Missouri Conservationist September 2021

2021·6.6 MB·English

by  Missouri Department of Conservation

MISSOURI
VOLUME 82, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2021
SERVING NATURE & YOU
CONSERVATIONIST
Fishing
is a great way to spend
time with family and
friends and create memories that last
a lifetime. All you need is a pole and
a permit. No matter where you live in
Missouri, a fishing trip is close to home.
Finding places to fish is easy with
the free mobile app — MO Fishing.
Download for
Android

Discover
catfish tacos
with fresh-tomato salsa
Makes 4 to 6 tacos
1 pound catfish fillets
ature 2 garlic cloves, minced
N
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and coarsely ground pepper
4 to 6 6-inch corn tortillas
2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
1 avocado, cubed
¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
Place fish on lightly oiled, rimmed baking
sheet. Mix garlic and lime juice and
drizzle mixture over fish. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper. Let stand 15 minutes.
Broil fish in oven (you also may grill it)
until opaque in center, 6 to 8 minutes.
While fish is cooking, warm tortillas
directly on a burner over lowest heat,
turning once, until heated through.
Watch carefully; the first side needs
only 20 seconds or so, and the second
side even less time. Alternatively,
you may heat tortillas in a pan. Keep
them warm in a tortilla basket lined
with a cloth towel or napkin.
Cut fish into 1-inch pieces. Top
each tortilla with lettuce, then
fish. Drizzle with salsa and top
with avocado and cheese. Serve
with your favorite local ale.
Find more wild recipes in
Cooking Wild in Missouri, available
at most MDC nature centers.
To order, call toll-free 877-521-8632.
MISSOURI
CONSERVATIONIST
Contents
SEPTEMBER 2021
VOLUME 82, ISSUE 9
17
ON THE COVER
Northern bobwhite
: NOPPADOL PAOTHONG
500mm lens +2.0 teleconverter
f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO 400
GOVERNOR
Michael L. Parson
10
THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
CHAIR Wm. L. (Barry) Orscheln
VICE CHAIR Mark L. McHenry
SECRETARY Steven D. Harrison
MEMBER Margaret F. Eckelkamp
DIRECTOR
Sara Parker Pauley
DEPUTY DIRECTORS
Mike Hubbard, Aaron Jeffries,
22 Jennifer Battson Warren
MAGAZINE STAFF
MAGAZINE MANAGER
Stephanie Thurber
FEATURES
EDITOR
Angie Daly Morfeld
10
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The Scat Detective Larry Archer
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Wildlife damage biologist Cliff White
helps homeowners identify STAFF WRITERS
Bonnie Chasteen, Kristie Hilgedick,
mystery visitors.
Joe Jerek
by Tom Meister DESIGNERS
Shawn Carey, Marci Porter
17 PHOTOGRAPHERS
Noppadol Paothong, David Stonner
Beyond the Classroom
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Nature-based kindergarten takes Laura Scheuler
learning outside. mdc.mo.gov/conmag
by David Catlin
DEPARTMENTS
22
Bobwhites, Beef, 2 Inbox
and Bees 3 Up Front With Sara Parker Pauley
Missouri’s quail restoration 4 Nature Lab
landscapes.
5 In Brief
by Dave Hoover
28 Get Outside Download this
issue to your
SPECIAL INSERT 30 Places To Go phone or tablet at
mdc.mo.gov/mocon.
2021–2022 32 Wild Guide
Seedling Order Form 33 Outdoor Calendar Persimmons ADownndloardo foird
Inbox
MISSOURI’S LEAST WANTED
Letters to the Editor When I understood how bad Callery pear trees are
Submissions reflect for our area, I scheduled to have mine removed.
readers’ opinions and Then I saw Missouri’s Least Wanted [Page 8] in the
may be edited for length April issue. I laminated it and posted it by the tree
and clarity. Email
for a few weeks before it was cut down. People
[email protected]
stopped, read it, and asked me about it, wanting to
or write to us:
know what I was going to plant instead (a lovely little
MISSOURI
serviceberry). I know of at least one neighbor who
CONSERVATIONIST
decided to get rid of their tree as well. And others
PO BOX 180
JEFFERSON CITY, MO 65102 are working on their bush honeysuckle removal now.
I’m so glad I did that rather than just chopping it
down, leaving people to wonder why I got rid of that
big blooming tree. Thanks so much for helping me
educate my neighbors.
Sarah Whitney via email
To learn more about Callery pear trees, bush
honeysuckle, or other invasive and nuisance species
and what you can do to help stop their spread, visit
short.mdc.mo.gov/ZjU. —the editors
LOYAL READERS START ‘EM YOUNG
My parents lived in Missouri since 1998 and My granddaughter loves the outdoors and all critters.
PICK AN ADVENTURE received the Missouri Conservationist for many years. She receives Xplor and enjoys it with her sister and
I just finished They shared their copy with me, a state away, once brother. Thanks for making a magazine for them so
reading the July they had read it. It’s one of the few magazines I still they can learn about nature and how to respect it.
Conservationist take the time to sit down and read. Sheri Dawkins Ludlow
and wanted to I appreciate it for being a conservation magazine
tell you how that includes hunting as one of the things covered, To learn more about Xplor magazine or to subscribe,
much I enjoyed just not the main thing. It gives a much more visit mdc.mo.gov/xplor. —the editors
Pick an Outdoor rounded approach to Missouri’s nature resources.
Adventure. It was Due to advancing age, my dad has moved to LOVE FOR MISSOURI
wonderful. I feel Kansas to live with us, but one of the things he I didn’t grow up in Missouri, but now have lived
like I truly had an insisted on is that he still receive his monthly copy here 17 years. I’m genuinely impressed with the
adventure and of the Missouri Conservationist. I explained he would state and honored to call it home. You are part of its
never left my have to pay for it now, but that wasn’t an issue; he greatness. Your bulletins, magazines, educational
home. still wanted to receive it. programming, everything is phenomenal! Thank WKINS
DA
Hazel Bledsoe We will both be happy to continue receiving your you for all you do to guard and care for our state’s HERI
California great magazine. Dave Fairchild Shawnee, Kansas abundant natural resources anLdi ebsel aMuctDy.owell St. Louis OURTESY S
C
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 | September 2021
Up
Want to see your photos
in the Missouri Conservationist? Front
Share your photos on Flickr at
flickr.com/groups/mdcreaderphotos-2021,
email [email protected],
or include the hashtag #mdcDiscoverNature
on your Instagram photos.
with Sara Parker Pauley
_ I was utterly depressed as my husband and I drove home
after a week of meetings in the West. We thought we’d return
through the Rockies for a view of scenic vistas, but our timing
coincided with a thick fog from California wildfires, and we
could barely see the mountains. The trip also coincided with
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest
report, which relayed even greater doom, about the fate of our
planet due to intensifying impacts of climate change.
1 Someone once suggested I take a more serious tone in my
Upfront column — to lay out the cold-hard reality about the
state of conservation. There is no doubt we have challenges
2
before us, including increasing impacts from climate change,
1 | Jack-o’-lantern
mushrooms by loss of habitat and species, and even 12,000 species identified
by M. Cornine, in this country as rare or in decline. But I also choose to find
via email
hope even in the darkest hours. Here in Missouri, there are
2 | Turkey vulture signs of hope everywhere. We see promising restoration efforts
by Michael
like elk, ruffed grouse, and our newly reintroduced brown-
Woods, via Flickr
headed nuthatch (see quail restoration article on Page 22). We
3 | Viceroy by also see partners doing their part to steward our resources
tree-razzo,
every day.
via Flickr
We have much to be thankful for in Missouri where support
for conservation remains strong. I smiled as we crossed the
state line back into the Show-Me State. The haze had lifted. It
3
was good to be home.
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 © 2021 by the Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri.
HY
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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.
NATIVE BEE MANAGEMENT
Impacts of
Neonicotinoids
The study found that many common ground-nesting bees like this
large sweat bee (Agapostemon sp.) declined in fields planted with
_ When headlines warn of pollinator losses, many
neonicotinoid-treated crop seeds.
people think of declining European honeybees. But
Missouri is home to around 450 species of native bees
that also provide essential pollination services for neonicotinoid active ingredient known as imidaclo-
food crops and native wildflowers. prid, or previously treated. During both years, the
In the last 20 years, farmers have turned to neo- team collected wild bees from the study’s field mar-
nicotinoids — a relatively new class of pesticides that gins monthly from May to September. They also col-
mimic nicotine and are highly toxic to insects — to lected soil and flowers from fields and field margins.
Study yielded
enhance crop production and control pests. Scientists Analysis showed that insecticide presence in
important
have grown concerned that neonicotinoid residues soils and flowers varied over the study and that wild
information
could harm wild bee communities. bee abundance and species richness were not signifi-
Starting in 2017, a team of researchers, includ- for wildlife cantly different among field treatments.
ing scientists from MDC, the University of Missouri area However, neonicotinoid presence in field soils
(MU), and the U.S. Geological Survey Missouri Co-op management was associated with significantly lower richness in
Unit, conducted a two-year field study to assess ground- and above-ground-nesting wild bees.
whether neonicotinoid seed treatments influenced “As 70 percent of wild bees nest in the ground
wild bee abundance and richness. and are valued pollinators, it is critical that we con-
In 2017 and 2018, the team, led by Anson Main of serve our native bee populations,” Main said.
MU’s School of Natural Resources, planted 23 Missouri The study concluded that eliminating neonic-
agricultural fields of soybeans using one of three seed otinoid use on wildlife management areas may help
treatments: untreated (no insecticide), treated with a sustain viable, diverse wild bee populations.
Neonicotinoids and Wild Bees
Field soil
at a Glance
MStaurdgyin fi fleoldw cerrosp flowers Neonicotinoids? + Detections Nesters Richness H•• NtFoIrinGeee aolwHdtnei litLddcreo IabatGnietnmdeHo peaidTbnrsetSu vwhniaodeduare snn lcdyoe e ts rotieegrac nrttiieecfihddcn aifinene st3l sde9.sf%f.e cotf OTHONG; OTHERS: ANSON MAIN
• Reduced species richness of wild bee guilds OL PA
• iSne fieedl-dtrse watimthe nneto innsiceocttiincoididess mpraeys ennetg.atively NOPPAD
Margin soil Diet generalists impact bee community conservation. WEAT BEE:
S
4 Missouri Conservationist | September 2021 Learn more at short.mdc.mo.gov/Zso
In Brief
News and updates from MDC
FALL MANAGED
 The pre-season reservation period for MDC managed waterfowl hunts will
WATERFOWL run Sept. 1–18 with results posted Oct. 1. The in-season weekly drawings will
take place on Monday afternoons with a seven-day application period that
RESERVATIONS opens the Tuesday before and closes the Monday of the draw at 3 p.m.
Missouri residents and qualifying nonresidents, such as students from out
OPEN SEPT. 1
of state or members of the military stationed in Missouri, can apply online for a
reservation to guarantee an opportunity to hunt on a specific day on a specific
MDC OFFERS MANAGED
area. Residents and nonresidents can also arrive at a managed waterfowl
WATERFOWL HUNTING
ON MORE THAN A hunting area the morning they wish to hunt and wait in line for the possibility of
DOZEN CONSERVATION getting a hunting spot.
AREAS, SPECIALLY Applicants for waterfowl reservations must have their required permits to
MANAGED WITH A apply, and their Federal Duck Stamp to hunt.
NNER FOCUS ON WETLANDS MDC also offers waterfowl hunting opportunities on other conservation
DAVID STO apruebalsic. Iann add pdritivioante, Mloicsasotiourni so affreorusn wda ttheerf sotwatl eh.unting opportuncitoientsin aute ndu omn Peargoeu 6s »
mdc.mo.gov 5
In Brief
MANAGED WATERFOWL Ask MDC
HUNTING
(continued from Page 5)
For this fall, the waterfowl reservation system will offer Got a Question for Ask MDC?
50 percent of daily hunting positions for the managed-
Send it to [email protected]
hunt areas through online reservations. Of the 50 percent or call 573-522-4115, ext. 3848.
of spots allotted through online reservations, half will be
for pre-season applications and half will be allocated dur-
ing a weekly in-season application period. The remaining
50 percent of spots will be held for hunters who partici- Q: A single bat has been
pate in the daily morning drawing and wait in the “poor living in the screened porch
line” for the possibility of getting a hunting spot. of our cabin. We have a bat
“Under this reservation system, if an area offers 20 shelter nearby, but the bat
daily hunting positions, five will be allocated through doesn’t seem to be using it.
pre-season reservations and five through in-season Before we close the gaps
reservations,” explained Joel Porath, who coordinates near the roof, how can
managed waterfowl hunts for MDC. “The remaining 10 we provide an alternative
positions will be allocated to hunters from the poor line shelter and relocate the
the morning of each hunt.” bat without harming it?
Successful pre-season and in-season reservation  People commonly encounter
applicants will be notified after their respective draws single bats during late August
via email or text message with their hunt date, location, and early September. This is
and pill assignment. “Pills” designate the order hunting likely a combination of two
parties select their hunting locations on the area. The factors: juvenile individuals
lower the number, the sooner hunting parties get to starting to explore the
select their hunting location. landscape and the general Big brown bat
“This will let reservation holders know before they bat population entering its
leave their homes if their randomly generated number transition period into winter.
will enable them to be one of the first, middle, or last In terms of best practices, Q: What kind of spider
parties to pick their hunting location,” said Porath. conservationists ask people is this, and what is
Only one member from each hunting party will be to be patient during this time the purpose of the
allowed to have a staff member pull a pill for their respec- of year and wait three to four zigzag pattern?
tive party. Residents and nonresidents can hunt with a weeks before doing anything.  This is a female black-and-
reservation holder, but hunting parties are limited to a These small mammals are yellow garden spider (Argiope
maximum of four people. not looking for permanent aurantia).
Hunters with disabilities can apply to use ADA hunt- residences at this time, and The zigzag design, called a
ing blinds through the online reservation system dur- so there shouldn’t be a large stabilimentum, helps reinforce
ing the same timeframe as the pre-season application concern about one or two bats the web. Females make
period. ADA blinds that are not selected and allocated showing up. The issue should vertical zigzag bands above
during the pre-season drawing will be placed in the resolve itself in a short period and below the middle of the
weekly in-season draws. of time. web; juveniles make circular
“As with last season, MDC is prepared to use COVID- Sometimes, individual stabilimenta in the center. The
OST
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W
For more information, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/Zj5 or bats-in-homes-buildings. When prey are caught, the BRO
get a copy of the Migratory Bird and Waterfowl Hunting
Digest 2021–2022, available online and where permits
are sold.
6 Missouri Conservationist | September 2021
Corporal
Marc Bagley
CARROLL COUNTY
CONSERVATION AGENT
offers this month’s
AGENT
Black-and-yellow garden spider ADVICE
spider may undulate or vibrate the
web to further ensnare its victims. often build smaller zigzag webs
Large flocks of blue-winged
This species has a large range — nearby. Webs tend to be rebuilt
it can be found from Canada to in the same place throughout the teal are among the earliest
Costa Rica and throughout most of summer. Each night the spider ducks to migrate south during
the temperate United States. eats the web’s circular interior and
fall, flying in during wet, cool
Missourians are most likely to rebuilds it the next morning.
fronts. If you are hunting
see this spider in the late summer Appreciated by gardeners,
and fall, when large females these spiders eat a variety of insect during teal season, Sept. 11–26,
construct magnificent webs in pests. They are not aggressive. scouting is key. Get out and
gardens, fields, along the eaves of If handled, a spider might be
seek places you might find
houses, outbuildings, or anywhere goaded to defend itself, but its
birds. Teal are opportunistic
they can anchor a thread. Males bite is similar to a bee sting.
waterbirds that land wherever
they can find water. Three
things to remember before
hunting this season. First,
don’t shoot too early. Shoot
time is at sunrise. Second,
be sure of your bird ID. Teal
What
are often confused with
shovelnose, pintails, and wood
IS it?
ducks. Third, you must have a
Small Game Hunting Permit,
Can you
guess this a Migratory Bird Hunting
month’s Permit, and a Federal Duck
natural
Stamp. For more information,
wonder?
refer to the Migratory Bird
The answer is on
and Waterfowl Hunting
Page 9.
Digest 2020–2021 at
short.mdc.mo.gov/ZVp.
mdc.mo.gov 7
In Brief
CONSERVATION Spotlight on
WWWEEE AAARRREEE people and partners
by Angie Daly Morfeld
Kansas City
Deer management
Parks & The Hodge hunt has proven to be popular. “Participation 2017 hunters of Hodge Park
continues to rise each year,” said Joe DeBold, wildlife
Front row (L to R): Lindsay
Recreation damage biologist for MDC’s Kansas City and Northwest Morerod, Jessica Hamilton,
regions. “In 2016, there were five women participants Ellen Robson, Julie Griggs,
and by 2020, it had grown to 23. As a result, 22 deer Kris O’Leary, Jaci Newman
 In 2016, Kansas City Parks have been harvested.” In addition to Hodge, hunts are Back row (L to R): Erica
& Recreation partnered hosted at five other Kansas City parks, in partnership with Roelofsz, Krista Rettig,
with MDC to initiate the MDC, to successfully control the urban deer population. Kristy Hand, Michaela
first-ever women’s managed Schildnecht, Cherie Murphy,
archery deer hunt in In her own words Maren Hansen
Missouri. Located at Hodge “It’s been incredibly successful,” said Jaci Newman, one Not pictured: Emily
Park, the hunt successfully of the first women to start the Hodge Park hunt. “It’s Murdock, Vicki Kilgore,
merged two objectives — empowering to hunt on your own, and it’s cool to see Katie Flynn
managing the urban deer women get in there and do their thing.”
population and introducing
women to outdoor skills. : by Bill Graham
What’s your conservation superpower?
8 Missouri Conservationist | September 2021