Small creatures.
A closer look.

Look first. Let them be.

Visit flowers, watch a sunny wall, or look under a fallen leaf with a grownup. Leave creatures and their homes where you found them. Watch nests from a distance.

Some “bugs” aren’t insects.

Adult insects have six legs. Spiders have eight. A pillbug is a crustacean! Each page tells you which kind of animal you are meeting.

What kind of find?

An everyday search

A reasonable place to start in the right season. It is not a promise of a sighting.

Find the right habitat

Look for its favorite plants or setting.

A special find

It may be hidden, active at night, or only around briefly. Hard to spot does not always mean rare.

An endangered species

A creature facing a real conservation threat. Our rusty-patched bumblebee entry belongs here.

How the guide is made

The collection starts with 50 researched candidates for the Milwaukee and Shorewood area. Each creature links to university, extension, or wildlife references. We write short summaries and link to the original articles for more detail.

Illustrations are created for this collection with AI assistance and reviewed for visible anatomy and identifying marks. They are learning aids, not photographs or complete identification keys. Some creatures are identified as a group rather than an exact species.

Artwork and field notes are added in stages. A missing illustration is labeled clearly. A completed webpage does not mean its physical disc has been printed or tested.

From a disc to a discovery

Each printed slide has a permanent creature number and a QR link to its page. Names and layouts can change while the numbered link stays the same.