Ohio

Earth Day is April 22. Celebrate by checking out some of Ohio’s unique plants and animals

Published

1 year ago

April 21, 2025

Earth Day is April 22. Celebrate by checking out some of Ohio’s unique plants and animals

April 22 is Earth Day, a special day to celebrate the Earth by dedicating one day to making it a better, healthier place. For over 50 years, Earth Day has been about celebrating our planet and its beauty, promoting environmental protection, and highlighting the importance of planetary health.

Ohio is home to plenty of unique and rare beauty. The state has a diverse array of flora and fauna, some of which you may have never heard of before. In honor of Earth Day, let’s take a look at Ohio’s unique plants and animals.

Ohio houses many pretty butterflies

Earth Day is the perfect day to partake in your yearly gardening activities. As temperatures warm, you might be looking forward to pollinator-friendly gardening. Ohio is home to many butterflies that are attracted to certain plants, and you may find that different kinds of butterflies live in your area.

Here are 20 common butterfly species in Ohio:

Spicebush swallowtail
Eastern black swallowtail
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Cabbage white
Checkered white
Clouded sulphur
Orange sulphur
Eastern tailed blue
Spring azure
Great spangled fritillary
Pearl crescent
Question mark butterfly
Comma butterfly
Mourning cloak
Red admiral
Painted lady
Red-spotted purple
Viceroy
Monarch
Silver-spotted skipper

Ohio’s three rare, venomous snake species

Ohio is home to a variety of slithery amphibians and reptiles, including three rare venomous snakes. Though these three snakes are dangerous, you just have to give them space if you find them—they don’t strike unless provoked.

The Copperhead snake, commonly found in southeast Ohio. These snakes occupy floodplains and ridge tops and prefer the rocky hillsides of Ohio.
The massasauga rattlesnake inhabits swampy and wet areas of Ohio. Its range once included 30 counties, but it is now endangered, scattered and rarely seen.
The timber rattlesnake can be found in southern Ohio and is one of the most venomous snakes in the northeastern United States. The timber rattlesnake is one of the last mature forest species.

The pawpaw tree is an Ohio native and totally unique

Apples, peaches, oranges. You’ve heard of them. But have you ever heard of Ohio’s native pawpaw tree?

The pawpaw tree is native to Ohio and is, in fact, extremely common, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. This pyramid-shaped tropical-looking tree can be found in sunny, moist areas with rich, well-drained soil. The trees are commonly found in areas such as the bottoms of ravines, steep hillsides, and creek banks.

The pawpaw fruit was named the official native fruit of Ohio in 2009, and is also known as the ‘Indian banana’.

And yes, the pawpaw fruit is edible.

Ohio’s fan favorite, the famous buckeye tree

Ohio is home to the Buckeyes, but not Ohio State’s sports teams. We are talking about the nut.

Earth Day is the perfect day to recognize the ‘fan favorite’ buckeye tree. Ohio’s title-winning college football team was named after Ohio’s state tree, known as the Ohio Buckeye tree.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio Buckeye tree is a member of the horse chesnut family and can grow up to 60 feet. These deciduous trees thrive in sunny to partially shaded areas in moist and rich soil. Buckeye trees can be found between floodplains with moist soil and even dry upland sites.

The Ohio Buckeye is native to the Midwest and the Great Plains.

And unlike the pawpaw fruit, the buckeye nut is NOT edible.

Source link

Click to comment

Ohio

Can you eat Ohio River fish? Just Askin’

Published

7 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Can you eat Ohio River fish? Just Askin’

Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?

In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.

At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.

There were warnings in 1977

But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.

Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.

But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.

So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?

The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.

There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.

In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.

Here’s where to check

Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.

Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish

The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.

Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.

Have a question for Just Askin’? Email us.

The Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, except maybe Google.

Do you have a question you want answered? Send it to us at justaskin@enquirer.com, ideally with Just Askin’ in the subject line.

Source link

Ohio

UCLA offensive coordinator visits four-star Ohio State commit

Published

19 hours ago

May 8, 2026

Press Room

UCLA offensive coordinator visits four-star Ohio State commit

It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.

Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?

Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.

247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.

It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.

Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.

Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.

Source link

Ohio

Ohio rural healthcare access — an advanced solution?

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2026

Press Room

Ohio rural healthcare access — an advanced solution?

A report from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio found that rural residents are 15% more likely to die before the age of 75. Allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to operate more independently could be a solution to allow better access to care.

Source link