Missouri Conservationist January 2020

2020·6.1 MB·English

by  Missouri Department of Conservation

MISSOURI
VOLUME 81, ISSUE 1, JANUARY 2020
SERVING NATURE & YOU
CONSERVATIONIST
INSPIRE
THE
CHILDREN

IN YOUR LIFE
TO OUTSIDE

GET
Looking for a way
to coax your kids to
unplug, climb off the
couch, and get outside?
Then check out Xplor,
the Conservation Department’s free magazine for kids and kids at heart.
Six times a year, Xplor serves up eye-popping art, photos, and stories about
Missouri’s coolest critters, niftiest natural places, and liveliest outdoor activities. The
magazine is free to Missouri residents (one subscription per household, please).
Out-of-state subscribers pay $5 per year; out-of-country subscribers pay $8.
Don’t keep the door closed any longer.
Subscribe online at mdc.mo.gov/xplor.
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
MISSOURI
CONSERVATIONIST
Contents
JANUARY 2020
VOLUME 81, ISSUE 1
10
ON THE COVER
Snow-covered sycamore
trees at Painted Rock
Conservation Area
: DAVID STONNER
120–300mm lens, f/5.6
1/500 sec, ISO 400
GOVERNOR
Michael L. Parson
THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
CHAIR Don C. Bedell
VICE CHAIR/SECRETARY
Wm. L. (Barry) Orscheln
MEMBER Steven D. Harrison
MEMBER Mark L. McHenry
DIRECTOR
Sara Parker Pauley
DEPUTY DIRECTORS
Mike Hubbard, Aaron Jeffries,
Jennifer Battson Warren
MAGAZINE STAFF
MAGAZINE MANAGER
Stephanie Thurber
EDITOR
Angie Daly Morfeld
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Larry Archer
FEATURES STAFF WRITERS
Bonnie Chasteen, Kristie Hilgedick,
Joe Jerek
10
ART DIRECTOR
Annual Review Cliff White
DESIGNERS
Serving Nature and You: Les Fortenberry, Marci Porter
Fiscal Year 2019. PHOTOGRAPHERS
Noppadol Paothong, David Stonner
CIRCULATION MANAGER
DEPARTMENTS
Laura Scheuler
mdc.mo.gov/conmag
2 Inbox
3 Up Front With
Sara Parker Pauley
4 Nature Lab
5 In Brief
28 Get Outside
28
30 Places To Go Download this
32 Wild Guide issue to your
phone or tablet at
33 Outdoor Calendar mdc.mo.gov/mocon.
Download for
Android
Inbox
Letters to the Editor MORE PRAISE FOR BIRDS OF PREY Wolf spider
Submissions reflect I received my November copy of the Missouri SPIDER FAN
readers’ opinions and Conservationist, and I enjoyed reading St. Louis: I was saddened by the negative comments about
may be edited for length Where Birds of Prey Abound [Page 18]. I had no idea the October 2019 issue cover. For me, the cover
and clarity. Email
St. Louis was a stopping point for so many beautiful was fascinating, and my young children and I
[email protected]
raptors. I will be sure to look for them! Thank you for purposefully went out to find wolf spiders that
or write to us:
your conservation efforts in Missouri. week, enjoying the newfound knowledge we had
MISSOURI
Jan Edmondson Wentzville read in your magazine [Little Wolves of Missouri,
CONSERVATIONIST
Page 11]. I smile when a big wolf spider crawls
PO BOX 180
JEFFERSON CITY, MO 65102 As a Missourian from Mokane, raised on fishing across the path on my homestead. I know they are
and hunting and then departing for a life in the helping keep down the population of critters that
Navy and elsewhere, I have followed the Missouri would otherwise try to decimate my garden. And
Conservationist vicariously through my parents. I have frankly, they are beautiful.
ST. LOUIS: WHERE followed Danny Brown and Noppadol Paothong’s work Wren Everett via email
Birds of Prey in your magazine for years. They both do spectacular
ABOUND work, and Danny’s shots in the Birds of Prey article in CAREER GOALS
the November issue blew me away. Their work is what I have been reading the Missouri Conservationist
CPFORITORYV OPIDABERS KEGRSRV AEINNATGD O BNPIERPIDGOSHR OBTUOF NRPHIRTEOIEYOS DS gets photographers out at all hours and all kinds of for over 50 years. It was partially responsible for my
story and photographs by Danny Brown
weather to show everyone the wonders of nature. choice of professions.
James Davis via email My father ran a small newspaper, Richland
Mirror, and received a copy of the Conservationist.
WE ARE ALL CONSERVATION He brought it home to me each month. I read and
I love how your magazine introduces us to people enjoyed it tremendously, and it caused me to get
who truly live the conservation lifestyle in We Are interested in wildlife conservation. I received three
1188 MMiissssoouurrii CCoonnsseerrvvaattiioonniisstt || NNoovveemmbbeerr 22001199
Conservation. God bless them! I live in a suburban degrees in biology at the University of Missouri,
BIRDS OF PREY area, but it’s amazing how I can do small things that taught biology at two universities, and joined the
Wonderful, page help Missouri retain its native fauna/flora species. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where I managed
after page of Kathleen Albin via email research centers for the Interior Department and the
amazing pictures wildlife research work of several universities.
and great close- BEAVER PROBLEM Now I am retired, and I still read the
ups [November, I would like to give a big thank you to conservation Conservationist and enjoy it the same as always!
Page 18]. Thank staff, Todd Meese and Joe DeBold, for taking care Congrats on such a high-quality publication.
you! I couldn’t have of a problem I had with beaver in my lake. They Dr. W. Reid Goforth via email
enjoyed it more, were top notch and helped me out so much. I have
and I will keep this learned a lot about beavers and how destructive they THANKS FOR THE INFO
month’s issue to can be from Todd and Joe since this issue started. I I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate your
look at many times. greatly appreciate their assistance and the time they magazine, especially the format. It has been very
MSt.. LHoaurdisie took working with me. Bob Austin Lincoln informative for me. Bosco Westrich via email JIM RATHERT
Conservation Headquarters Have a
Connect With Us!
573-751-4115 | PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180 Question for a
Commissioner?
/moconservation Regional Offices
Send a note using
@moconservation Southeast/Cape Girardeau: 573-290-5730 Southwest/Springfield: 417-895-6880 our online
Central/Columbia: 573-815-7900 Northwest/St. Joseph: 816-271-3100 contact form at
@MDC_online Kansas City: 816-622-0900 St. Louis: 636-441-4554 mdc.mo.gov/
Northeast/Kirksville: 660-785-2420 Ozark/West Plains: 417-256-7161 commissioners.
2 Missouri Conservationist | January 2020
Up
Want to see your photos
in the Missouri Conservationist? Front
Share your photos on Flickr at
flickr.com/groups/mdcreaderphotos-2020,
email [email protected],
or include the hashtag #mdcdiscovernature
on your Instagram photos.
with Sara Parker Pauley
_ It’s typically at year’s end that I find myself taking stock,
as the saying goes. This time, it began at Thanksgiving, my
favorite holiday because extended family gathers from miles
and states away. We laugh, eat too much, retell family stories,
and celebrate family with all its imperfections. This particular
one was bittersweet because just a few months prior, we lost
my cousin, Paul, whose humor I adored and courage I admired.
After decades of fighting COPD, he’d lost the battle, but had
1 left a legacy worthy of a well-lived life — his beautiful wife
and three daughters and their families. One daughter brought
a framed picture of her father’s favorite sayings. The print read:
1 | Ozark witch- 2
Follow Your Dreams; Keep Asking Big Questions; Make Every
hazel by Kathy
Duncan, via Flickr Day Count; and Always Make Good Choices.
His maxims made me reflect on this past year at the depart-
2 | Ice fishing
at Busch CA by ment and how we had been asking and answering big ques-
sunshine.girl90, tions about the future of conservation in Missouri, including
via Instagram
whether our organization was as prepared as it could be to
3 | Champion accomplish its mission. To ensure we were making every day
bur oak tree and dollar count, we reassessed priorities and realigned the
by Harold
organization to better deliver on those priorities. This rigor-
Ostergaard,
via email ous self-review and subsequent readjustments have not been
easy. Change never is. There is still much work ahead this com-
ing year to fully implement our new roadmap, but we’ve taken
3
stock, made tough decisions, and we’re ready to hit the ground
running in 2020.
SARA PARKER PAULEY, DIRECTOR
[email protected]
The Missouri Conservationist (ISSN 0026-6515) is the official monthly publication of the Missouri
Department of Conservation, 2901 West Truman Boulevard, Jefferson City, MO (Mailing address: PO
Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102.) SUBSCRIPTIONS: Visit mdc.mo.gov/conmag, or call 573-522-
MISSOURI CONSERVATION COMMISSIONERS 4115, ext. 3856 or 3249. Free to adult Missouri residents (one per household); out of state $7 per year;
out of country $10 per year. Notification of address change must include both old and new address
(send mailing label with the subscriber number on it) with 60-day notice. Preferred periodical postage
paid at Jefferson City, Missouri, and at additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send correspondence
to Circulation, PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180. Phone: [phone], ext. 3856 or 3249.
Copyright © 2019 by the Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri.
Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from programs of the Missouri Department of Conserva-
tion is available to all individuals without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry,
age, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability. Questions should be directed to the Department of
Don Steven Mark Barry Conservation, PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102, 573-751-4115 (voice) or 800-735-2966 (TTY), or
to Chief, Public Civil Rights, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW,
Bedell Harrison McHenry Orscheln Washington, D.C. 20240.
Printed with soy ink
mdc.mo.gov 3
Nature
L A B
by Bonnie
Chasteen
Each month, we highlight research
MDC uses to improve fish, forest,
and wildlife management.
QUAIL MANAGEMENT Early results show that winter
survival is higher where quail
Winter Survival Study have native grass cover with
woody shrubs nearby.
_ What kind of management and resulting cover
help bobwhite quail evade hungry predators and
survive winter’s bitter weather? Extensive describes large tracts of native grasslands
Research partners, including University of Missouri and prairies interspersed with shrubs and managed
graduate research assistant Alisha Mosloff, University with periodic grazing and fire.
of Missouri Assistant Professor Mitch Weegman, MDC “We’re looking to contrast these two management
Effort
Resource Scientist Tom Thompson, and U. S. Forest practices to see which might lead to higher survival
yields
Service Research Wildlife Biologist Frank Thompson, during the winter,” Mosloff said.
insights
are working to answer this and other questions about She and the research crew collared and radio-
quail survival throughout the year. into tracked quail on the same five sites, three extensive
Thompson said that looking at only one specific habitat and two intensive, in 2017 and 2018. The crew also col-
period has limited research in the past. “Getting that use as lected data on the kinds and amounts of vegetation on
full life-cycle picture of how quail populations are doing part of each of the study sites in 2018.
throughout the whole year will really help,” he said. a larger In addition to comparing the effects of traditional
Mosloff and partners focused their winter study life-cycle versus prairie-management practices on quail winter
on intensive versus extensive landscapes in south- survival, the partners can also compare winter versus
study
west Missouri. “Intensive is more the traditional type summer survival. “These two studies have been con-
of management,” Mosloff said. “For example, working ducted in tandem,” Weegman said.
on smaller blocks of less than 40 acres interspersed “We’re finally getting into what quail need through-
with small food plots, grass strips, and cover habitat.” out the full year,” Mosloff added.
Quail Winter Survival Preliminary Results
Adults have higher survival (82%)
at a Glance than hatch-year birds (67%)
Dade County
Survival is higher on landscapes that
Methods have heavy woody components
Researchers captured adult and Native grass improves survival
hatch-year quail using funnel traps during if there is enough shrubby cover
October 2017 and 2018 on three traditionally
Prescribed burning within the
managed conservation areas and two prairie- NG
dominated conservation areas last 2 years decreases survival OTHO
• 2017: Caught 136, Radio-tagged 101 OL PA
• 2018: Caught 158, Radio-tagged 119 OPPAD
N
•• w T Croealeclekkce, tNde odtav g. 1g–eJda nb.i r3d1s three times per RMCoeisnsssoeeuarrvria cDthieo pnPa, arUtrnmtinveenertsr oistfy of Missouri HERT; RESEARCH:
vdeagtae tina t2iv0e1 8 CNoaltluergael Roef sAogurricceuslt, uUr.eS,. FFoooreds &t Service QUAIL: JIM RAT
4 Missouri Conservationist | January 2020
In Brief
News and updates from MDC
APPLY FOR  Missouri youth, archery, and firearms turkey hunters can apply online
for 2020 spring turkey managed hunts starting Feb. 1 at mdc.mo.gov/
SPRING
springturkeyhunts. Managed hunt details and application procedures are
MANAGED outlined on the webpage. Drawing results will be posted starting March 15.
Spring turkey hunting youth weekend is April 4 and 5 with the regular spring
TURKEY HUNTS
season running April 20 through May 10.
Detailed information on spring turkey hunting will be available in the 2020
ONLINE APPLICATIONS
Spring Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where
BEGIN FEB. 1
permits are sold beginning in February. To learn more about turkey hunting in
Missouri, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3h.
Buy Missouri hunting permits from numerous vendors around the state,
NNER online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, or through the MDC free mobile app —
DAVID STO MorO th He uAnptipn gS t—or ea vfaoirl aAbplep lfeo rd deoviwcenslo.ad through Google Play for Android devices
mdc.mo.gov 5
In Brief
Ask MDC
Got a Question for Ask MDC?
Send it to [email protected]
or call 573-522-4115, ext. 3848.
Q: I noticed a blue jay fill his
mouth with sunflower seeds
without shelling them. Does
he eat the shells? Or does he
crack them somewhere else?
 The blue jay may eat an entire Skipjack herring
sunflower seed every now and
then, but it’s more likely it was Q: I’ve heard skipjack herring
storing the food in a cache for make good catfish bait. Can you
later. Each individual adult eats or tell me more about this fish?
caches several thousand acorns,  Named because they tend to
hickory nuts, or other hard mast “skip” or leap out of the water in
every autumn. This species is also pursuit of minnows, skipjack herring
GIVE A HOLIDAY GIFT BACK capable of holding seeds in their (Alosa chrysochloris) are highly
TO NATURE “crop,” an expandable pouch in migratory and travel in large schools.
MDC’s Forestry Division reminds you not to their esophagus used to transport A native fish, they occur in our
throw that cut Christmas tree into the trash and store excess food prior to state’s largest rivers, including
after the holidays. Recycle it! Many com- digestion. the Missouri, Osage, Meramec,
munities have a Christmas tree-recycling Blue jays also hold seeds and Mississippi rivers. They are
program. If not, there are several creative between their toes and hammer most common in the Bootheel,
ways to make use of your tree in nature. on them with their beaks to extract downstream from the mouth of the
Place the tree in the backyard to offer the nut meats. Typically, perching Ohio River.
cover for wildlife, or under bird feeders to birds — like the jay — can’t break Scientists do not know exactly
provide roosting locations in the branches. down seed hulls as effectively when and where this species
Add some post-holiday treats as orna- as birds with more spawns, but they believe it begins
ments by coating pinecones with peanut muscular gizzards, such in early May and ends soon after
bfdlotpMwbb8aoori oullintaof urgtretei hceclamHYotmetneek noifnetap hrasru iutf ivwc nlaoafeldae eocnt nnmicn u rtrhtapcdydherdtra,eensol ss i atat. noes,ut thf nAd,aifesrgir neast l ndn rm spskth m citetr ao nl rthheatsasihoe ghleoekt scy eat, epei re , hbsbns awm rta tehiihkoncphrnti ru d venadlnedaetai tt ht etdt dsc b.ener beeeeeaedseTerdde r erc esiatdaeadgl astrd eine e enbpn.hcw spcseooie bd tahi ftv r to gah opi heetrnrcli ofro srlsvoh c .e i wesaotfniodaoo p n.savdfap puiccwbetdsooreo-rohoe nm drurt sde akt-. asq tuuarikl.eys, grouse, and uJtBrrmeinheuuxsa aeanelpflgySkdm dean ikesi1 vrl eis —yii.poie s ln lAtj rc nshati,eDna e eccewgiu laertkmdtorhhgmdhsuooe i he cpaa,madr t h rfiwt snc naeteb pwsaghuihled yshiltbolsivewa .efif’ew aseuotrcTrs edn egcnshcohho g. h uyhy tieatrlahla rot yeysatra nel h tlernfllsfedaoisoeorn dern, coy otecsa sgwus lpka thdaa entth nba c.rrf o iieow aefksTcbot crilhh nno ert ei gw n g MAS TREE: CLIFF WHITE; BLUE JAY: JIM RATHERT; SKIPJACK HERRING: LANCE MERRY; N RED BAT: KARLI DILTS; WHAT IS IT CLUE: © DEEPSPACEDAVE | DREAMSTIME.COM
If you used a balled live evergreen and bait — on juglines and trotlines. CHRISTEASTER
your ground is still soft enough to dig,
Blue jay
add it to your home landscape for years
of enjoyment and wildlife cover.
6 Missouri Conservationist | January 2020
Parker Rice
BUCHANAN COUNTY
CONSERVATION AGENT
offers this month’s
Eastern red bat AGENT
Q: I recently noticed an
ADVICE
eastern red bat flying in their migration pattern. Some bats
January. Is this normal? migrate to Missouri from northern
 Yes. On sunny winter days when states; others are Missouri bats
temperatures rise above 50 degrees, overwintering in place. They tend to
At the beginning of the new
it’s not unusual to see eastern red spend the winter in sheltered spots
bats (Lasiurus borealis) awake and like clusters of dead leaves, tree year, people often take stock
feeding on whatever flying insects cavities, or under bark. of everything from their
are available. Since this species is adapted
health to their finances. Why
Many eastern red bats migrate to survive drastic temperature
not add your land to that list?
southward, beginning in September fluctuations, very few use caves. A
and continuing until November. few eastern red bats might swarm January is the time to contact
Although most of the migration at the mouths of certain caves in your local private land
occurs at night, sometimes small autumn and mingle with other bat
conservationist and wildlife
numbers may travel together in species, but they generally do not
or fisheries biologist to start
the daytime. Little is known of hibernate in them.
planning for your land for
the year ahead. Whether
you want to grow your quail
population, create a pollinator
plot, build a pond, or attract
more deer, these folks will
come out for free and offer
What
their expertise. Some projects
you can do immediately,
IS it?
like building brush piles for
small game. Other projects,
Can you
guess this like ordering saplings and
month’s natives for long-term growth,
natural
may take more time. Contact
wonder?
your local conservation agent
The answer is on
(short.mdc.mo.gov/ZoF),
Page 9.
and he or she will direct you
to the right resource.
mdc.mo.gov 7
In Brief
CONSERVATION Spotlight on
WWEE AARREE people and partners
by Madi Nolte
Under his wing
Omar Jawdat
“I have kind of taken Jawdat under my wing and even
invited him out to hunt with me,” Worley said. ”And
 Jawdat, an Iraqi immigrant and neurology professor at now, he is definitely a waterfowl hunter. He’s hooked.”
the University of Kansas, first showed interest in waterfowl
hunting at a public duck-calling program at Anita B. In his own words
Gorman Conservation Discovery Center. It was there he “If someone has an interest, there is always a
met former MDC Education Specialist James Worley, way,” Jawdat said. “Hopefully there will always be
who became a mentor for this adult-onset waterfowl programs like these so people can get the right
hunter. In the past two seasons, Jawdat has hunted almost education and become conservation aware, and
every weekend and has even begun teaching others. hopefully pass that on to their friends and family.”
James
Worley (left)
mentors
Omar Jawdat
on his first
duck hunt.
What’s your conservation superpower? : by David Stonner
8 Missouri Conservationist | January 2020