Ash tree devastation

In spite of sauna-like conditions yesterday, I spent an hour or so cruising the woods around my house looking for a nice, straight ash tree. I want to cut one down so I can split it into staves to make longbows.

Some of the several dozen ash trees I examined were dead. Not a single one was in good health. Most had lots of dead branches, and the live branches had only a fraction of their normal foliage.

I first noticed our ash trees dying three or four years ago. I was afraid they might have emerald ash borer, a forest pest that is devastating all species of ash trees in the Eastern U.S. But there were no signs of borers. It turned out the problem was "ash yellows."

This disease is caused by a microbe and spread by insects. Together with the emerald ash borer, this disease seems likely to cause the same sort of devastatoin wrought by chestnut blight, which wiped out the American chestnut early in the 20th century.

Apparently the problem isn't confined to my wood lot near Jefferson City. A St. Louis-area tree service I talked to today said they are removing lots of ash trees killed by yellows. I hate that. Besides being great shade trees, ash trees' straight grain makes them a dream to split for firewood. Baseball fans will mourn the loss because most wooden baseball bats are made of northern white ash. Ash also is a favorite for making guitars and other musical instruments.

Healthy ash trees can survive five or 10 years after contracting yellows. Watering during dry periods and fertilizing helps, but there is no cure.

I wish there was something more cheerful to say about this. The only good news I can see is that I have a few years to lay in a supply of ash logs for friends who carve duck decoys. But what a pity for our grandchildren, who might never know the pleasure shaving curls of wood from a smooth ash plank as they shape a canoe paddle or a longbow.

June a "bear" of a month for Missouri bruins

June is the month when Missourians are most likely to see a black bear. The critters are hungry after a long winter of short rations, and they get footloose, looking for anything that smells like food.

Show-Me State residents are getting accustomed to seeing wild black bears, but the sighting of a female with three yearlings near Forsyth in mid-May still created a stir. Conservation Department Wildlife Photographer Noppadol Paothong hotfooted it down to Taney County, where he captured this image.

It's a little hard to make out all three yearlings in this photo. Looks like one's head is visible in front of the mother's chest and the backside of the third is peeking out behind her.

I look forward to seeing my first Missouri bear. When that happens, I suppose I will experience the same mixed emotions that most people do--excitement mixed apprehension at being in the presence of a powerful animal that embodies wildness.

Maybe my first sighting will be of a track. Or, it might come on a camping trip, when a bear investigates the smell of leftovers from last night's meal. A few Missourians get their first exposure to bears when a particularly bold bruin knocks over a trash can or learns it can get a free lunch from a backyard bird feeder

Missouri's bear population is growing slowly, building on a trickle of individuals that continue to make their way north from Arkansas. Most black bears are extremely shy of humans and keep to themselves. Still, it's a good idea to know what to do if you happen on a black bear unexpectedly. It's also good to know what to do if a bear becomes a nuisance.

On a different topic, I originally intended for this blog to be interactive, as its name implies. However, it turns out that current software limitations make this impossible. Our IT folks say that I should be able to post comments and reply to yours starting late this summer or early in the fall. Until then, please don't think I'm ignoring you. If you want to chat about a post, send me an e-mail at Jim.Low@mdc.mo.gov.

Jim

Give Wild Babies a Chance--Delay Mowing As Long As Possible

Like most outdoors people, I know right now is white-tailed deer fawning season. But it took a recent incident to make it seem real.

My wife, Diane, and I were camping with Brad and Suzanne Wright along Mussel Fork in Chariton County. The Wrights came back from a hike brimming with excitement. Their bouncy 4-year-old Labrador retriever, Jole Blon, had been bounding ahead of them when she stopped at the edge of the trail and nuzzled something. It looked as if she was trying to get another dog to play with her. As they got closer, they realized she was nose to nose with a newborn fawn.

With an 80-pound dog in its face and two humans approaching, the fawn got nervous and started to rise from its bed. Brad and Suzanne stopped and stood still as statues. The tiny deer calmed down and curled back up where it lay. They corralled Jole and hurried back to share the once-in-a-lifetime experience. Naturally, they didn't have a camera with them, but the image of Jole and the fawn nose to nose is etched in their memories.

We all gave the deer's bedroom wide berth for the rest of the weekend. Fawns face enough hazards--including coyotes, free-ranging dogs and mowers--without our adding to their problems.

If you have been planning to mowing part of your land, consider putting it off a few weeks to improve fawns' survival chances. It will help bobwhite quail, wild turkeys and other ground-nesting wildlife, too.

Jim

Mulberries, Bushytails & Catfish

A friend just dropped by to let me know that mulberries are beginning to ripen in central Missouri. That means squirrel hunters in southern Missouri already are focusing their attention on these squirrel magnets.

Devoted summer bushytail hunters have detailed mental maps with the locations of mulberry, hickory and other trees that produce favorite squirrel foods before acorns mature. If you don't know where mulberries can be found in your area, start looking around the margins of streams. If you hear rustling in stream-side trees chances are good that you've found mulberries and squirrels.

Incidentally, Missouri River catfish Guide Ed Schneider has noticed that catfish will move up big-river tributaries to gorge on falling mulberries this time of year. Play your cards right, and you could be frying up squirrel and catfish at the same time!

Jim