Welcome to OHIO! The holidays have arrived, and whether you live here year round, you're visiting family and friends, or just passing through; you'll find something for everyone. Winter is the official season of fun and there is no better place to celebrate than right here in OHIO. So come on in, we've been waiting for you.
Watching Winter Wildlife
Though many birds migrate south for the winter, Ohio is the winter home of a wide array of animals, many of which are finally coming back to the state after being hunted to extinction in the late 1800s. This renaissance of species includes several irresistible critters, including the playful river otter, the downy-soft snowshoe hare and the regal trumpeter swan.
River otters can be found along almost every river in the state, but the highest concentration of otters is in eastern Ohio. The best places to spot an otter are along the Grand River in Trumbull, Ashtabula and Lake counties, Killbuck Creek in Wayne and Holmes counties, the Little Muskingum River in Washington County and Stillwater Creek in Harrison County.
Snowshoe hares are a species you might associate more with the Arctic. And while it's true that they do live up north, a growing population live in Ohio. First released into the wild in Ashtabula County in 2001, the hares have been doing quite well, and have spread into the neighboring counties. They're a little tricky to spot, and they're also very fast - a snowshoe can leap along at up to 30 miles per hour! To spot one, you'll have to be patient and lucky. The best chance to see a snowshoe in Ohio, find a dense patch of forest in the northeast corner of the state, such as the Orwell or New Lyme State Wildlife Areas.
Trumpeter swans are another Ohio comeback species. These brilliant white birds were exterminated from Ohio in the early settler period and have been reintroduced to Ohio from Alaska in 1996. They have been doing rather well, though their numbers aren't stable enough to discontinue the reintroduction plan.
They can be seen at The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, The Wilds in Muskingum County and the Magee Marsh State Park in Ottawa County play host to this majestic bird. Get more information about Ohio's wildlife from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.