Did You know - outdoor edition

[Chuck White]

Yes, but they are still a PITA.

We've been fighting them since last Spring!

[WV Sawmiller]

Chuck,

   They are only a PITA if they make their dam/pond where you don't want it.  :D

   They dammed up the highway run-off in a wet weather branch next to where Mom lives and she did a (losing) running battle with them for years. (My brother and I were rooting for the beavers.  ;) ) They had permanent water where before it was only a periodic trickle. She'd go clean out the honeysuckle and brambles around a little bay tree or red maple she found and liked then she'd come back the next morning and find a pencil shaped stump with the tree down in the dam somewhere. My brother and I told her they just thought she was clearing a path to their food for them. And they'd walk 100 yards or so up the bank to do it sometimes. Finally the road department paid some trapper a $75/beaver bounty to come trap them out and he removed them. I guess they decided they were about to flood the 4 lane highway there.  I figure another will return and resume operations one of these years.

[KEC]

I've seen where many times people will destroy beaver dams repeatedly, often at great expense, but not kill the beaver and end the dam re-building. Beaver haters take solice. Pelt prices are improving. And most are going to the hatter market, so some pelt damage is not a big deal.

[woodroe]

We had Beaver move in on a Perennial stream and impounded
3/4 acre for about 10 yrs before moving on. Ate up all the Poplar and then some. About 60' across and 5' tall toward the end. Breached now from lack of maintenance
Got to watch alot of the process hiding in the bushes.
But they have a great sense of smell and would always sniff me out and
start slapping the water.
Very cool critters if you don't mind where they
flood the land.

[Chuck White]

Chuck,
   They are only a PITA if they make their dam/pond where you don't want it.  :D   

The only problem we have with them is that they keep wanting to flood the only road (ATV) we have to access a 100+ acre that we hunt on!

[WV Sawmiller]

Chuck,

   I can see where that would be a significant inconvenience. :D

Okay, for today's post:

   Did you know that in the 1990's up through the early 2000's a log jam (helped by beavers in the area) developed on the Big Escambia Creek where it ran into the Conecuh/Escambia River at the Alabama/Florida line. In Alabama it is named the Conecuh River but once in Florida it changes to the Escambia River. One of the problems was the bulk of the actual log jam was in Florida but all  the backwater was actually in Alabama. The rising water eventually flooded parts of Flomaton Ala right at the line and even flooded Railroad Street to the point it was about 5-6 feet under water. As a teenager I remember driving across Railroad Street when it was a foot or so under water. The log jam continued to grow and I forget how many acre feet of water were held back.

    Eventually the Army Corps of Engineers got involved because Florida was not interested in removing the log jam because it did not cause them any problem. Alabama wanted the log jam cleared but it was in Florida and they did not have access. In the early/mid  2000's the COE got funding and approval and removed the log jam and the water levels returned to previous levels and Railroad Street in Flomaton was exposed again.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Did you know this time of year turkeys are separated into bachelor groups for the gobblers and older jakes while the hens and younger jakes are together in separate flocks? In a few months the Spring Gobbler/Mating season will cause the gobblers to seek out and hang out with the hens for a while.

    I was returning home from town yesterday about 3:00 pm and rounded the bend and saw a couple of turkeys on the edge of my road jumping and flopping across a small creek (Pinch Creek FWIW) and looked to see if they had beards. They did and when I looked across the creek I saw 5-6 more. All had beards 6" or longer that I saw so it was a bachelor group.

   I am not sure at what age a jake actually leaves the hens and joins up with the older gobblers. I assume it is at about one year old.

[barbender]

 My Uncle told me some of the perennial creeks on the ranch he worked on in NE Wyoming/SE Montana used to run year round when there were beaver present. Lax predator control by the ranch led to the disappearance of the beaver. Now the creeks only run when it rains.

When I'm up in the mountains trout fishing, I'm always happy when I happen upon a beaver dam. They almost always provide excellent fishing.

In Minnesota, beaver are considered bad for trout streams, because the dams warm the water. Since our streams tend to be marginal temperature-wise, a beaver dam can warm the water enough to where the trout can't survive.

Pre-settlement, when the creeks were lined and shaded by the canopy of old growth timber, that probably wouldn't have been a problem. There is a river in NW Wisconsin named the Bois Brule. It is still one of the finest trout and lake run salmon/trout rivers in the Midwest, but at the time of exploration it was supposed to be full of big brook trout. Enough that it supported a commercial fishery for a time, they apparently shipped "specks" to Chicago salted in barrels out of the Brule. It was also choked with down timber and beaver dams that provided a lot more cover for trout.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I don't mean to insult anyone here and while this may be obvious to many of us this is an international forum with members all over the world and many people are not familiar with many of the animals and wildlife we are familiar with are not known by others.

   So, Did you know that a turkey's beard does not grow from his chin or on his face at all? It is a long series of very thick coarse, black hair-like threads growing from the middle of his upper chest. It looks like a stiff brush in many cases. And in some cases a turkey gobbler will grow several beards. Hens sometimes even have beards like doe deer sometimes grow antlers. In those cases more often than not the female is sterile.

   I was sitting here watching 3 nice gobblers out my living room window and watching their beards swinging underneath their chests when they'd bend over to pick up a juicy morsel. In fact a turkey's beard rarely grows over about a foot long as it drags the ground and wears off the tips once it reaches that length. When the turkeys stand erect the beards lay flat against their chest and it is hard to see.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Did you know that a hooked fish will often attract another fish? I have often hooked a bass and while fighting it and it comes to the surface I will see another bass trying to take the lure away from him. This is especially true with plastic worms and such where the lure slides up the line and is on the outside of the fish's mouth. The second fish will try to steal the lure from the hooked fish. It is very disappointing to hook a 2 lb bass and have it come to the surface trying to shake the lure and see and 5-7 lb bass trying to take it away from him and the hook is in the first fish's jaw instead of in the larger fish.

    Keep that in mind and if you have a second rod rigged and ready to fish or another fisherman is in the boat when you hook a bass have your partner toss right over next to the hooked fish and you may hook a second fish.

[barbender]

 WV, those Northern Pike I have described before are very attracted to hooked fish. And they ain't after the lure, either. They really like to grab on to crappies. And once they do, you can lift them right out of the water and they won't let go, as if they are saying "mine!"😂

There have been people bitten by large pike and muskies, usually water skiing. Something about the speed triggers them.

I can't remember the Northern Pike Minnesota Record, Muskie is 54 pounds I think.

[beenthere]

Wisconsin muskie record is listed at 69 lb, 11 oz

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have had large predator fish attack hooked prey fish I had on the line.

   I was crappie fishing with my son dunking minnows in treetops in our local lake and he hooked a large crappie on a limber 10' fiberglass pole. While attempting to land the fish it wrapped around a limb in the treetop where we were fishing. My son held steady pressure on it hoping it would unwrap itself as they often will do. It was flopping near the surface when suddenly a sound and swirl like a giant commode flushing occurred when a 25+ lb flathead catfish engulfed the crappie. My son gave him slack and let him swallow the crappie but when he tightened the line we had a few seconds of excitement but the inevitable result was the catfish broke free.

[KEC]

Reminds me of something I saw a while back on TV; maybe the River Monsters show. They showed how sharks will hang out under a fishing boat. When someone hooks a fish and tries to reel it in the shark grabs its' share and  the fisherman ends up with a fish head. Some sharks swim considerable distances up freshwater rivers. A shark once was found in the Mississipi River in Illinois.

[WV Sawmiller]

KEC,

   Did you know the species of shark that frequents fresh water as you described is the bull shark and is considered one of the more dangerous sharks to man? As you noted, their system allows them a greater tolerance to swim in non-saline or low saline conditions so they are common in brackish waters and can swim long distances up freshwater streams. I think one of the things that make them so deadly is they do appear in areas people do not expect to see sharks and they will readily attack a man in the water. They apparently also come in to very shallow water along the beaches so they attack people wading in areas they don't think sharks will be.

[caveman]

Some friends and I were catching blacktip sharks near Egmont Key on mackerel several years ago.  Two of us were catching mackerel and the other two were using the cut mackerel on 20 lb spinning gear to hook 3-5' blacktips.  I was fighting a good sized blacktip that was ripping drag when all of a sudden it was different- still pulling drag but slow and it seemed heavier, then just dead weight.  I reeled in what felt like a sack of feed.  When I pulled the dead, bleeding blacktip out of the water, he had 16" wide bite marks on him.  Everything is bait.  A big bull shark is the prime suspect. 

If you really want some excitement, have a 100+lb tarpon on and watch a hammerhead with a 3' of dorsal fin out of the water chasing him down and treating him like a sardine snack. 

[KEC]

WV, yes I did know that they are Bull Sharks. I also heard that they sometimes swim up the St. Lawrence River, but I don't know how far. It just ain't safe out there ! Dang !

[WV Sawmiller]

    Did you know that barracuda are popular fish for the table in some parts of the world? I think the first one I ever ate was one I had speared in the Red Sea near Jeddah Saudi Arabia. I frequently saw them for sale in the open air markets and on the menus in local restaurants in Cameroon in West Africa. The ones I saw and ate were typically smaller one of 2-3 lbs or so. The only really big one I ever remember spearing was on a night dive in the Red Sea. I had just speared and strung another fish when I looked up and saw one that was easily 4' long. I shot it in the head with a compressed air spear pistol and the point went in several inches but not enough for the barbs to open. I remember all I could see were teeth - big very sharp teeth. I remember holding on to the spear shaft and keeping the fish pointed away from me as he swam circles around me. Finally he pulled free and disappeared. I kept expecting him to return for his revenge and take a chunk out of my leg or backside. It was not one of my smarter moves.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I do not recommend trying this but sitting here watching Swamp People on the History Channel I watched one clip where Pickle had the barrel of her rifle (.22) under the water. I could not see if she shot the alligator with the barrel under water. I can remember old outlaw fishermen talking about shooting big bluegills under water by shining a light on them to locate and freeze them in place (like gigging frogs) and sticking the barrel under the  water next to them and shooting. Evidently the pressure is not as great and/or the barrels are stronger for their size. I'd bet a shotgun or high powered rifle would split the barrel if you shot it while it was under water.

[Chuck White]

I'll bet it would split or worse also, Howard!

A 22LR "most likely" wouldn't, due to the strength of the barrel and diminutive power of the cartridge compared to some of the High Powered centerfires!

[Don P]

Now there's a myth busters episode  :D

[barbender]

My favorite part of Myth Busters is when they get frustrated if they can't get repeatable results, and call in the explosives expert. The episode where they were trying to break up a load of concrete they allowed to set in a mixer truck drum was classic. They were trying dynamite, and I think some C4 charges too. They all just went, "poink"inside the drum with zero effect. So they took it out to a gravel pit in a remote area and put a really big charge of C4 on it, I think they were over 1/2 mile away where they detonated it from. That basically vaporized that truck! Sent a shock wave out for miles!😂

[doc henderson]

just big kids with someone else's money.   :D :D :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that in his doctoral thesis Dr. Keith Causey, former head of the wildlife department at AU, concluded that Feral Dogs in Alabama did not totally revert to self sufficient hunting animals? First he had to define the difference between a free ranging dog which had some association with humans and a feral dog that had absolutely no contact with humans and ran at the first site of a human. As I remember he studied feral dogs in a couple of locations and one group supplemented their diet with food from a local landfill and another group supplemented their diet with birds that were killed or injured by flying into the guy wires of a tall radio tower.

    I remember coming across and reading the thesis in the Journal of Wildlife Management while I was a student there at AU. I remember Dr. Causey commented how frustrating it was to identify an apparently total feral dog, and spend a lot of time and effort to trap and radio tag it then track it to its home under some redneck's front porch. (Actually I don't think he used the term "Redneck" in his thesis.  :D )

[barbender]

 Howard, are you familiar with American Dingos, also known as Carolina Wild Dogs I think? We were at an apple orchard last fall, and the owner had a unique looking, tan dog. When I asked it's breed, he told me an American Dingo. I assumed thet were an Australian Dingo that was bred in America (it looked similar), but I had to get on the Web and learn about them.

First thing I learned, these are not Australian Dingos. These dogs were apparently present in America at first European contact. So they were an existing breed/landrace of feral dogs in the American Southeast. Genetic tests have pointed towards a Southeast Asan origin (similar to Australian Dingos). These dogs bark though, which Australian Dingos do not.