for you! If you share your photos on iNaturalist between April 24 and April 27, 2020 you’ll be a part of the global City Nature Challenge!

When Pokémon launched as a franchise in 1996, quickly becoming a worldwide multimedia phenomenon, the Pokémon creators had their work cut out for them imagining a whole new world with new creatures that we had never seen before. Or had we? Believe it or not, most Pokémon creatures have real-life animal inspirations!

Caterpie and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar

Caterpie is a bug type Pokémon. It’s known for devouring leaves bigger than its body and releasing an intense odor from its orange antennas when battling another Pokémon. You can’t miss the similarities between Caterpie and the eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar. Both creatures have a distinct green body with bright orange antennas.

The eastern tiger swallowtail is a butterfly native to eastern North America. Similar to Caterpie, the swallowtail caterpillar possesses something called an osmeterium, an orange fleshy organ that emits a foul smell to ward off enemies when threatened.  

Magikarp and Yelloweye Rockfish

Magikarp is a water Pokémon and a large fish with orange scales. Magikarp flops around while blinking its large bulging eyes with its mouth open.

Yelloweye rockfish are one of the biggest members of the genus Sebastes and are prized for their meat. Both the real fish and the Pokémon are orange in color and have long rigid head spines to protect them from predators. Yelloweyes also have bulging eyes and a gaping mouth like Magikarp.

Drowzee and Malayan Tapir

What about Drowzee, a hypnosis Pokémon with insomnia who senses dreams with its trunk-like nose? Drowzee has beady eyes and triangular brown ears.  

It can’t sense your dreams like Drowzee, but the Malayan tapir has many resemblances to the Pokémon. The tapir is a large mammal with a short trunk. It uses its snout to pick up things or as a snorkel when in water. Aside from both having a short snout, Drowzee seems to have been inspired by the tapir’s two-toned coloring.

What other Pokémon/real-life animal resemblances have you noticed?

Fun Fact

With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting, the entire world had to adapt how we participated in this year’s City Nature Challenge. This year we focused on a global collaboration instead of a competition, and physical distancing over public events. We are amazed at the creativity and resilience that we saw – and 2020’s City Nature Challenge results show just how important it was both globally and in the Pittsburgh region.

City Nature Challenge Results

This year, over 40,000 people around the world came together virtually to participate in the City Nature Challenge.  Collectively we shared over 800,000 observations of nature near our homes, and documented 135,435 different species of fungi, plants, and animals. Want to see what was found in any of the more than 200 cities that participated? You can explore at this link.

Pittsburgh’s numbers are incredible too. At the end of the challenge, the Pittsburgh region ended up having 487 observers, 8,281 observations, and 1,225 different species. We almost doubled the number of observers from last year!

The identification phase was a success as well with 419 users helping identify 13,446 different observations. You can explore all the Pittsburgh Region’s observations from this year at this link.

Pete Peng has 1,310 observations and these Candleflame Lichens are beautiful.

Don’t Stop Observing!

We can’t put into words how thankful we are for everyone’s resilience and hard work. The results from this year’s City Nature Challenge prove that even though we have to distance from each other right now, we can still come together to accomplish something awesome.

Check out this observation of a fly from Julia Schwierking!

The City Nature Challenge may be over, but the observations don’t have to end here. Nature is around you 24/7 and waiting to be observed. You can use the iNaturalist app anytime to share what you find!

We have another Dippy the Dinosaur challenge for you! With November being a month to celebrate family, we thought it would be nice for YOU to have Dippy over for dinner. What do you prepare for a guest who’s 150 million years old and likes to eat around 70 pounds of ferns a day?

Dippy Can’t Chew

If Dippy were to show up for dinner, would you have room for an 85-foot-long guest? Diplodocus is known for its long neck and tail. If you picture Dippy standing on a baseball diamond, the ancient visitor would almost take up all the space between home and first base!

Due to its peg-like teeth and the way the upper and lower jaw bones fit together, Dippy would have been unable to chew. So, expect your dinner guest to pluck away and swallow by the mouthful.

When it comes to cooking dinner for Dippy, the dinosaur would’ve been a pretty easy dinner guest. Diplodocus were herbivores, so forget the turkey. When Dippy was alive, their  main sources of food would have been conifers, ferns, ginkgoes, cycads, club mosses, and an extinct group of plants known as bennettitaleans.

Setting Dippy’s Placemat

Now that you know a little more about your dinner guest, it’s time to set Dippy’s placemat! We’ve included a printable placemat full of activities for you and Dippy to complete during dinner.

Want to be featured? Tag Dippy on Twitter at @dippy_the_dino or email your creations to [email protected].

Fun Fact

Dippy has been Carnegie Natural History Museum’s dinosaur mascot for 120 years! Andrew Carnegie’s team of scientists discovered and assembled the first Diplodocus in 1899. What better way to celebrate than inviting Dippy for dinner.

You can see the original Diplodocus carnegii cast right here at the Carnegie Natural History Museum of Pittsburgh!

Here’s how your furry friend would line up with the size of Dippy!

We are lucky enough to have 1 of 10 Diplodocus displays with original bones around the world right here at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

We have a challenge for you! Our friend Dippy the Diplodocus wants you to make a distinctive dinosaur shape from items you find outside. Dippy isn’t picky about looks, if you don’t forget its extremely long neck and tail.

Diplodocus is known for its long body and could be up to 88 feet long. Dippy’s front limbs are shorter than his hind limbs.

The Longest Dinosaur That Ever Lived

Diplodocus was one of the longest known dinosaurs and lived during the end of the Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago. Diplodocus was known to be a vegetarian and loved stripping the leaves off branches for a snack, like many other herbivores.

Instead of using leaves for a snack, see if you can find a leaf on the ground with a long stem that can represent Dippy’s neck or tail!

Dippy will need something to represent its four legs too. Maybe you can break a stick into pieces so Dippy can walk!

The History of Dippy The Dinosaur

In 1899, a team of scientists discovered and assembled the Diplodocus carnegii. This was Carnegie Museum’s very first dinosaur find! In 1999, a life-size statue of Dippy was placed in front of the museum to celebrate his 100th anniversary of being Pittsburgh’s Dinosaur.

Although Diplodocus wasn’t named by Andrew Carnegie, he was able to donate complete casts of Dippy skeletons to multiple locations around the world. There are 12 museums with Dippy replica exhibits worldwide on display and we have the real one right here!

Celebrating 120 Years of Dippy

It’s been 120 years since Dippy became the face of our museum and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than creating your own Dippy from nature. Are you up for the challenge?

Fun Fact

Did you know Dippy is on Twitter? @dippy_the_dino

Dippy has a lot to say every day!

Find Dippy on Twitter with your parent’s permission for museum updates, facts about prehistoric creatures, and dinosaur memes.

The Dippy Challenge

Create Dippy’s distinctive shape from different items found outside!

Step One:

•Find a leaf stem on the ground that can represent Dippy’s long neck.

• Bend it into a curved shape.

• Find a tiny leaf (like one from a clover) for Dippy’s head.

Step Two:

•Find something round (a rock, a leaf, or whatever you can find) on the ground for Dippy’s body.

• Dippy has four legs, so find a stick and break it into four pieces. Now Dippy can walk!

Step Three:

•Find something else long to represent Dippy’s tail. A blade of grass works perfectly.

• If you want, you can add a colorful scarf on your Dippy like the statue outside the museum wears. We used a pipe cleaner, but we’d love to see how creative you can be!

We’d love to see your Dippy creations and post them on our blog to celebrate 120 years of Dippy!

Nature’s Nightlights

Have you ever walked through the woods at night and noticed a small glowing object near the base of the trees? That’s bioluminescence happening in mushrooms – the creation and emission of light by organisms. Glow-in-the-dark fungi aren’t just something you’ll see in the woods. If you’ve seen the new Detective Pikachu movie, you may have encountered another species of glowing mushrooms!

The radiant glow of bitter oyster mushrooms were used to mark trails prior to electricity!

What We Know About The Glow

By now, you’ve probably got some questions, like how does the glowing occur? And why? Well, the greenish light emitted from the mushrooms is the result of a release of energy from a chemical reaction. Research has shown that when the oxyluciferin in the mushroom releases its oxygen molecule, then it’s time to get lit. Only about 80 species of fungi are known to glow. Perhaps these funny fungi are drawing the attention of insects or animals that feed on the mushroom to disperse its spores, like the way a sweet-smelling flower attracts insects for the same reason.

These mushrooms are as plain as Clark Kent until they give off a super glow at night. 

Glowing Mushrooms From Different Worlds

If you’re having trouble finding glowing mushrooms in the woods, have no fear, Detective Pikachu is here! The new movie shows off different types of Pokémon, including the Morelull. The Morelull is a Pokémon that resembles a mushroom with its stem-like body and three sprouting mushroom caps on its head. At night, the Morelull can make its spores glow with glittering sparks just like glowing mushrooms around you.

A Morelull resembling a glowing mushroom appears in the wild during the Detective Pikachu movie trailer.

Fun Fact – Hypnotizing Spores

You can find Morelull in the Detective Pikachu trailer! When the trainers come across a herd of Bulbasaur, look for a few Morelull fluttering around them.

It’s Time For An Adventure!

Now it’s time for you to find glowing mushrooms near you. If you’re stumped on where to find nature’s nightlights, well, look for a stump! They are known to surround the bases of dead trees or wrap themselves around dead branches.

Popular glowing mushrooms:

-Luminescent Panellus

-Honey Mushroom

-Bleeding Fairy Helmet

-Jack-o-Lantern

Western Pennsylvania is home to several varieties. They can be found in backyards, along trails and in our parks such as:

-Powdermill Nature Preserve

-Beechwood Nature Reserve

-Frick Park

-Hartwood Acres

-Salamander Park

While you’re out looking for mushrooms, keep your eyes open for fireflies! Fireflies use luciferins, light emitting compounds, like mushrooms to glow.

A Jack-o-Lantern Mushroom glows under the moonlight at Beechwood Nature Reserve.

The same Jack-o-Lantern Mushroom in the daylight. 

Can You Find The Words Relating to Mushrooms?