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Endangered insect gets second release on MDC prairie

Posted June 13, 2013 at 10:24 am

Scientists working to restore a unique and endangered insect to Missouri – the American burying beetle – got some good news recently. And for the second year they released captive-propagated beetles at the Wah’Kon-Tah Prairie, northeast of El Dorado Springs.

Crews checking insect traps near last year’s release site found a female American burying beetle that survived winter, said Bob Merz, who directs the recovery program for the insect at the Saint Louis Zoo. Merz and conservation partners released 302 additional pairs on Tuesday, June 4, to help restore a highly unusual insect.

“I was thrilled that we caught that one that had over wintered,” Merz said. “To find one tells me we picked a good site that has good habitat and the resources for them to survive.”

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    Ozark Empire Fair hay show entries due July 10

    A few farmers have been successful in putting up hay the last few days, but overall, the hay season in southwest Missouri is running late this year.

    It will be interesting to see what impact unusual weather this spring, including snow in May, had on area hay production according Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension.

    “The best way to analyze the weather factor is to test the hay. While you’re testing it you might as well enter it in the Ozark Empire Fair Hay

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    Attract wildlife to your lawn or garden

    You don’t have to drive to the country to enjoy viewing wildlife. A few simple additions and changes can make even a small backyard attractive to a greater variety of birds and other wildlife.

    “Wildlife have four basic requirements—food, cover, water and space,” said Bob Pierce, University of Missouri Extension wildlife specialist.

    You can help meet some of those requirements simply by putting out a birdbath, feeders and some nest boxes, but adding different types of native plants to your

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    Ghosts and birds

     

    The Lightnin’ Ridge I mention so often is the ridgetop where I live and work. It is suppose to be the highest point in this county. I have my home and office here and 20 acres of big mature trees of all species, which comprises this separate parcel of land since the 1850′s at least, according to the deed. There are deep ruts here on this ridgetop made by the cannons and wagons of union forces during the Civil War passing through here toward a crossing on the Pomme de Terre River a mile

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    Wet weather doesn’t stop catfish anglers

    Missouri is a great place to fish, even in the rain. A downpour didn’t stop David Johansen of Nevada on June 5. He reeled in a blue catfish topping two pounds while fishing from an old bridge over the Marmaton River north of Nevada.

    “The fish are wet, so why not us,” Johansen said. “In fact, any day I’m fishing is a great day.”

    Flooding poses problems, especially prolonged flooding that damages crops and wildlife habitat. But the

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    Cats, crappie biting

    Taberville Report

    By Linda McCallister

    Dains Fish Farm

    They have been doing good on blue cats on crawdads using rod and reel. We saw a 28 pounder, several like 10 and 18.

    The river is up in the parking lot, but they are still launching boats.

    The crappie have slowed down. We have some people fishing for them They caught several nice size crappie in the south lake at Schell – Osage about a week or

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    Wait for fall to reseed cool-season grass

    If you’re thinking of reseeding your lawn now that warm weather has arrived, think again.

    “If you look at the calendar, we’re in May. Any grass seedling will have to fight against weeds, disease and insects,” said Brad Fresenburg, a University of Missouri Extension turfgrass specialist. “The new grass seedlings will suffer and very likely not be successful.”

    Spring reseeding of cool-season grasses needs to occur in late February and early March. For many homeowners, that wasn’t possible this year because the ground was covered with snow, said

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    The last bass

    It was early October of 2010, and the first falling leaves were floating along the river beside us. Uncle Norten and I had enjoyed a great day of fishing. The bass had been hitting, and I marveled at how well he could cast and fish at his age of 87.

    He had begun to have trouble remembering how to get to the river, but he had no trouble remembering how to fish a spinner-bait, or bounce a jig

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    Deer hunting, then and now

    I remember what deer hunting was like back when I was a boy. I am utterly amazed at how it has changed. Some very good hunters regularly visited Dad’s pool hall where I worked as a kid. Most of them were rural people who knew all about deer and how they moved. At that time in the mid-60′s I would estimate the Ozarks of southern Missouri had about 10 to 20 percent as many deer as we have today. In those times, if I remember right, the season was only a few days and

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    Fish biting at night

    Lake Stockton Report

    by Michael Weis

    Stockton State Park Marina

    A couple of guys brought in a lot of crappie the last couple of nights. They said they were using lights.

    The crappie were keepers, but not much bigger than keepers.

    We have a few crappie beds throughout this area.

    People have been bringing in a steady amount of catfish. They are using perch on trotlines and jugs. The cats run up to 10 lbs. a couple of blues but mainly flatheads.

    Bluegill

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