Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
WILD OF THE WEEK
For a change one of my own submissions. This mouse lollygagged past me on opening day March 1 at Braidwood Lake. At first, I thought a deer mouse, but wildlife biologist Bob Massey suggested more likely a white-footed mouse and the longer tail suggests he is right.
WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).
WILD TIMES
FUNDRAISER
Friday, March 25: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, South Suburban chapter fundraiser, Tuscan Gardens Pub & Banquet, Glenwood; contact Cindy Gustafson (708) 768-4315
HUNTER SAFETY
April 23-24: Braidwood, smitty@teachoutdoors.org
U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY
Next Saturday, March 26: SSS—Your Boat’s Radio, Waukegan, Curt Schumacher, curts402@aol.com
SHOWTIME
Click here for the complete list of shows, classes and swap meets for the coming months.
Today, March 19: Walleyes Unlimited swap meet, Fox Lake Legion Hall
ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS:
Today, March 19: Early catch-and-release trout season opens Saturday, March 19, at nine sites statewide. Nearby ones: Rock Creek, Kankakee River State Park; Pine Creek, White Pines Forest SP; Apple River, Apple River Canyon SP. The regular season opens April 2. Click here to read statewide information.
March 26-27: First youth spring turkey season
DALE’S MAILBAG
“I love your reporting but take exception when you say things like `290 bobcats harvested” in 2021-22. The bobcats weren’t `harvested,’ `they were `killed,’ some might even say `murdered.’ “ Chuck Mackie, Logan Square
A. Harvested is precisely right word for a species being managed, specifically those managed by harvest totals. If a wolf crosses Illinois and is killed, I will say shot, struck by a train or a vehicle. I breakdown the harvest of bobcats: hunting, trapping and scavenging.
BIG NUMBER
896,000: Catalogued specimens and over 113,000 lots in the Illinois Natural History Survey’s fish collection, about the 15th largest collection of preserved fishes.
LAST WORD
“On a snowy day, driving into River Trail is like driving into Narnia.”
Naturalist Michele Mottlowitz, the director of River Trail Nature Center, waxing poetic
