Winter
Updates
Here are a few of the things happening in and around the
conservation program this winter.
The trout stocking program at Kuennens quarry has continued this year. Two stockings have occurred this winter with
one more scheduled yet. If the ice gets
thin by the time the trout are in the water, just keep in mind, that as soon as
the ice goes out, its pretty good action with spin casting gear.
Swans
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Our male swan at the
Well, despite being fenced in, the new male disappeared after a week or so
and so our female is now alone once again.
I don’t know at this time if the DNR will find another male to place in
the pen with her, or take her to start a restoration program somewhere else.
There are a few wild swans that are currently hanging around the area, so
if we eventually find ourselves out of the captive swan program, it and other
captive breeding programs like it will have served the purpose of
bringing trumpeter swans back to
If you are a bird watching enthusiast, you may be able to see these free
flying birds as they hang around our local lakes and marshes this spring.
Bald Eagles
Keep an eye out for Bald Eagles this spring. There have been active nesting over on Elk
Creek Marsh, and a pair did build a nest last summer along the Shell Rock River
just north of Northwood. With the
spring, perhaps they will return and raise some young.
Pheasants Forever
Northern Prairie Pheasants forever will be hosting its 24th annual banquet
March 28th at the
The weasel
I sent my mammology class out with live traps to see if they could catch a
few mice for class study. Mammology is
the study of mammals, and they were live traps.
Well, first day had one successful trapper with one small rodent. It was very interesting to see the opinions
of the rodent change from the “eww, yucky” type comments to “its cute, can I
take it home” over the course of a few minutes as we looked at the animal. The students were able to investigate the
various features and pronounce it a “house mouse.”
The next day one girl brought in a trap that was much heavier than it
should be. It was soon apparent that she
had caught an animal different than a mouse.
It was in fact a weasel. We
attempted to transfer the weasel from the small trap to larger one and as you
would suppose, the weasel promptly escaped!
A weasel really can go through any hole it can stick its head
through. Luckily for us, we were in
the shop, and the weasel headed for a small room where after a bit of chasing
around, it was soon recaptured.
The next day we were able to give it a close up look and were able to
pronounce it a short tailed weasel. It
was almost pure white, having a black tipped tail, and starting to grow in a
little brown fur. These animals turn
white in winter and brown in the summer.
The great escape artist managed to escape one more time while he was back
in the shop. I saw him dart across the
floor and new it wasn’t worth catching him again and when I opened the big
door, I was able to shoo him out.
With any luck, he’ll keep at the local house mouse population!