Template Scavenger Hunt for 2023
Welcome! You are tasked with finding up to 21 "items" from these categories:
Whether you find just 1 or all 21, you can enter the weekly drawing for a $25 gift card to Minnesota State Parks by filling out the form at the end of the hunt. Winners are selected each week among ALL participating parks and trails.
Happy scavenging!
Appearance: Clusters of white, fan-shaped caps with fuzzy tops and gills under. Found: On stumps, logs, and sticks of dead hardwood, especially oak. Fun Fact: One of the most common mushrooms on the planet. CAUTION: Never eat any mushroom unless knowledgeable.
1 / 19
Appearance: Rich red-orange rosettes with radiating fingerlike lobes. Found: Common on rocky shores. Found on every continent except Australia. Fun Fact: Thrives under bird perches where it absorbs nitrogen from poop.
2 / 19
Appearance: Yellow cap with white specks. Found: On the ground under conifers, aspen, or birch. Fun Fact: Appears in many fairytales. CAUTION: Never eat mushrooms unless knowledgeable.
3 / 19
Appearance: White head that turns white by age 4-5. Found: Soaring high overhead or perched near top of white pine trees near water. Fact: A conservation success story--nearing extinction by the 1970s, it rebounded after a ban on DDT pesticides.
4 / 19
Appearance: Brilliant yellow with black wings and cap. Found: In areas with thistle plants and usually in small flocks.
5 / 19
Appearance: All-black bird with a loud call. Found: Around open areas near patches of woods. Fun Fact: They are one of the most intelligent birds and live up to 20 years in large, extended families.
6 / 19
Color: Brown, olive green, or reddish. Found: Near water or moist areas. Toads are amphibians that start life as tadpoles and then emerge onto dry land as tiny toadlets about the length of a fingernail.
7 / 19
Color: Bright green with spots that look like a leopard. Found: In wet meadows and fields near wetlands or lakeshores. Listen for: Long, deep snore lasting several seconds and ending with "chuck-chuck-chuck"
8 / 19
Color: Black with 3 yellow lengthwise stripes. Found: In the brush or sunning themselves on a paved trail. No need to fear these reptiles who mind their own business.
9 / 19
Blooms June - September Found: In the sun, dry fields, and prairies. Petals: Flat-topped clusters with up to 25 orange flowers.
10 / 19
Blooms: June - October Found: Sunny fields, along roads or lakeshores. Petals: Cheery yellow petals swirl around a black center.
11 / 19
Blooms: May - July Found: On cliffs and forest edges. Petals: Red/pink with club-like petals. Fun Fact: Hummingbirds drink nectar from this flower.
12 / 19
Leaf: Rounded with saw-tooth edge. Leafstalk is flattened, which allow it to "quake" in the breeze. Try: If you find a leaf try rolling it by its stem with your fingers to feel the way it moves. Bark: Greenish-white and smooth upper with black splotches. Base is grayish and furrowed.
13 / 19
Leaf: 5-9 finger-like lobes that can be notched deeply or shallow. Bark: Pale gray with scaly ridges and shallow fissures. Acorn: light brown and enclosed in a bowl-shaped cap.
14 / 19
Leaf: Oval with double-edged teeth. Feel rough when rubbed. Bark: Long trunk that's ashy gray with many furrows/ridges that get deeper with age. Note: Dutch elm disease killed off many of these trees across the Eastern U.S. in the 1970s and today prevents many from reaching full age.
15 / 19
Appearance: 140 species in MN come in a rainbow of colors. Dragonfly: Bigger and keep wings spread out when resting. Damselfly: Smaller and close their wings when resting. Fun Fact: They can fly upside down, backward, and turn 360° on a dime.
16 / 19
Often invisible until the sun hits it just right. Spiders create these fantastic contraptions to catch prey. The silk is made in glands on the spider's abdomen. Many spiders will eat their own web each day and rebuild a new one the next day.
17 / 19
Size & Shape: Most common ones are the non-native species (shown in photo) that are reddish with black spots. Minnesota is home to 50+ species of rare ladybugs.
18 / 19
19 / 19
WHAT OTHER INTERESTING THINGS DID YOU FIND?
Fill in the following information to be entered in our weekly drawing for a $20 gift card to Minnesota State Parks, which will be mailed to the winner.
You may also opt to receive this 4"x 4" window cling with dots showing each Minnesota State Park.
Please note: An adult must fill in the information for anyone age 12 and under.
Your score is
