Nature Cat is famous for its numerous, clever references to music, movies, literature, television and actors that would fly over kids' heads.
- When attempting to camouflage in "Nature Cat and Mr. Hide", Hal initially attempts it a few times by saying "camo-[word]!", before eventually striking a pose with female-like hair and saying "Cameron Diaz!" and getting applauded for it. This is a Parental Bonus that's fairly likely to go over most of the target audience's heads.
- Speaking of "Nature Cat and Mr. Hide", the title of the episode is a reference to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
- In "Wild Batts", despite that episode being a crossover with Wild Kratts and featuring the Kratt brothers as Chris and Martin Batt, Nature Cat also mentions that the other neighborhood bats are named Daniel Bat, Peg + Bat, George the Curious Bat, and The Bat in the Hat, all references to a number of PBS Kids' other series.
- "A Midsummer Day's Dream" is a reference to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- In "No Bird Left Behind", Nature Cat says "Friends, rabbits, country dogs, lend me your ears", which is a reference to "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" from Julius Caesar.
- In "A Nature Carol", Squeeks sings a parody of "Frosty the Snowman" called "Cheesy the Snowman".
- Someone on the production team must really love The Beatles.
- The show's soundtrack album is called "The Green Album".
- "Magical Mushroom Mystery Tour".
- An episode is called "Strawberry Fields Forever".
- "Here Comes The Sun".
- A season 5 episode is titled "A Little Kelp From My Friends." The same episode has the characters becoming the Fab Forest Friends (as in the Fab Four).
- In "Flight of the Firefly", Daisy is researching about fireflies and mentions Firefly, saying it should have lasted longer.
- Several in "Hotel Hal":
- Squeeks briefly hums the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at the beginning of "Nature Plant".
- In "Niagara Falls", one of the questions that Nature Cat has on his curiosity list is, "Can a crocodile really rock?". This is a nod to the Elton John song "Crocodile Rock".
- "Total Eclipse of the Sun" references the 80's song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. There's also a character based on her named "Bonnie Owler".
- The title of the episode "Nature of Dreams" references the 1989 film Field of Dreams. Also, Sir Galahad says "If you build it, he will come."
- "Garden Impossible" is a reference to Mission: Impossible.
- The beginning of "Space Rocks" has an Imagine Spot that parodies Star Wars, with Nature Cat as Luke Skywalker, Hal as Han Solo, Daisy as Princess Leia, and Squeeks as R2-D2.
- In "Bug Eating Plants?", the song "Bug Eating Plants of the Swamp" sounds similar to the title song from Little Shop of Horrors.
- In "Mighty Mountain Climbers", some of Hal's chew toys include Inspector Chew-seau, Chew-lia Roberts, and Bob Chew-hart.
- In "Onward and Pondward", Squeeks says "What's up doc?" to a duckling.
- The title of "Gimme Shelter" references The Rolling Stones song of the same name.
- In "The Great Grasshopper Race", the grasshopper's name, Dustin Hopman, references the famous actor Dustin Hoffman.
- The opening song of "Tally Ho! A Rainbow!" parodies the title song of Singin' in the Rain.
- In "Hal's Day Off", there is a reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Hal says Ferris's line "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." after he arrives in Chicago.
- The title of "There's Gold In Them Thar Hills!" is a spoken phrase that comes from Mark Twain's 1892 novel The American Claimant.
- "Pet Sounds" is a reference to The Beach Boys album of the same name.
- "Swamp Thing":
- The title of "Breezy Rider" is a reference to Easy Rider.
- "Muck Amok" is a reference to Duck Amuck.
- In "Astronuts", there is a reference to the The Right Stuff when the gang are power walking.
- "Enter the Dragonfly" is a reference to "Enter the Dragon".
- In "No Bird Left Behind", Brooks the Oriole is named after Brooks Robinson, who played for the Baltimore Orioles.
- The character of Michael Bluejay is a reference to Michael Bublé.
- Nature Cat says "Why did it have to be snakes?" in "Cold-Blooded", as a reference to Indiana Jones.
- "Mud Love" is a Whole-Plot Reference to Green Eggs and Ham. While finding and learning of various kinds of mud and their properties, to each kind Nature Cat remains obstinate that he "...doesn't like mud at all!", which he emphatically recites as a rhyme.
- In "Onward and Songward", Woodstock Chella Palooza is a combination of real-life music festivals Woodstock, Coachella, and Lollapalooza.
- "Midge Over Troubled Water" references the Simon & Garfunkel song "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
- In "Daddy Long Legs," after Ronald tells the Agents of the Great Outdoors their mission, he says that "this message will self-destruct in three seconds."
- "Outer Space Detectives":
- The title of "Outdoor Nature Warrior" is a reference to American Ninja Warrior.
- "The Legend of Cowboy Kitty": Quentin Bearantino is a spoof and caricature of film director Quentin Tarantino, whose movies are not suitable for children at all. The fact that they got away with this parody is surprising.
- "The Corn Conundrum" has more references to Field of Dreams:
- Nature Cat utters a modification of the line "If you build it, he will come" as "If you build it, they will come." Squeeks later repeats this line near the end of the episode.
- In reference to the "they" in the aforementioned quote, Hal questions whether Nature Cat means "Baseball players from the past in little hats with Kevin Costner?"
- "Window Worries" features two instances of "Go [character name], it's your birthday!", referencing 50 Cent's "In Da Club."
- In "The Pinecone Genie," Hal references several songs and their artists. On the first occasion, he does his trademark "Wink wink." before commenting "That one's for the parents." Oh, how subtle.
- "Living On the Edge":
- The title is a reference to the Aerosmith song of the same name.
- The character Barbara "Babs Ruth" is a parody of Babe Ruth, the twentieth century baseball player.
- When looking for a fifth lawn bowling player, Hal utters the phrase "Bueller, Bueller", another reference to the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
- "Wild World of Wild Play in the Wild": Squeeks' songs parody Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," Destiny's Child's "Survivor," The Bee Gees' "Staying Alive," and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."
- "The Nature-tastic Four and the Humongous Hurricane": Squeeks directly states that her comic is called "The Avengers", but since that name is already owned by Marvel, she had to call it "The Nature-tastic Four and the Humongous Hurricane".
- "Tree Love" has a parody of Mel Brooks named "Shell Brooks." His movies, such as Blazing Saddles, are also very inappropriate for the show's target audience, making it another reference that only parents would recognize.
