Ohmerryoutdoors

Illinois anglers and biologists team up for 2024 Midwest Walleye Challenge SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois anglers who chase walleye, sauger or saugeye are invited to participate in the virtual Midwest Walleye Challenge in 2024. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources

With the snow still on the ground in most areas, you may be able to spot these a bit easier right now. If you see these hanging in your trees, remove them before the spring! This is a bagworm cocoon full of hundreds of eggs. If they hatch, they can defoliate the tree and nearby trees. They can cause significant damage. Evergreens are their tree of choice, but they will attack almost any tree.

Bagworms are a type of caterpillar that make a ‘bag’ out of silk and host plant material as their nest for camouflage while overwintering. She lays eggs in the bag in the fall and the eggs hatch the following spring. Larvae hang out in the bag all summer, partially emerging from time to time to feed on the host plant. The female bagworm remains in the bag until she dies.

Any bagworm bags removed while the caterpillar is alive should be thrown into a bucket of soapy water to kill the insect. Do not remove the bags and throw them on the ground around the tree, they will simply return to feed more!

Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk? Here's a fun guide from Bird and Moon Comics.

Learn more at https://www.audubon.org/news/a-beginners-guide-iding-coopers-and-sharp-shinned-hawks

🥳We got the grant!!🥳 You've probably already seen the news about the $28 million that was awarded to thirteen agencies throughout the state of Illinois, and we are THRILLED to be one of those thirteen!! We were awarded $870k for a project that will bring an indoor-outdoor classroom to the lower level of the Rock Springs Nature Center. This indoor-outdoor classroom is going to be SUCH a great project and we're all so excited to be moving forward with it! We'll have an article about the project in our upcoming spring Prairie Islander newsletter, so if you aren't already subscribed, now's the time to get signed up! It's a free newsletter that you can choose to get virtually, or have a physical copy sent to your home. You can also view it at any time on our website. And of course, you're more than welcome to stop in the Rock Springs Nature Center for a copy and to chat with us and ask us any questions!

We'll be posting project updates throughout the process, so be sure to like and follow us to keep updated on what's going on at the Macon County Conservation District!

An excellent program! 👏🌱🪴💚

University of Illinois Extension DeWitt, Macon and Piatt Counties University of Illinois Extension in DeWitt, Macon and Piatt Counties offers horticulture, agriculture and nutrition programs for all ages.

"a coyote problem"

We see so many posts blasting those "awful" coyotes where people are going to kill the whole pack and the only good coyote is a dead coyote.

It's funny how we humans define the behavior of animals as good or bad, when animals mostly just do what they were made to do.

In fact, we wonder if coyotes walk around cussing humans who have built on top their dens and fenced off their hunting areas?

Coyotes can for sure be a real problem, but scientists have named them a keystone species; their presence is vital.

Some things important to know about coyotes:

Stable coyote packs have an alpha male and an alpha female, and in a stable pack, those are the only ones who breed. The rest of the pack are hunters. If you have a pack that you see (or hear) all the time who really doesn't bother much, you can create a much Bigger mess by killing them off.

Coyotes have the ability to have more or less puppies depending on what is going on at the time. If a bunch get killed off, they respond by upping the whelp.

Additionally, a stable pack being removed makes room for an unstable pack to take over. When this happens, the consequences can be havoc wreaking. Often the new ones will take bigger risks in trying to sn**ch your chickens, etc when the other pack mostly left those alone.

So what can you do?

The fact is coyotes must eat, and if you make whatever you want to protect hard to get to, unless they are starving, they'd rather go find something easier. So if you want it safe, use some good ole human ingenuity and make things harder.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Lock your chickens up at night.
Put baby goats inside of substantial fencing.
Read a lot about working dogs and consider one.

Coyotes sn**ch your small cats and dogs if presented with the chance. It's a sad as heck fact. But we need to understand it's not malice, it's nature and it's up to us not to present them as an opportunity.

Don't leave your dog and cat food sitting around, free choice.

When your livestock births, don't leave the afterbirth around for the wildlife to take care of. If you do you are encouraging the pack to think about them as a food choice.

If we say we love animals, we have to carefully consider all animals and the impact that we have on their lives.

ICYMI: Educators, make sure to apply for the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant.

Grants are available to teachers and are awarded for the purpose of studying some aspect of Illinois biodiversity.

“Biodiversity” refers to the variety of life in an area. The field trip should support Illinois natural resources topics currently being taught in the applicant’s curriculum.

IDNR is accepting applications through Jan. 31. Learn more here: https://dnr.illinois.gov/education/grants/grantsibftg.html

Falcons of Central Illinois

The Peregrine Falcon - largest Falcon that can be found in the “Heartland”. This bird has the label as the fastest animal on earth with verified speeds up to 242 mph! This species is sexually dimorphic - there is a considerable size difference between sexes. Males are smaller getting to the about the size of a crow. Females can be the same size as a small red-tailed Hawk! Like most falcons they dine on medium to large birds overtaking them in flight from a higher elevation and striking them in glancing blows till the prey passes out. While the prey lies unconscious on the ground the Peregrine will dispatch it with a special notch in its upper mandible ( beak). This notch is called the tomial tooth and is specifically used to decapitate their prey. We host a nest of peregrines right here in Decatur! Currently the father of that site is in rehab at the Illinois Raptor Center and is still being evaluated for release. There are nests in Peoria ( northwestern Illinois ) as well as several nests in the Chicago area. Once the poster bird for the endangered species / DDT movement, this bird has made an incredible comeback!

𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜!
The Shawnee National Forest and U.S. Forest Service - Hoosier National Forest are seeking to fill our Public Affairs Officer position. The incumbent provides leadership and supervision of both Forests’ Public Affairs programs. This is a challenging and rewarding position that is directly involved with highly complex and sometimes contentious projects and issues. **This job announcement is part of a group-hiring, please make sure you select one of the duty locations listed below to work with us!

📈 Pay scale & grade: GS 12
💸 Salary: $69,107 - $107,680 per year
📍 Locations: Harrisburg, IL or Bedford, IN
💼 Appointment type: Full-time, part time telework flexibilities available
⏰ Deadline to apply: December 20, 2023
on USAJOBS: www.usajobs.gov/job/765457000

After losing ability to walk, former UI professor and wife donate power chairs to Allerton For four decades before he lost the ability to walk, Wayland Eheart would hike 5.5 miles at Allerton nearly every weekend. Now, he and his wife, Brenda, are making the

Did you know? A 12-ounce coffee mug is all it takes for 10 sidewalk squares or a 20' driveway! Let's be mindful of our salt usage this winter—less is more for both our environment and our plants.

Excessive salt use can harm plants, contaminate soil, and leach into water sources, posing a threat to aquatic life. Let's be salt-savvy this winter and use it sparingly to protect our surroundings. ❄️

Not monitored as closely as other birds in Illinois due to their nocturnal nature, the best available data suggests whip-poor-wills have declined by 70 percent over the last 50 years. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign began conducting research on whip-poor-wills in 2019 to better understand their ecology and behavior, and to ultimately understand why we are losing this species. Read more at: https://outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org/articles/loss-of-whip-poor-wills-in-illinois/

Puttyroot orchid (Aplectrum hyemale) leaves are emerging in southern Illinois. This orchid is unique because it is one that photosynthesizes during the winter months so leaves emerge in the late fall and persist until spring. The leaves will mostly senesce by the time the plant flowers in May, making flowering stalks difficult to spot with all the green foliage that time of year. I’m lucky in that several patches grow in the woods next to my house.