Radio ads target emerald ash borer

Public Service Announcements help the Missouri Department of Conservation spread the word about important issues and programs to state residents by radio, television and the web. These might include safety messages, program or event news as well as information for fish, forest and wildlife health. This fall begins a continuing focus on the emerald ash borer beetle.

The emerald ash borer is a small green metallic beetle that comes from Asia. It has destroyed millions of ash trees across the country and can have the same devastating impact in Missouri. It has already been found in Wayne County which is currently under quarantine.

The emerald ash borer beetle hides in firewood and is spread as unsuspecting campers and hunters travel around the state with firewood. These messages will help get the word out to Missourians to buy all firewood locally, where it’s going to be used and to burn what is bought, to halt the spread of this deadly hitchhiker.

Following this link will take you to the forestry web page where the messages can be played and downloaded and you can learn more about how to protect our ash trees and share this important message with others. To save our ash trees we will need everyone’s help.

Also on this page are videos that help identify ash trees and symptoms of emerald ash borer infestation. For entertaining yet informative videos for this problem visit this site.

We appreciate the radio and television stations in our state for airing conservation messages that help our residents protect our natural resources whether in their backyards or cities, forests, farms, rivers and other wild places.

Hunting Trails newsletter available

The quarterly Hunting Trails - Cartridges & Arrows newsletter is available. Anyone can download this document.

In this issue, look for a number of stories and anecdotes from MDC Hunter Education and Range Coordinator Tony Legg and a crew of regional specialists. Stories include "CSI in the wild," "Hunters, meat processors can reduce lead risk" and "A cold day in Schnell."

Readers also will find updates about various shooting ranges across the state.

Also, here are past versions of the newsletter:
Third quarter, 2008.
Second quarter, 2008.

Follow the Deer and Turkey Harvest - New Telecheck Summaries

Do you want to know how many deer were taken in your county ? Are you interested in checking the harvest for the upcoming youth season or following the number of bucks taken by bowhunters in your area?

Hunters can now keep tabs on the deer and turkey harvest by county, season and animal type. Harvest data are updated every 3-4 hours. An interactive map lets you scroll over the counties and see total deer and turkey harvest. A link also lets you view the harvest by season and animal type - for example for the archery deer season you can look at buck, doe and button buck harvest by county.

Diverse coalition to tackle invasive carp problem

Much like the zebra mussel, Asian carp are a menacing invasive species with the potential to do much harm to Missouri's ecosystems.

To combat this threat, the Missouri Department of Conservation is working jointly with U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the University of Missouri.

The Missouri Asian Carp Working Group aims to identify measures to scale back or eliminate the populations of silver and bighead carp that are plaguing the state's waterways. The carp typically weigh 25-40 pounds and jump as high as 10 feet out of the water when boats pass by. See this dramatic video to get an idea of the problem. The largest caught in the Missouri river weighed 80 pounds.

"These exotic species are experiencing a population explosion," said Craig Gemming, Fisheries Management Biologist at MDC. "During recent studies conducted by USGS, it was not unusual for them to set gill nets in the Missouri river for only a 10 minute period and pull up their nets with over 2,000 lbs of Asian carp."

During this targeted sampling, which concentrated carp species into one area, Gemming said the typical net sample would be constituted by 66% carp, and those fish would represent 90% of the weight, or biomass, of the nets being used.

Extremely competitive with other filter-feeders, by extension carp compete with all other fish in the food chain, reducing available foodstocks.

Gemming said the public can help by:

1.) Educating themselves about these exotic species. Learn how to identify the Asian carp found in Missouri such as silver, bighead, grass and common carp.

2.) Fishing for and harvesting all Asian carp which are caught. Asian carp are good to eat and they have been raised for food in Asia for many years. In fact, silver and bighead carp are considered a delicacy in Asia. One of the Asian Carp Working Group committee members has developed several excellent recipes for Asian carp and the committee may develop a video on how to cook these fish to promote them as a food source.

3.) Never releasing live fish from one body of water into another. This includes bait fish or any other fish. See this youtube video for more information.

4.) Reporting any new sightings of Asian carp in bodies of water where they haven’t been previously found. Do not report sightings in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Rather, report findings from public lakes. The report should include an exact location of where the fish were found.The public can contact Tim Banek at MDC with this information, tim.banek@mdc.mo.gov.

Endangered Species Postcard Contest Fun For K-8th Graders

Ever hear of a hellbender, like the one pictured here? What about a mountain madtom? Although these species sound scary, they’re actually quite gentle, even shy. They’re also disappearing from Ozark rivers and streams—the only places in Missouri that provide them suitable habitat.

This year, Missouri’s K-8th-grade students can help Missouri’s endangered species just by learning and caring about them. Our second annual postcard contest makes it fun and rewarding to get to know endangered Ozark river and stream species. Students’ challenge is to make a postcard illustrating the message “Ozark River and Stream Habitat—We Gotta Have It!”

Any Missouri K-8 student is eligible to participate, but it’s important to review the contest guidelines and download the postcard template before starting.

Four age classes are eligible to participate: K–2nd grades, 3rd–4th grades, 5th–6th grades and 7th–8th grades. The first-place winners in each of the four age classes will get their postcards printed and sold in MDC Nature Shops, with proceeds going to endangered species habitat conservation. That means the winners’ artwork and names will be known throughout the state. How cool is that?!

Possible first-ever Missouri deer taken with air gun

In urban areas where homeowners cringe at the pop-pop of gunshot, a new hunting method may prove to be more socially acceptable.

In what may be a first for Missouri deer hunting, a 14-year-old hunter shot a yearling doe Oct. 5 with an air rifle. Using a 422grn hollow point out of a .458 cal Quackenbush air rifle, at about 40 yards out, the shot went completely through the deer, with a large exit wound.

The deer was taken in Wildwood, Mo., a St. Louis suburb, by Jeff Cox (pictured), a freshman at St. John Vianney high school in Kirkwood, Mo. He has been hunting since he was eight years old.

Missouri Department of Conservation has established rules for urban deer hunting, a practice that is important to keeping populations in check in areas where there is no natural predator for deer. The urban portion does not give hunters free rein to hunt anywhere in an urban county. You must abide by all local ordinances.

Scroll about halfway down this page for more information on urban deer hunting.

Also, see this Missouri Conservationist article on urban deer hunts.

Recently, deer in urban environments have been making the news. See this news item from the St. Louis area. Also, here is how the city of Osage Beach is looking at managing its deer population.

New! Missouri Outdoor Heritage calendar available

Celebrating Missouri’s rich outdoor heritage, our newest calendar is chock full with images of gear from years past mixed with modern photographs of hunting, fishing and trapping. It calls out for the current generation to continue building Missouri’s outdoor legacy one generation at a time.

The calendar features monthly reminders of current games seasons, along with tips to increase your success in the field. Measuring 10 x 14 inches, it is $7.00 plus applicable tax and shipping. Visit our Nature Shop to order the calendar.

This newest calendar offering adds to the perennially popular Natural Events calendar.

Boone County leads in deer harvest

Nearing the close of the urban deer hunt, as of Oct. 6 Boone County leads all other Missouri counties with 330 deer taken, according to MDC's Telecheck.

Coming in at No. 2 is St. Louis County, with 230 deer taken. Trailing St. Louis County are St. Charles County (229) and Jackson County (221).

Follow county totals from this handy map, which also has a breakdown by antler buck vs. button buck vs. doe.

Because of the increasingly popular urban deer hunting seasons (last day is Oct. 6), these counties - home of major population centers - have the lead. General firearms season opens Nov. 15. Meanwhile, hunters can enjoy open archery season until Nov. 14.

New photo slideshow! Get a glimpse of fall color

By the changing of the leaves, fall announces its arrival.

New this year, Missouri Department of Conservation has an online photo slideshow depicting this seasonal change.

To get even closer to the action, take a leisurely drive. Check these detailed regional reports before planning your driving route.

Alligator snapping turtle bites researcher - YouTube smash surpasses 100,000 views

The Missouri Department of Conservation has more than 400 videos circulating on YouTube.

But none has garnered attention quite like the video of an alligator snapping turtle biting a researcher. Despite the obvious pain, the researcher kept his cool and the animal was not harmed, and the researcher emerged with relatively minor injuries.

To date, this video has been viewed more than 100,000 times, making it the most popular MDC video on YouTube.

MDC has 15 channels on YouTube, including MOhunting. You can see other MDC channels from this same page.

But that is not the only venue for seeing Missouri conservation videos on the Web. TeacherTube, MyOutdoorTV and Yahoo Video are among the outlets for viewing MDC videos on the Web.