The Lake Michigan shoreline dominates the till plains biome.  This biome was shaped by the last glaciation with glacial till left behind forming the landscape of eskers, drumlins and moraines most easily seen within the Kettle Moraine forest units.  The lakeshore displays sand dunes that will often adjoin tamarack swamplands.  Close to Lake Michigan’s shores, birds of water such as shorebirds and ducks will be found.  Animal life may include White Tailed Deer and small mammals such as otters and fox.

This region is right in the middle of our state, easy to get to from everywhere else. Its biome is sand plains and prairie. The landscape was largely shaped when it sat at the bottom of huge Glacial Lake Wisconsin, which left behind sandy soils and a fairly flat landscape.  One still can find eroded sandstone buttes, believed to have been islands during this time period, and certainly striking features as one travels through the region.  There are scattered mixed hardwoods and pine plantations, as well as large areas of wetlands and grasslands. Prairie Chickens do their spring dances in this region. The threatened Karner Blue Butterflies live here, as do river otters. Timber Wolves have reached their southern range in this biome.

The Driftless Region serves as home to these two rivers, and many, many more, and is in a deciduous forest biome.  Most of this part of southwestern Wisconsin was not touched by the last glaciers and displays a very rugged landscape dominated by limestone bluffs rising above the two main rivers.  Valleys carved by smaller rivers and streams abound, but anything resembling a lake is the result of human intervention.  The predominant vegetation is mixed hardwoods such as oak, aspen, and maples.  With the abundant spring fed streams in every valley, the trout fishing in this biome is world class.  The big river is one of the main flyways for bird migration and plays host to birds using that flyway, including huge concentrations of Tundra Swans in the spring and fall. Timber Rattlesnakes are timid venomous snakes that inhabit those rocky bluffs.

This region, the bottom middle of the state, is characterized by remnants of the once predominant oak savanna biome.  A savannah will have a low plant density, allowing for grassland development under the open canopy of forest dominated by oak.  These landscapes are often described as “park like” due to their open appearance and with development, are disappearing from their original boundaries.  Red-Headed Woodpeckers and Wild Turkey are birds that depend on this kind of biome, and of course Whitetail Deer are seen throughout the area, as are raccoons, squirrels and small rodents.

The northern tier of the Badger state is largely within a boreal forest biome.  Coniferous trees dominate this landscape, and with good reason.  This is a cold region with long winters and lots of snow.  Conifers are adapted to shed that snow with their evergreen needle leaves.  Their waxy branches retain moisture.  Wildlife that might be seen here are Timber Wolves, Black Bears, Porcupines and maybe even a Moose or two. Many of the warblers migrate to this region to nest.  Lake Superior’s cold water certainly has a big influence on the climate you’ll discover here…refreshing in the summer, invigorating in the winter.