Freshwater Barracuda

Apex predators capture the imagination of the outdoors wherever they’re found. We humans have tipped the scales in our favor through brains and tools to stay on top and out of the jaws of everything from lions to grizzly bears to sharks. But we recognize their dominance in their environment.

In the freshwater reservoirs and streams of Ohio, that top-of-the-pyramid king is the Muskellunge, Esox Masquinongy, or just muskie.

Read the complete column here: The apex predator hiding in Ohio waters — and how to catch one

Woodcock Keep Moving

The first woodcock I ever saw while holding a shotgun launched from near my feet to eye level in a Champaign County woodlot and flew straightaway. Since it was early November, we were focused on cottontails.

Nobody in our party of four was quite sure what it was, or if it was legal to shoot. So no one did.

It wasn’t a pheasant. It kind of looked like a snipe (the real kind). It was still years before the National Harvest Information Program had started, so we hadn’t declared we were after any migratory birds when we bought our license, or were asked if we’d be hunting woodcock.

While it hadn’t done any of the swervy acrobatic things that the woodcock I had read about were known for, and that made them difficult targets, we decided that that’s what it was.

Read the complete column, Hunters might be able to catch this migratory bird in the next few weeks

Get a New Perspective on Fall

 The changing seasons are one of the best things about the Midwest. The cool and crisp air makes us want to get out and about. But it takes balance. Looking at the fall foliage should be on everyone’s list.

But how? 

The “Sunday drive” in a car seems wasteful and mundane by modern standards. Sure, you could pass by a lot of fall foliage, but would you really experience fall? Part of fall is the smell and feel of it. You miss that in a car. It’s also not the best for pictures, and we know that’s important to some people.

Walking or hiking can seem limiting for time and effort expended. You could see some color. You can stop for pictures. But you might always wonder what was around the bend or hill that was too far that you didn’t see.

Getting some assistance down a trail on a saddle of one kind or another might well be the perfect answer for southwest Ohio. If you’re looking for a different perspective this fall, southwest Ohio has several options.

Read the complete column here: https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/experience-autumn-in-the-region-from-a-new-perspective-see-it-on-horseback-rail-bikes-and-more/KFFBDIWWPNE4JBVZDHSCLSBPFM/

Dem Bones

Photo shared by reader, Maureen Sharib

 Halloween has taken over yards and department stores in full force. It’s a rare drive now to anywhere these days where you don’t pass under the looming shadow of a 15-foot-tall skeleton or inflatable monster of some kind.

While the fake bones abound, you might be walking across the real bones of ancient creatures. Southwest Ohio is prime ground for fossil hunting. In fact, scientists come from all over the world to search for them. All you have to do is get out.

Read the column in its entirety here: ht
tps://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/forget-halloween-decorations-ohio-has-real-bones-to-find/WE4U23UPEREXTOX4QZU4IXR2FI/

Leaf it Be

 There’s a reason for falling leaves. It might look like the colorful beginning of the end (winter) to many, but like the three other seasons in Ohio, fall is just a necessary transition to the next. If spring is the “growing” season, fall is more than just harvest season; it’s the “replenishing” season.

That means we don’t just take things out of the fields or gardens. What’s left behind is important to native plants and animals, which depend on these cycles for survival.

Before you send the kids out with rakes and demands to see green grass under the newly fallen leaves. And before you start cutting everything down, piling things up, and shipping things away, take the weekend off, and think about the wildlife and the environment we call home.

Read the complete article here: Before raking leaves, know the role they play in natural process for plants, animals

MORE INFORMATION

Huffman Prairie Flying Field Habitat Day

Saturday, Oct. 4, 9 a.m. - noon

All ages. Free registration is required to get a headcount for light breakfast, full lunch, beverages and door prizes. A variety of tasks to encourage native plant growth and support biodiversity, including gathering seeds from native plants for overseeding in other areas, targeted removal of invasive species, and assisting with selective herbicide application.

events.pheasantsforever.org/events/huffman-prairie-flying-field-habitat-day/1973782f-e0b9-4b03-b039-526b39c846d4

Prairie Seed Collecting - Part of Conservation Kids series

Saturday, Oct. 11, 10 - 11:30 a.m.

AGES: 3-13 | FREE

From the Five Rivers website: “We need seeds to care for our already existing prairies and to help us establish new habitat for pollinators. Join us on a seed-collecting extravaganza to help ensure the future of our biodiversity! Weather dependent.”

metroparks.org/programs-events-finder/?program_number=U94&api=programs&type=program

Natural Gardens

ohionativeplantmonth.org/plant-a-pollinator-garden

ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-odnr/division-parks-watercraft/sustainability/pollinators

nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2023/Fall/Gardening/Fall-Gardening-Tips-Pollinators

fws.gov/story/how-build-pollinator-garden

Benefits of Leaving the Leaves

hgtv.com/outdoors/landscaping-and-hardscaping/what-does-leave-the-leaves-mean-and-why-you-should-do-it

Whitetail Deer Thriving - But New Threats?

 It’s easy to think that the grass is greener somewhere other than Ohio. We can’t spot an elk up a mountain in Ohio. Or land a giant tarpon after a short boat ride. But when it comes to whitetail deer, Ohio could well be the heart of it all. Whitetail deer love Southwest Ohio. Opportunities for both quantity and quality abound. At least for right now.

What a deer needs

Like everything in the world, deer need food and shelter to escape from predators and raise their young. After being nearly extirpated at the turn of the last century, the elimination of large predators in Ohio and the introduction of hunting regulations have made life much less precarious.

New threats on the ground

Unfortunately, there is a new potential threat to the landscape for Ohio deer. According to the ODNR website, “Chronic Wasting Disease is a fatal neurological (brain and central nervous system) disease that affects members of the deer family, including whitetailed deer, mule deer, elk, moose and caribou.”

Read the complete column here: https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/hunting-season-is-nearly-here-when-it-comes-to-whitetail-deer-you-cant-beat-sw-ohio/LPIQYKDUL5FCVLQKDLOVK7DCX4/ 

Leaving Town - The Great Migrations

 If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

I’ll sort of paraphrase for wildlife ... if the food you need isn’t in the kitchen, find another kitchen. Or if you or your preferred food can’t stand the cold, head south if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere.

For eons, that’s exactly what animals have done through migration. When you’re looking for motives in human behavior, they say, follow the money. If you’re looking for wildlife, follow the food.

Migration was always a perilous time for land mammals. River crossings and predators, then humans (well before cars and interstate highways), made journeys treacherous. To date, there aren’t any major migrations of mammals in or through Southwest Ohio.

Read the complete article here: https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/flyover-country-birds-bats-and-butterflies-migrate-through-our-area/KW6QFEI25ZCYREJO2A2YQILPYA/

Migration Vs Roaming and Expanding

Different species roam in and out of Ohio, but they’re not migrating. The black bear that passed through the area recently wasn’t migrating, just looking for a new home. Similarly, deer, coyotes and bobcats can move great distances as individuals sometimes, but they’re not migrating.

And it’s just a matter of time it seems, before the nine-banded armadillo becomes a regular full-time resident in Southwest Ohio. Once common only in Texas and the South, they have expanded dramatically north and east in recent years.

They are in Indiana and headed this way.