Creek Critters

This is a dandy program for beginners to learn identification of critters in a creek. However, it constantly asks the user to locate on a map places that don’t exist. I constantly get asked by the software to locate “lake Jeff” (note software capitalization error) on the map. I have never heard of this lake!

Very helpful when learning to ID critters with young learners. Thanks!

Now that I've familiarized myself with this app- I can't wait to get outside and into my neighborhood stream to investigate. It will be such a learning experience and I love that I can contribute to the health of our water by monitoring the life that resides within.

Wow! Who knew it was so simple to feel so smart?! This app makes it a breeze to discover what little critters live in the water so you know how healthy the water source is. Easy to use but beware - it’s addicting! And your kids will want to use it, too. It’s definitely easy enough for my 7 and 9 year old to master.

My kids had a blast splashing in the stream while learning some science. My husband, though, was the one who really “caught the bug” and was just fascinated by all the different critters living under rocks in our local stream. All it takes is an aquarium net and a few plastic containers to discover a new world!

Best app to ID macros and super easy to use!

I have been conducting training sessions for school kids. They love it. Convenient and easy to follow. Increases motivation to identify more macros. The new updates only enhance this excellent product.

New version has many more options and is very user friendly! In this new era I think you should only collect TEN critters at a time to be safe! What a great activity to do with your kids right now.

This app has gone through many iterations over the years in response to user feedback. It’s great for groups, individuals, and families (including families looking for exercise and time in nature while “social/physically distancing” from others during the Covid-19 pandemic) to learn how to identify the critters that live in streams. All instructions are included in the app and materials needed are very simple. Walks you through ID intuitively and rewardingly. You can stop at the easier level or go deeper and learn more specifics about what you’ve found.

I really wanted to like this app as I do stream monitoring and I can see that this app has the potential to help volunteers go through the procedures and do identification. But it doesn’t work well. Navigating through the app is too annoying; requires too much guesswork. Example: Some things that look like arrows are active but some are not so you wonder if you just have to press more accurately, harder, etc. Until you finally give up. Similarly, some pics are active, some aren’t. And so on. Obviously written by someone with little experience with UI design.