Bugs, bones and bumps in the night: ‘Wisconsin Life’ as your guide to the state’s spookiest corners

Selfishly I partially enjoy this story because of the title alone — it invokes some kind of fungal Bigfoot roaming the northern shores of the state. But the real joy of this story is in the deep and mysterious world of foraging — learning the deep, dark pockets of the Northwoods where the most exotic and metal-sounding mushroom species can be found, like the “Eastern Destroying Angel.” At a time of year that we are thinking in autumnal hues, enjoy a story of mushroom species that “bleed” neon milk and turn bright purple when wet.

Is it cool as all get out that you can sleep overnight in the cabin of a World War II era DC-3, converted into an AirBnB treehouse near Kempster, Wisconsin? Absolutely. There’s no better way to experience “the plane that won the war.” Will it keep you up at night once you realize you have a skeleton copilot, Captain Bones, as your roommate for the night? Maybe!

Plenty of academics dream of being the “cool professor” who their students remember and tell stories of their entire lives — but it takes a really special educator to take that dream and crank it to 11 by fully becoming the professor that dresses up as an anatomically-correct hornet and runs around campus every Halloween. Entomologist Barrett Klein takes the Wisconsin Idea to absolutely buzzing new highs.