Chicago outdoors: Fox family, record skipjack, eating morels, the playwright Shakespeare and fishing

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Paul Vriend emailed that he had his first sighting of red foxes in the city, a family with four kits. “Believe it or not, this family built a den across the street from my office on the Metra Train Line,” he emailed.

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).

DALE’S MAILBAG

“Dale, what does one do with morels? Cooking tips?” Liz Clark

A: Simple is best. Saute in olive oil or butter with garlic. Serve with French bread and a glass of red. If you want seasonal, pair morels, prepared as above, with fresh strawberries and fried crappie fillets.

BIG NUMBER

3-12: Pounds-ounces of world-record skipjack herring, caught by Paul Goddard on Feb. 14, 1982 from Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee, according to the International Game Fish Association

LAST WORD

“Bait the hook well, this fish will bite.”

Claudio, in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado about Nothing,” via canalrivertrust.org.uk

WILD TIMES

WINGSHOOTING CLINICS

June 4-5: Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area, (815) 423-5326. Click here for details.

U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY

Today, May 21: National Safe Boating Week Kick-Off (safety classes, vessel safety checks, family activities, demonstrations), Belmont Yacht Club, free, 9 a.m.-noon, https://fb.me/e/1T4NvNOUt

Today, May 21: Calumet Harbor Chicago Flotilla hosts vessel safety check station, Hammond Marina, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., USCG Auxiliary Flotilla 35-11 “Calumet Harbor Chicago” | Facebook

PADDLING

Sunday, May 22: Des Plaines River Canoe & Kayak Marathon, register now only in-person ($40) canoemarathon.com