|
| Hummingbirds will return to Missouri in the next few weeks. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Recent floods could benefit at least one Missouri amphibian species.
JEFFERSON CITY-With spring peepers chirping like crazy and leopard frogs chortling up a storm, it may seem hard to believe that toad, frog and salamander populations are in decline worldwide. Missouri is no exception, however, and conservation agencies and private conservation organizations are working to find the causes of the decline and ways to stop it. They say citizens have a role to play in the effort.
Approximately 6,100 amphibian species inhabit the planet. Of that total, some 2,600 - 42 percent - are declining in number. Fully one-third are imperiled. Although other animal groups also are suffering, amphibians are especially hard-hit. Only 12 percent of bird species and 23 percent of mammal species are imperiled worldwide.
Twenty-three percent of the United States’ 250 amphibian species are in decline. Approximately 16 percent of Missouri’s amphibian species show declining population trends. One-third (14 of 43) of Show-Me State amphibian species are “species of conservation concern.”
“Species of conservation concern are species showing declining trends, with limited occurrence in Missouri and/or are restricted to limited habitat,” said Missouri State Herpetologist Jeff Briggler. “We try to monitor these species to detect declines early. We need to track them to make sure they remain part of Missouri’s biological diversity.”
He cited four examples of amphibians of conservation concern.
EASTERN SPADEFOOT FROG (Scaphiopus holbrookii).
At 2 inches long, these toad-like frogs would be easy to miss, even if they spent most of their time above ground. They don’t. Spadefoots use horny, shovel-like plates on their feet to burrow into the sandy soil they prefer. They stay underground during the day, emerging to feed at night.
The Eastern spadefoot’s Missouri distribution includes the extreme southeastern corner of the state and the tier of counties bordering the Mississippi River as far north as St. Louis. Sand Prairie Conservation Area in Scott County is a good example of the increasingly rare habitat type they favor.
Sandy soil does not hold water for long, so the Eastern spadefoot has developed the ability to take advantage of extreme but brief wet periods.
“The 12-plus inches of rain that hit southeastern Missouri recently will do a lot to help these frogs,” said Briggler. “When you get 4 or 5 inches of rain in a short time they emerge by the thousands and migrate to temporary wetlands to breed. They may breed this year and then not breed again for five or six years.”
Eastern spadefoot eggs hatch in a few days and pass through tadpole stage to adulthood in three to five weeks. Compare this to bullfrogs, which take 11 to 14 months to grow legs and lose their tails.
Conversion of low, sandy areas for agriculture and other uses has dramatically reduced the habitat available to this species. This, in turn, reduces its numbers and increases its vulnerability to other threats, such as diseases, parasites and pollution.
GROTTO SALAMANDER (Typhlotriton spelaeus)
When grotto salamanders hatch, they have gills and functional eyes. At this stage, they are found mainly in cave streams, though they occasionally turn up above ground in springs. As they mature, however, they lose their gills, and their eyes disappear beneath a layer of white tissue. The blind, white adults live exclusively in cave streams. No one has ever discovered grotto salamander eggs in the wild.
According to Briggler, any sizeable Ozark cave with a stream running through it is likely to harbor grotto salamanders.
“We track them because they are only found on the Ozark Plateau and only in caves, which is a very vulnerable type of habitat. A problem with disease or impaired groundwater quality could threaten this species rapidly. You could lose this species if you didn’t’ keep some track of it.”
In recent weeks, grotto salamanders in several Missouri caves have been found to be infected with the amphibian chrytrid fungus. This pathogenic fungus probably arrived in the United States in the 1960s or 1970s with shipments of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) for the pet trade. The same fungus has decimated frog populations in Central and South America and Australia, wiping out some species completely.
“The more we test for this fungus, the more we realize that it is more widespread than most biologists believe,” said Briggler. We will continue to study its distribution and effects on native amphibians. Some native species are resistant to it, and we are making progress figuring out how those species fight it off.”
Besides preserving cave habitat for grotto salamanders on its own property, the Conservation Department works with private landowners to maintain the health of caves on their property.
NORTHERN CRAWFISH FROG (Rana areolata circulosa).
Missouri’s second-largest frog can grow to 4 inches, not counting its long, muscular legs. Its natural habitat is wet prairies. It is seldom seen, because it spends most of its life below ground in crayfish burrows. They emerge to breed from February through April, gathering in shallow, temporary ponds where there are no fish to eat their young. A female crawfish frog can lay up to 7,000 eggs.
Male crawfish frogs’ mating call is a loud, nasal “gwaaaa” that is variously described as snoring or like pigs feeding.
Habitat loss is the main reason for crawfish frog’s decline.
“If you look across Missouri at what used to be prairie habitat, there’s very little left,” said Briggler. “Crawfish frogs need native prairie, temporary pools to lay their eggs and crayfish holes. It’s hard to find all three of those in the same location, so this frog is scattered across the state in little isolated populations.”
Missouri has 50 or 60 known crawfish frog populations in pockets of prairie from McDonald and Jackson counties in the southwest to St. Louis and Adair counties in the northeast. Their numbers are decreasing north of the Missouri River.
The Conservation Department, in collaboration with the University of Missouri-Columbia, plans to reintroduce crawfish frogs in some areas. However, it must proceed cautiously to ensure that such efforts do not spread diseases like the amphibian chytrid fungus. Beyond that, the agency works to preserve and restore wet prairie habitat that benefits not only crawfish frogs, but a wide range of wildlife, from insects to birds.
HELLBENDER, (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)
This is North America’s largest salamander. Adults typically measure 11 to 20 inches. The largest ever documented was 29 inches long.
Hellbenders have flat bodies and wrinkled, mottled gray to brown skin. Their tiny, dark eyes are difficult to distinguish from speckling on top of their heads.
Missouri is the only state with both hellbender subspecies - the Ozark and Eastern. Both are endangered in Missouri, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is building a case for giving both federal endangered status.
As recently as the 1960s, the Show-Me State had thriving populations of both subspecies in many Ozark streams. However, since the 1970s, Eastern hellbender numbers have plummeted 80 percent. During the same period, Ozark hellbender numbers have declined by 70 percent. The species has practically disappeared from Arkansas streams.
Dam building, gravel mining and declining water quality all are suspected contributors to the hellbender’s decline. The Conservation Department has found amphibian chytrid fungus in more than half the hellbender streams it has checked for the pathogen.
Deliberate killing and removal also are problems. Illegal collection for overseas markets and for the pet trade has decimated hellbender numbers in some rivers. In other areas, hellbenders have been found dead on stream banks, apparent victims of fearful people.
“There is a superstitious belief that hellbenders have venomous spurs on their legs,” said Briggler. “That isn’t true. They are totally harmless.”
In recent years, Briggler and other scientists have observed physical abnormalities in an alarming number of hellbenders. These include misshapen or missing toes, legs and eyes. Some have open sores, tumors or other abnormalities. In the Current River, three-quarters of all hellbenders have some kind of abnormality.
“This animal already has so much against it right now," said Briggler. “These abnormalities could be the tipping point that drives the species to extirpation.”
The Conservation Department and the Fish and Wildlife Service have brought together other conservation agencies, universities and public zoos to form the Ozark Hellbender Working Group. Together, they are pursuing projects to pinpoint the causes of hellbender decline and reverse it.
The public has an important role to play in one of those efforts-population monitoring.
“At this point, every sighting is important,” said Briggler. “If an angler hooks one and releases it, or if a gigger sees one, we would like to know about it. That kind of information is extremely helpful for keeping track of where these animals still live. I can't tell you how grateful we are to people who take time to call in such sightings.”
Briggler said people can report hellbender sightings to any Conservation Department office. Several facts help him make the most of hellbender reports. Most important is location. He suggests looking for landmarks, such as barns, bluffs or other permanent features. He also needs to know the date of the sighting and the approximate length of the hellbender. Photographs are helpful if they can be taken without keeping the animal out of the water more than a few seconds.
Anglers who hook hellbenders can release them two ways. Removing the hook is best if the animal is not hooked deeply. Otherwise, the line should be cut and the hook left in place. Most animals released this way survive.
Besides studying hellbenders intensively and investigating possible contributing factors in their decline, the Conservation Department and the St. Louis Zoo are rearing hellbenders in captivity. Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery in Branson has 450 larval eastern hellbenders. The St. Louis Zoo has 55 larval, 60 juvenile and eight adult Ozark hellbenders. Animals raised at these facilities will help with research and may be used to replenish wild stocks.
"I am afraid that without artificial propagation the hellbender may not survive here," said Briggler.
Briggler stressed the importance of private land to survival of Missouri’s dwindling amphibian populations. “Saving these species is going to take more than protecting them on public lands. Private lands have a lot of these animals. If you learn about them on your property, then you can go to the next step and learn what they need to survive - small ponds and so on.”
One of the simplest and most important things people can do to help is find out what amphibians they have on land that they own or visit on a regular basis. Missouri has three groups that help people learn about amphibians. --The Southwest Missouri Herpetological Society, PO Box 14436, Springfield, MO 65814-0436, taxexemptworld.com/organization.asp?Tn=992624. --The St. Louis Herpetological Society, P.O. Box 410346, St. Louis, MO 63141-0346, stlherpsociety.org/. --The Kansas City Herpetological Society, P.O. Box 118, Liberty, MO 64069, kcherp.com/.
Briggler said the following monitoring programs exist to help citizens get involved in amphibian conservation. --The American Amphibian Monitoring Protocols, pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/. --Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, parcplace.org/. --Frogwatch USA, nwf.org/frogwatchUSA/.
A new booklet from the Conservation Department has information about Missouri’s 26 frog and toad species. Single copies are available by writing to MDC, Missouri’s Toads and Frogs, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, 65102-0180 or e-mailing pubstaff@mdc.mo.gov.
Frogs and toads can be visually elusive, but their songs are easy to hear and identify. “Toads and Frogs of Missouri,” a combination audio CD and color poster, makes sound identification of 20 frogs and toads easy. It is available for $8 plus shipping, handling and sales tax (where applicable) from the Conservation Department Nature Shop. You can order by calling, toll-free, 877/521-8632 or visiting mdcnatureshop.com.
-Jim Low-
Private and federal grants will help restore wildlife habitat along the Mississippi River.
JEFFERSON CITY-An innovative collaboration between Missouri and other state wildlife agencies has landed $146,400 in grants to restore bottomland hardwood forest and other fish and wildlife habitat along the Mississippi River.
The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) worked together to develop the Mississippi Alluvial Valley Bottomland Forest Restoration Project. The proposal sought a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Missouri’s share of the grant - $63,000 - will be matched by a $95,000 in-kind contribution consisting of land donated to the Conservation Department. The grant will be spent on work in the River Bends Conservation Opportunity Area (COA), which includes parts of Mississippi, New Madrid and Pemiscot counties.
In all, the grants will help restore bottomland hardwood forest and canebrakes on 2,340 acres in Mississippi and Tennessee. The work will benefit 65 wildlife species, including species of conservation concern.
The project area on both sides of the Mississippi River was chosen through a collaborative effort of Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas officials based on goals of their Comprehensive Wildlife Strategies.
The River Bends COA encompasses a 135,000-acre area with blocks of existing bottomland forest with high wetland restoration potential. Existing conservation lands in the COA include more than 20,000 acres, 4,500 of which is private land enrolled in the federal Wetland Reserve Program.
Specific public lands where work is planned are Black Island, Seven Island, Donaldson Point, Wolf Bayou, Girvin and Ten Mile Pond conservation areas. On these areas, the Conservation Department will inventory existing plant communities, eradicate invasive exotic plants, plant hardwood trees on 498 acres of bottomland, create forested corridors between the river and adjacent land and establish canebrake habitats.
TWRA’s portion of the grant, together with state matching funds, will be used for similar purposes in areas adjacent to the Mississippi River’s east bank. This effort will focus on the 50,000-acre Lower Obion River Project Area, with a primary emphasis on developing waterfowl, shorebird and forest bird habitat.
“Bottomland hardwood forest and canebrakes once defined the landscape in southeastern Missouri,” said Wildlife Programs Supervisor Dennis Figg, one of the team that assembled the grant proposal. “They provided habitat for a wide range of wildlife, from ducks, geese and other water birds to turtles, warblers and furbearers.”
Figg noted that virtually all of the approximately 1.5 million wetland acres that once covered southeastern Missouri have been converted to highly productive farmland. He said the goal of current habitat restoration efforts is not to return that land to a wild state, but to preserve what lowland wildlife habitat is left and recreate representative examples of the productive forests that once existed in Missouri’s part of the Mississippi Embayment.
“The benefits for wildlife, recreation and tourism could be enormous,” he said.
Figg said the successful grant application resulted from collaboration between the two state’s wildlife agencies, as well as the Four-Seasons Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Southeastern Bat Working Group, and the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture.
Wildlife that will benefit from the grants include the Swainson’s, prothonotary, Northern parula and cerulean warblers, Mississippi kites, mole salamander, Southeastern bat, Illinois chorus frog, golden mouse, cotton mouse, swamp rabbit, green treefrog, green water snake, Louisiana waterthrush, bald eagle and southeastern shrew.
-Jim Low-
 |
| Missouri’s four trout parks plan special Kids Fishing Day events in May. For details, call: Montauk Hatchery near Salem, 573/548-2585; Roaring River Hatchery near Cassville, 417/847-2430; Bennett Spring Hatchery near Lebanon, 417/532-4418; or Maramec Spring Park near St. James, 573/265-7801. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Father and son find online learning combined with field experience the perfect way to launch a lifetime of shared outdoor experiences.
TROY, Mo.-For 50 years, hunter education has meant attending 10 hours of classroom training. Come July, Missourians will have a second option - online training plus a field day to give their knowledge a practical test. One family that has tried it is sold on the concept.
Kenny Dearing took his parents by surprise last fall when he told them he wanted to go deer hunting.
“I had taken him out to the range and let him shoot the gun and tried to entice him somewhat,” said Kenny’s father, Ken. “With him growing up and playing sports and all that, he had never showed that much interest and I didn’t really want to push him. And then he just comes up one day and says ‘I really would love to do this. What have we got to do?’”
According to Kenny, peer pressure stimulated his interest in hunting.
“All my friends go hunting,” said Kenny. “They always bring pictures to school and gloat about it. I wanted to get my own and gloat about it.”
Ken, who has been a deer hunter for 35 years, was delighted. He went to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s web page to see what legal requirements his 12-year-old son had to meet to take part in the two-day youth deer hunting season. He knew that Kenny would need to be hunter-education certified. If Kenny did not have a hunter-education certificate, Ken would need one to accompany his son on the youth hunt.
“I decided I might as well take hunter education with him,” said Ken. “You can always learn something new.”
While Ken was pleased with his son’s newfound interest in hunting, it created a bit of a time crunch. Like most families, the Dearings were busy, and only one hunter education class was available in their home town.
“Hunter education was going to take up an entire weekend,” said Ken, “and with my schedule as busy as it is and his football schedule, we were trying to find a way to do this that was a little easier for him and me. Then we stumbled across the internet-based training.”
The Dearings became part of a trial run of the Conservation Department’s new web-based hunter education. The agency tested the program in a few areas in 2006 to see how it worked and what hunters and instructors thought of it. Students worked their way through the training materials and then had to pass an online test in time to qualify for a six-hour field day that completed the training. It took some work, but the Dearings finished the online course in time.
“It was a great way to go,” said Kenny’s mother, Janet. “They did it in the evenings and had a lot of fun together.”
Kenny said the online portion of the course worked well for him, because he could work at his own pace.
“The only hard part was all the reading,” he said. “I’m not really much about reading. The field day was just like redoing everything we had already learned. It was actually kind of fun.”
Ken said the practical exercises in safe firearms handling, crossing fences and establishing safe fields of fire were priceless.
“Walking around with a stick instead of a gun helped him learn those lessons,” said Ken. “The instructors were just excellent, the way they made sure every kid understood exactly what to do. I was really impressed. I even learned some things I didn’t know.”
With both portions of the online/field day training successfully completed, Ken and Kenny were set. The used their camper at Mark Twain Lake as their deer camp, hunting on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
They hunted from dawn to dusk both days of the Youth Portion of Firearms Deer Season, using a ground blind. They saw only one deer and were not able to get a shot. But Ken said the weekend was wonderful. He got to sit quietly with his son for two days, teaching him how to pick a deer out among the fall foliage, what signs to look for on the ground, where to sit and other deer hunting lore.
Walking through the woods, Kenny surprised his dad by pointing out dangerous situations, such as a thick patch of trees where it would be difficult to keep the muzzle of his rifle pointed in a safe direction, or a spot where he might fall, losing control of his firearm.
“He learned all that stuff in the field day,” said Ken. “It really stuck with him.”
As the November Portion of Firearms Deer Season approached, father and son continued their preparations. They spent time at the shooting range, going through six or seven boxes of ammunition until Kenny was completely comfortable with his lever-action .30-30. Ken bought a “buddy stand,” a tree stand with room for two hunters. They put it up together - more quality time alone with his son. The stand allowed them to sit together in an elevated platform. On opening day, they saw three deer.
“We saw a nice buck,” said Ken. “I could have shot it, but it wasn’t about me. It was about what Kenny could do. I was proud of what he had learned in hunter education. He couldn’t get the deer in the scope quick enough and he said, ‘Dad I can’t get a good shot,’ and he just lowered his gun. That’s the way it should be. I had told him, if you can’t get a good shot for a clean kill, just let him walk away. There will be another one another day. He did a real good job.”
On the second morning of the regular deer season a big deer came along. Kenny was catnapping when his dad nudged him awake so he could hear the sound of the deer walking through the leaves behind them.
“I told him, ‘Kenny, there is a deer coming. Just wait; she’ll stop. If she’s looking at you just wait. Eventually she’ll drop her head or she’ll turn. If you have a clean shot, take it.’ At that point he said, ‘I can get her,’ and he pulled the trigger.”
Kenny’s target practice and hunting ethics training came together at that moment. The deer, a 160-pound doe, fell where she stood, stopped cold by one lethal shot.
“I’m very excited,” said Ken. “This is an interest we can both share together. There’s no TV, there’s no cell phone, there’s no video machine. It’s just quiet time that we can bond as father and son. My daughter is actually interested in getting involved as well.”
Kenny got a first-deer certificate from the Conservation Department. He spends much of his spare time now reading books, watching outdoor shows and cruising the Internet to learn all he can about turkey hunting. He and his dad plan to hunt the spring turkey season.
Conservation Department Hunter Education Coordinator Tony Legg said online hunter education is designed to make formal training in hunting safety and ethics more readily available. He said the online option is designed to augment traditional classes, not replace them.
“Online training is a great thing for families with busy schedules,” said Legg. “It also is going to be a big help to people who live a long way from where hunter education classes are offered.”
He said the Conservation Department was very conscious of the need to maintain the quality of hunter education training as it designed the online course. He said the field day ensures that students get interactive time with instructors. “Nothing can take the place of a real, live teacher for certain things,” he said, “and the practical exercises add an extremely important element to the training.”
Legg said the new approach also makes hunter education more appealing to young people, who are learning to do everything online. “Serving people means making services available where they live,” he said. “For a lot of young people, that means the Internet.”
Legg said the online course covers the same material as traditional hunter-education classes. After completing the course, students can take as many practice tests as they need to prepare for the final exam. The exam itself is different for every student. Difficulty is tailored to the student’s age, and questions are selected from a pool of several hundred, yielding a virtually endless number of variations.
“The chances of getting more than one or two of the same questions on two tests are limited,” said Legg. “You have to know the material pretty well to pass, just like in a regular hunter education class.”
Passing this exam is a requirement for attending a field day and obtaining hunter-education certification. At the field day students must pass another written test. This ensures that their online test was not done by others.
“When we announced plans to offer an online version of hunter education, lots of people were understandably concerned about whether it would lower the standards,” said Legg. “We have built in safeguards to make sure that doesn’t happen. With the added hands-on training, I think online hunter education actually is stronger in some ways than classroom training alone.”
The Conservation Department plans to launch the online hunter-education course in July. Information will be available at www.mdc.mo.gov in June.
-Jim Low-
The future of Missouri bobwhites is in private landowners’ hands.
FAYETTE, Mo.-The bobwhite quail has a special place in Oran Boulden’s heart, thanks to spending his formative years on a farm in Howard County. His love for the jaunty little game bird makes him a natural ally for soil and wildlife conservationsts. It also makes him and like-minded farmers the future of quail in Missouri.
Boulden, a regional representative for Case-New Holland farm and construction equipment, came home to Missouri three years ago and took over management of his family’s 160-acre farm north of Fayette. He had been gone for 17 years, much of it in Nebraska, where he hunted quail and pheasant every weekend. Some seasons, he and his hunting buddies harvested as many as 300 quail.
He brought his English pointers with him when he moved back to Missouri but soon discovered that even the relatively modest 100-quail-per-season hunting of his youth had vanished. Not that the family farm had ever been much good for hunting. Boulden recalls that even in his youth he had to look elsewhere for quail.
“When I was in college in the early ‘80s we hunted quail heavily in this area,” recalls Boulden. “I never hunted the farm, because there was never any birds there. I think it was habitat. If it wasn’t trees or crops it was fescue. There were some tree lines taken out, and our farming practices consisted of heavy tillage. We disked twice in the spring and chisel plowed in the fall.”
If anything, the quail situation was worse when he returned home. It wasn’t hopeless, though. Bobwhites still called from an abandoned railroad right-of-way north of the family farm. Then he found Brent Vandeloecht.
Vandeloecht is a private land conservationist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. It is his job to help landowners fulfill their conservation ambitions. Boulden called him even before moving back to Missouri, looking for ways to bring quail back to his family farm.
“I’m a quail hunter myself,” says Vandeloecht. “Wildlife management in general is a passion for me. That’s what I do on weekends. I’m always doing something to try to improve the wildlife habitat on my own property.”
Boulden’s farm actually had fairly good potential for quail habitat. About three-quarters of the land consisted of small fields. There were two 4- to 5-acre hayfields, four row-crop fields ranging from 15 to 19 acres and two fields of 6 and 7 acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). A sprinkling of woodlots made up the remaining quarter of the farm.
Quail thrive in a patchwork of small fields and woodland. A mix of weedy edges and crops provide food. Diverse grasslands create nesting areas, and a brushy edge between fields and woods provide shelter from weather and predators. Such diverse landscapes were the norm during the bobwhite quail’s heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, but they are increasingly rare today.
While the Boulden’s farm had potential, it lacked some key elements of quail habitat. For one thing, it did not have the kind of grassland suited to quail nesting. And while it had a mix of forest and open land, the dividing line between forest and field was razor sharp. There were almost no brush piles or shrubby cover in between.
Together, Boulden and Vandeloecht developed a plan to remedy these deficiencies. To make the plan affordable, they tapped resources provided under the federal farm bill.
The CRP paid for Conservation Practice 33 (CP-33, habitat buffers), planting native, warm-season grasses around the edges of crop fields. These strips of little bluestem and sideoats grama grass and native broadleaf plants make excellent quail nesting habitat. They also help prevent loss of valuable topsoil to erosion.
Erosion was a real problem along the creek running through the Boulden farm. In this area, CRP paid for Conservation Practice 21 (CP-21, riparian filter strips), planting native, warm-season grasses even more densely than under CP-33, but still good quail habitat.
Boulden and his son, Jordan, created patches of woody cover for quail at the edges of cropland and CRP fields by felling small trees, a practice known as edge feathering. They got help from the Conservation Department converting some of the fescue grass on their farm to native, warm-season grasses. By the end of their first year’s labor they began to see results.
“I was out on the tractor in October of 2006 planting wheat and flushed about 12 quail,” said Boulden. “I was really excited. I called Brent right away and said, ‘Hey, I saw a covey of birds!’ That is the first time I have seen birds on the property since 1980.”
In the spring of 2007, while working near some of the edge-feathering, Boulden saw a cock bobwhite and two hens nesting around the new cover.
More recently, he has been a little discouraged by tough breaks from the weather. He has not seen any quail since last year’s late-spring freeze and December’s devastating ice storm. But Vandeloecht says the farm now has what it takes to sustain quail through hard times.
“They did a really good job of establishing their warm-season grasses and got a really good stand,” he said. “They have done about 2 acres of edge feathering, which is quite a bit of work on a 160-acre farm. He’s got some high-quality woody cover and plenty of nesting habitat. I think his birds should make it.”
Boulden and his son continue to work at creating quail habitat. They use no-till farming practices, and they leave 15- to 20-foot strips of soybeans and other crops standing beside edge-feathered areas to ensure that quail have food close by when sitting out winter storms. They plan to spray herbicide to reduce fescue and get legumes growing around edge feathering, and they are working to get better stands of warm-season grasses growing on levees. Finally, they are working with Conservation Department foresters to develop a forest stewardship plan for the farm.
“Quail habitat didn’t disappear overnight, and it doesn’t come back overnight,” said Vandeloecht. “It takes time, and you have to keep at it every year, but the Bouldens are gaining on it. They are in it for the long haul.”
Vandeloecht said more than 90 percent of Missouri’s total acreage is privately owned. Consequently, the future of bobwhite quail in the Show-Me State hinge on the efforts of people like the Bouldens.
“Creating quail habitat on conservation areas and all the other public land in the state can’t bring back the bobwhite,” said Vandeloecht. “We can offer help, but it is going to take a lot of folks like Oran and Jordan to make it happen.”
-Jim Low-
 |
| “Toads and Frogs of Missouri” allows you to put green, warty faces with the voices of 20 common Missouri frogs and toads. The audio CD and color poster combo costs $8 plus shipping, handling and sales tax (where applicable). To order, call toll-free 877/521-8632 or visit mdcnatureshop.com. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Events offer expertise in everything from fly-fishing to Dutch-oven cooking.
JEFFERSON CITY-Outdoor educational opportunities for Missouri women and families abound this year, with two separate programs offering classes.
Women looking to learn outdoor skills can get training at the Discover Nature-Women (formerly Missouri Outdoor Women) workshop June 6 though 8 at the Windermere Conference Center in Roach, Mo. Classes will include fishing, canoeing, archery, shooting sports and camping. The program is open to women ages 18 and older. Girls 14-17 may attend if accompanied by an adult. A $20 deposit is required with registration. The registration deadline is May 23. For more information or to register, contact Tracy Tomson at TracyTomson@mdc.mo.gov, 573-522-4115, ext. 3808.
Participants are responsible for making room and meal reservations with Windermere at 573/346-5200 or 800/346-2215.
Women can step into Mother Nature’s classroom in five Wonders of Wildlife National Outdoor Recreation and Conservation Schools between April and October around the state. The schools are packed with hands-on classes geared to beginners or experienced outdoor enthusiasts. WOW events are for the whole family. They offer some classes for ages 9 through adult and others for children ages 4 to 8.
WOW event dates are: --April 25 and 26 in Springfield. --May 2 and 3 in Columbia. --June 6 and 7 in St. Louis. --Sept. 26 and 27 in Kansas City. --Oct. 10 and 12 at Roaring River State Park.
Advance registration is required for all programs. For more information, call Wonders of Wildlife 417/890-9453 or visit the website at www.wondersofwildlife.org.
Information also is available at www.mdc.mo.gov/programs/mow/weekend.htm.
-Jim Low-
Try these strategies if your pond won’t hold water.
JEFFERSON CITY - Most ponds lose some water due to leaks, and it’s not uncommon for the water level in ponds to fall in the summer or during times of drought. However, the Missouri Department of Conservation says if your pond is chronically low, then you may have a problem that needs attention.
The most common cause of pond leaks is tree roots penetrating the dam. Cutting large trees isn’t wise, since decaying roots leave fissures through which water can escape. Instead, prevent the problem from worsening by cutting all trees less than 4 inches in diameter and repeat the procedure as often as necessary to prevent new trees from growing.
Improper dam construction is the other major cause of leaks. Usually the problem is that the soil in the dam or the bottom of the pond is too porous. If the dam is the problem, the surest cure is rebuilding the dam. However, leaky dams and pond bottoms sometimes can be fixed by applying bentonite. This is a special clay that expands to 15 times its dry volume when wet, sealing holes.
Bentonite is used in drilling and is available from drilling supply companies or farm co-ops. It can be used several different ways, which are outlined in “The Problem of Leaky Ponds.” Information about designing and maintaining ponds to prevent leakage can be found in the “Missouri Pond Handbook,” another Conservation Department publication.
These publications are available on request from Conservation Department regional offices or by writing to Distribution Center, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.
-Jim Low-
An updated list of Conservation Department experts on various subjects will be available online March 14 at mdc.mo.gov/17071.
 |
| Missouri’s Lake Taneycomo is known throughout the United States for its trophy rainbow and brown trout. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Hunters 15 and younger will be able to hunt from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset.
JEFFERSON CITY-Young hunters will have nearly twice as much time to hunt during Missouri’s 2008 Youth Spring Turkey Hunting Season, thanks to a regulation change approved by the Conservation Commission in December.
Like previous Youth Spring Turkey Hunting Seasons, this year’s youth season is two days long - April 12 and 13. Unlike previous youth seasons, shooting hours this year are from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset Central Daylight Savings Time.
Shooting hours for the youth season previously ended at 1 p.m. That remains the ending time during the regular spring turkey hunting season.
The time extension during the youth season is intended to increase opportunities for hunters age 15 and younger. Resource Scientist Tom Dailey with the Missouri Department of Conservation said the extension will not noticeably affect the state’s turkey population and should increase youth interest in hunting.
“Other states’ experience leads us to believe that allowing hunters to pursue turkeys throughout the daylight hours will not noticeably affect hen nest success or cause adult male turkeys to gobble less,” said Dailey. “All-day hunting for the youth weekend will allow Missourians to get a taste of something that is practiced across the country. An increasing number of Missouri hunters are expressing interest in all-day spring turkey hunting, and our surveys of turkey hunters show that the majority want all-day hunting. If and when we decide to recommend all-day hunting for the regular spring season, public input on the subject will be critical.”
Another way citizens can contribute to the decision-making process is by participating in the Conservation Department’s “Gobbleteer” turkey gobbling study. Dailey said the study is designed to document gobbling activity under current hunting regulations. Last year 400 volunteers participated in the study by listening for gobbling before sunrise two mornings per week from mid-March through early May. He said volunteers need to sign up as soon as possible in order to take part this year.
To become a Gobbleteer, visit www.mdc.mo.gov, and click on “Be a Gobble Count Volunteer.” Participants will automatically be entered in a drawing for their choice of a lifetime hunting permit or a shotgun.
Resident youths can hunt in the youth season with any of three permits. The Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permit is for resident hunters age 6 through 15. Hunting with this permit requires youths to be in the immediate presence of a properly licensed adult who has a valid hunter education certificate card.
Youth age 11 to 15 also can hunt with a Resident Spring Turkey Hunting permit. They must be hunter-education certified to purchase this permit.
A Resident Landowner Spring Turkey Hunting Permit also is valid during the youth season for hunters age 15 and younger who are immediate household members of resident landowners or qualifying lessees. These permits are valid only on the land for which they are issued.
The number of turkeys taken during the youth season - between 3,500 and 3,900 in recent years - is small compared to the regular-season harvest of 48,000 to 57,000. The fun youths experience in those two days is big, however. The youth season allows adult hunters to focus exclusively on teaching youngsters hunting skills, safety and ethics.
Adults who want to mentor new hunters have another new opportunity this year, thanks to the Apprentice Hunter Authorization. The $10 annual authorization allows hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1967 to buy hunting permits for two consecutive permit years without hunter-education certification.
The Apprentice Hunter Authorization is available to residents and nonresidents 16 and older. People hunting under the authorization must hunt in the immediate presence of a licensed hunter age 21 or older. Mentors must be hunter-education certified and must be close enough for normal conversation, without shouting.
Missouri’s regular spring turkey hunting season runs from April 21 through May 11. Details of both seasons are contained in the 2008 Spring Turkey Hunting Information booklet, which is available wherever hunting permits are sold. The same information is available at mdc.mo.gov/hunt/turkey/sprturk/.
-Jim Low-
The weather was not kind to wildlife in 2007, but quail, turkeys and other wildlife will bounce back.
JEFFERSON CITY-Landowners in some parts of northern Missouri report many fewer wild turkeys than they are used to seeing at this time of year. The state’s top turkey biologist says the phenomenon is real, and likely is related to weather and the transition from an expanding turkey population to a stable one.
Resource Scientist Tom Dailey says he has received multiple reports that turkey numbers are down in north-central Missouri.
“Landowners are sending in letters expressing concern about low numbers of turkey,” said Dailey. “They say where they used to see flocks of up to a couple hundred turkeys in the wintertime, now they are lucky if they see 50. They are still seeing turkeys, but many fewer.”
He said most of the reports have come from the Kirksville area, but the phenomenon does not seem to be limited to Missouri. Biologists with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are hearing the same thing on their side of the border. He said weather is the most likely cause.
Temperatures plunged far below freezing in early last April, bottoming out in the teens throughout most of northern Missouri early Easter morning. Nighttime temperatures fell below freezing for seven consecutive days in Knox County. The Easter freeze caught many wild turkey hens in the middle of laying eggs, possibly freezing their clutches. The freak late cold snaps probably threw wild turkeys statewide into a reproductive tailspin, resetting their biological clocks and delaying nesting by weeks.
Dailey said other ground-nesting birds, notably the bobwhite quail and ring-necked pheasant, also suffered from severe weather last year. Weather challenges included widespread ice storms and heavy snow during the winter and severe localized flooding during the summer.
“2007 was a rough one for quail,” said Dailey. “In areas where they had weed and crop seeds, woody cover and tall grasses and weeds they did okay. But they got hurt in many areas.”
For turkeys, the effects of last spring’s late freeze showed up in the 2007 survey that measures hen nest success. That survey showed the second-lowest ratio of recently hatched turkeys to hens on record, one poult per hen.
Other factors might be at work in northern Missouri, too. Dailey said he has heard rumors that some avian disease might have further depleted turkey numbers, but he described this as speculation. He has only heard one or two reports of diseased turkeys, and those came from other parts of the state.
“Diseases are common in turkeys,” said Dailey. “It’s just another factor that turkeys have to deal with. Management-wise, there’s not much landowners or biologists can do.”
Another challenge to turkeys that resulted from the Easter freeze did not become evident until last fall. The cold snap destroyed oak buds and blossoms. The 2007 acorn study showed the lowest yield by white oaks since 1960. Acorns are a very important food for turkeys. The combination of a rough winter and an acorn shortage means some birds will not make it through the winter, or they will enter the nesting season in poor condition.
Whatever the cause, Conservation Department surveys show the state’s wild turkey population has been steady to declining in recent years. The poult-to-hen ratio was 1.2 in 2005, well below the 10-year average of 1.9. The previous two years’ poult-to-hen ratios were below average, too.
The ratio climbed to a relatively strong 1.6 in 2006. This promises better hunting in this year’s spring turkey season, since 2-year-old male turkeys are the most active gobblers. But Dailey said the overall trend is downward.
“Last year’s poor nest success will have repercussions for at least a couple of years,” he said. “If we get good production this summer, spring gobbler hunters won’t realize the benefits for a couple of years.”
Dailey noted that turkey populations are doing better in other parts of the state. “They are doing pretty well in the Ozarks,” he said. “It’s just a shock to people up in north-central Missouri, who are used to seeing a lot of turkeys, not to be seeing as many now.”
Even factoring out the effects of weather, Dailey said Missouri’s turkey flock seems to be in transition. He said the days of seeing turkey flocks numbering in the hundreds may be gone.
“That occurred during the time when our turkey flock was expanding, and population growth was extremely rapid. Eventually things catch up with us. Predator populations build up slowly to take advantage of increasing prey numbers. They lag a few years behind. Raccoons, bobcats, opossums, skunks, coyotes, owls and other predators are taking advantage of widespread, large numbers of turkeys.”
According to Dailey, turkeys and their predators eventually will reach a point of equilibrium, and the state’s turkey population will stabilize at a level slightly lower than it has been the past few years.
“Instead of seeing more turkeys every year, we will see year-to-year variations, mostly related to weather during the nesting season,” he said. “We could have very good turkey populations in a couple of years in the same areas where their numbers currently are down a lot. It may not be as high as it was in the past, but certainly it will be better than it is now.”
Although it might seem prudent to reduce season length or bag limits to help turkey numbers recover, Dailey said this not only is not needed, it would not help.
“Because we are shooting gobblers, and rarely bearded hens, during the spring season, hunting season really isn’t a limiting factor on population growth. Unless we have some widespread, long-term crash in the population, going to more restrictive hunting regulations isn’t going to have any effect on population trends like the one we are talking about here.”
He said Missouri’s turkey regulations are geared to maintain quality turkey hunting. The Conservation Department tracks turkey numbers in several ways. One is by watching the average age of gobblers taken by hunters, as reflected in Telecheck data on gobbler spur length. The agency also tracks the percentage of licensed hunters who kill turkeys, and it monitors the poult-to-hen ratio and surveys hunters about whether they are satisfied with their hunting experience.
“So far, our regulations are doing a good job of maintaining a strong turkey population and a high-quality hunting experience,” said Dailey. “We have gotten a little spoiled by decades of turkey population growth, but they are just like other wildlife. Their numbers go up and down in response to weather conditions. We have had several rough years recently, but give them two or three years of good weather during the nesting season and our turkeys will bounce back.”
March 14 is the last day to sign-up to be a “Gobbleteer.” To learn more about this citizen-volunteer effort to learn more about wild turkey gobbling behavior, visit www.mdc.mo.gov, and click on “Be a Gobble Count Volunteer.” Participants will automatically be entered in a drawing for their choice of a lifetime hunting permit or a shotgun.
-Jim Low-
Missouri’s largest conservation group honors conservationists in diverse field.
JEFFERSON CITY-Eight Missourians and two Show-Me State conservation organizations recently received “Conservationist of the Year” awards from the Conservation Federation of Missouri. This year’s overall Conservationist of the Year is Vince Travnichek, of Savannah.
Travnichek supervises the Missouri Department of Conservation Missouri River Resource Science Field Station in St. Joseph. He holds bachelor’s, masters and PhD degrees in biology, wildlife, fisheries and aquiculture and has conducted research related to catfish, sturgeon, commercial fishing and Missouri River management issues.
Mark Corio, Dittmer, is the CFM’s 2008 Youth Conservationist of the Year. At age 21, he has graduated from the Conservation Leadership Corps, received approval from the National Wildlife Federation to expand that program nationally and served on the CFM Board of Directors, earning lifetime membership in the group.
Rob Pulliam, Gray Summit, is the CFM’s Professional Conservationist of the Year. His work as a fisheries management biologist with the Conservation Department in Gasconade, Maries and Osage counties involves solving stream-bank erosion problems, managing fish populations in several lakes and streams as well as working to recover populations of the endangered scaleshell and spectaclecase mussels and the Niangua darter.
Forest Conservationist of the Year Mark Nussbaum, Cape Girardeau, is an agricultural engineer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In addition to his full-time job, he helps his parents manage their farm, working hand-in-hand with the Conservation Department to improve timber and wildlife resources on his family’s farm and other private land.
Conservation Educator of the Year Jeff Cantrell, Newton, is a Conservation Education Consultant with the Conservation Department. His many conservation outreach efforts have included providing material for Latinos in print and broadcast media in southwest Missouri and creating eight Nature Smart Clubs that reach socially and culturally diverse groups of children.
Wildlife Conservationist of the Year Andrew Carmack is a private land conservationist for the Conservation Department in the Kansas City region. His work promoting and implementing the conservation titles of federal farm programs and complementary state incentive programs has wrought significant changes in the landscape of Cass County.
Conservation Communicator of the Year Barbara Baird, Rolla, is managing editor of The Kaleidoscope, a four-county publication with a heavy emphasis on outdoor topics. She also writes an online column, “The Gear Gal” for Women in the Outdoors magazine, highlighting how to choose and use outdoor equipment.
The Elk River Watershed Improvement Association is the CFM Water Conservationist of the Year. The citizen’s group promotes awareness and direct action to improve and protect streams in McDonald County. Among its projects are a two-day watershed festival that involves all the county’s fifth-graders and a Stream Dynamics for Landowners course about the importance of conserving stream-side forests.
Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc., is CFM’s Conservation Organization of the Year. The group is dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of ground and surface waters of the Table Rock watershed. The group received a $2 million grant from the EPA for a project that demonstrates how to maintain septic systems and other decentralized wastewater treatment systems.
John Dwyer, Columbia, received CFM’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his career as a commercial forest supervisor, a consulting forester and an associate professor in the University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Natural Resources.
Anyone can nominate candidates for Conservationist of the Year Awards. For more information, call 573/634-2322 or visit www.confedmo.org/.
-Jim Low-
Copyright ©2008 Conservation Commission of Missouri. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
