Natural Resources Board to talk turkey

Taylor Finger, the agency’s game bird specialist in the Bureau of Wildlife Management, was to provide the informational item. You can check a YouTube archive of the meeting via a link at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/NRB.

That’s a good site to bookmark, considering the board will now take their monthly meetings on the road for the summer months, including the next meeting on June 25.

Next month’s agenda and meeting site had not been announced at the time of this writing. What is known so far is that board members are expected to take a look at the results of the public input at the spring fish and wildlife hearings. The Wisconsin Conservation Congress weighed in at their annual convention earlier this month.

DNR Acting Wisconsin Conservation Congress Liaison Scott Loomans said 1,802 people attended the hearings in person, while more than 7,800 responded to the questionnaire online.

Loomans said the long delay in getting results posted was due to some counties returning forms incredibly slowly. He received his last one May 5, a full three weeks after the in-person hearing.

“For the last two years, people who didn’t want to take the electronic survey have had the ability to fill out a form and hand it in at the actual county meetings,” Loomans said.

Public input is advisory only. Take a look at the results by county via links at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc/springhearing.

Check for ticks

The number of cases of Lyme disease in Wisconsin have tripled in the past 15 years, while tick-borne diseases in Michigan have jumped 168% over the past five years.

Health officials in both states say preventing bites by daily tick checks and prompt removal is the best way to avoid problems.

If you find one you suspect has been attached for longer than 24 hours, the minimum time it’s thought to take for a disease-carrying tick to transfer it to you, consult your medical provider.

The use of permethrin on clothing is deadly to ticks. Treated clothing can last for dozens of washings. It is not for use on skin. Instead, try DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Learn more, including how to use repellents safely, at https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/using-insect-repellents-safely-and-effectively.

Most ticks live in grassy, brushy and wooded areas. Try to stay on trails and avoid contact with grass, brush and leaf litter. If you have pets outside, talk with your veterinarian about the best tick prevention products or do some online research.

Even if you take those precautions, it’s a good idea to perform daily tick checks and bath or shower as soon as possible after coming in from the outdoors.

There were nearly 6,400 cases of Lyme disease reported in Wisconsin in 2023. Some of the highest numbers are in the northern and central forest regions. See a map and get more info at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/tick/lyme-data.htm.

For more on tick ID and prevention, check the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/tick/index.htm.

Lethal hunters

Can you name the world’s most efficient predator? Maybe a wolf, or perhaps a lion? Not even close. The best in the business spends most of its life in the water.

Research suggests wolves succeed in about one of every five attempts, while lions might get lucky 30% of the time. While respectable, those numbers pale in comparison to the dragonfly, which catches about 95% of the prey it pursues.

Dragonflies hunt in midair, and utilize nearly 360-degree field of vision, individually-controlled wings and speed to capture their prey (small insects such as mosquitoes).

Worldwide, there are more than 3,000 species of dragonflies, with more than several hundred in North America and more than 100 in Wisconsin. Depending on the species, they can fly from about 20 to 35 miles per hour, and are thought to be able to consume about 100 mosquitoes in a single day.

Learn more about the life cycle of dragonflies at https://www.gbbg.org/the-life-times-of-the-dragonfly/,and and how they hunt so successfully at https://biology.ucdavis.edu/news/how-dragonflies-catch-prey-midair.

Weekly water levels

Lake Michigan’s water levels rose about four inches in the past month, but are down eight inches in the past year. Levels have fallen 38 inches since the record high in 2020, but are still 26 inches the record monthly low, set in 1964.

Meanwhile, Superior’s water rose six inches in the past month, but is still down two inches from this time last year. As of May 23, levels were about two inches below the 100-year average and have fallen 18 inches since 2019. Levels were about 22 inches above the record monthly low, set in 1926.