By Don Corrigan
By Don Corrigan
In mid-March, Californians welcome their famous cliff swallows back to Capistrano. In late February, Missourians welcome their infamous turkey vultures to the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery with an annual Vulture Venture.
Missouri’s turkey vultures are infamous because they are considered ugly and repulsive by many. However, the dark-colored birds deserve a better reputation because these large birds perform an invaluable service in nature.
Turkey vultures do valuable clean-up duties by ridding the landscape of dead animals. They thoroughly enjoy a meal of rotting flesh and odorous carcass. Where others fear to tread, the turkey vultures are always ready to chow down.
Technically, the vultures do not actually return to the Branson area in late February. They are present in great numbers in the vicinity of the hatchery all winter. However, they become more visible as the winter cold recedes in late February and the air gets warmer.
The increased sunlight as spring approaches will prompt the turkey vultures to begin stirring. As the air warms, the birds are once again able to ride the thermals and scout the ground below for potential breakfast, lunch and dinner as they fly.
Vultures can be viewed around Lake Taneycomo throughout the year, but in winter the trout-fishing spot attracts these birds by the hundreds. Resident and migrating vultures love the canyon-like topography that can give the birds protection from cold winds. Plenty of large shoreline trees also offer vultures sturdy roosting sites.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) invites people to view these misunderstood birds at its annual Vulture Venture program. The program is always located at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery on the west end of Lake Taneycomo, just below Table Rock Dam.
Vulture Ventures have been happening since 1994 and can include a number of activities, such as displays of a captive vulture with a handler, usually from Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield; children’s activities with spotting scopes for viewing vultures in the wild; and, a children’s vulture roadkill game.
Pictured: Don Corrigan with his book “Nuts About Squirrels”
This topic never gets old! Squirrels!
Enjoy this re-posted Christmas squirrel special! (from 2020)
By Don Corrigan
It’s impossible to enjoy the outdoors anywhere in North America without a squirrel scolding you from a tree limb, or a squirrel scampering across your path, or a squirrel playing “chicken” with you on the roadway when you’re driving. Squirrels are not just confined to the outdoors. They are in all the mass media that we consume and enjoy in the indoors. With that in mind, Environmental Echo offers a Top Ten of mass-mediated squirrels that we encounter in print and on our electronic devices. We humans must love them. We have made them the top virtual critters in our popular culture.
1.) Christmas Vacation Squirrel
Remember Chevy Chase’s movie when Aunt Bethany asks: “What’s that sound? You hear it? It’s a funny squeaky sound.” Uncle Lewis then responds: “You couldn’t hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant.” The squeak was worse than a noisy dump truck. It was from the Christmas Vacation Squirrel. The production originally had a trained squirrel ready to wreak havoc on the Griswold holiday home, but it died the day before the scene was to be shot. An untrained squirrel was brought in to be chased by Uncle Eddy’s dog, Snot, which caused unanticipated mayhem. Today several online sites sell a “Christmas Vacation Attacking Squirrel” with motion sensor and sound!
Flooding from 2019. City of St. Charles’ Frontier Park. Photos by Holly Shanks.
by Don Corrigan
St. Louis and its suburbs have experienced drought, but also extreme precipitation events. That includes record-shattering rains this summer that delivered a “Year of Flash Floods” for 2022.
Thunderstorms in July delivered devastating flooding, including one on July 26 and another on July 28. The storms hit especially hard in Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Rock Hill, Brentwood and University City.
Area waterways such as the River Des Peres, Shady Creek, Deer Creek and Gravois Creek “flashed” out of their banks. The water receded in a matter of hours, but left mud, trees, home debris and thousands of dollars in damage.
The one-in-1,000 year rain events prompted national news coverage. Sean Hadley, spokesman for the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD), summed it up for the Washington Post: “It was just too much water.”
“What happened was way more than the system – any system – can handle,” said MSD’s Hadley. He said one storm dumped more than 9 inches of rain in a matter of hours, shattering the previous daily record in St. Louis from 1915.
Fire fighters rescued more than a dozen people trapped in their homes by floodwaters in north Webster Groves. On North Forest Avenue, 11 people were rescued from five residences. One East Pacific Avenue, more stranded residents were rescued.
Posted in Home
Domien and Eileen Meert at their Christmas tree farm near Festus, Mo. Domien holds the first tree dibble he ever used when he started his tree farm.
A living Christmas tree can be wonderful holiday gift for your home. It’s also the perfect gift for nature long after the holidays are over, according to Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Community Forester, Mark Grueber.
Living Christmas trees bring a feel to the holidays that no artificial tree can duplicate. The natural scent of fir or pine can set the Christmas mood as sure as colorful lights or a favorite Christmas carol. Live trees are also a renewable resource, unlike artificial ones which are made of non-recyclable metal and petroleum-based products.
For those still in the market for a Christmas tree, now is still a good time to pick one up. Buyers have two choices. The first is selecting a cut tree, available in many locally owned tree lots in the area.
Grueber offered advice on checking the freshness of a cut tree. “You want to make sure the needles are fairly tight. The best thing is to just take it and bang it up and down on a nice, solid piece of ground and check to see how many needles are coming off,” he said. “And you can kind of tell by touch. Brush your hand along some of the needles, and if quite a few are dropping off, that’s probably a tree you want to avoid.”
Squirrels are pop culture icons, and the furry critters may actually save the planet.
That’s what author Don Corrigan told the ACORN Newspapers group of California when he was recently interviewed about his book, “Nuts About Squirrels.”
Environmental Echo is happy to share the ACORN squirrel article here.
Note Corrigan’s ACORN quote: “As we realize how much methane livestock is putting into the atmosphere, we will give up our hamburgers and Texas Roadhouse steaks,” he said. “We will be eating the new Chicken of the Trees—squirrels.
“The blessed squirrels are much easier to produce naturally, and Sammy the Squirrel does not fart methane near as much as Bessy the Cow!”
Terry Says: “Let’s All Be Safe on Roadways”Q & A: Session with author Don Corrigan
Q: Why a coloring book for kids with a main character that’s a turkey vulture?
A. Turkey vultures are the “Eagles of the Ozarks.” I learned this from my Ozarks expert and book producer, Jo Schaper. She said turkeys can be a dimwits and vultures can be scoundrels, but combined you get Missouri’s Ozark Eagle.
Q: That’s a stretch. But why an Ozark Eagle to talk road safety?
A. No creature keeps its eyes on the road like turkey vultures. They witness car collisions with squirrels and raccoons, with possums and armadillos, with pet dogs and cats. Turkey vultures are scavengers wanting an easy meal – roadkill. They’re always in search of highway fast food. Unfortunately, Ozark Eagles get run over, because they don’t pay attention to oncoming traffic when dining.
Main Street Garden by Main Street Garden volunteer
The Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence program has added two sites in the St. Louis area. Along with three other new sites in Kansas and Arkansas, these join the 15 sites in Missouri and Illinois that were inducted into the program when it launched in 2021.
Main Street Garden, 524 South Main Street, St. Charles, was previously a vacant lot and is now an alluring oasis consisting almost entirely of native plants with a rain garden. Located in the historic district, an arbor at the entrance entices visitors, and there are benches for seating throughout. South Grand Business District native gardens, 3012-3310 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, includes plantings along 6.5 city blocks between Arsenal and Utah Street. Located in a busy and dense metropolitan area, the site demonstrates how native plants can be utilized effectively in an urban environment, helping to filter pollutants and capture stormwater while also providing habitat for wildlife.
“The Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence program features plantings of native plants in designed, well-maintained gardens and in other native landscape plantings in the lower Midwest,” said Carol Davit, executive director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation and its Grow Native! program. “We are pleased to showcase these outstanding native gardens to inspire greater use of native plants, which provide many benefits to wildlife and people.”
Posted in Home
Just in time for the holidays, Terry the Turkey Vulture swoops down to give children smart tips on keeping safe around roadways. Terry’s advice also applies to children’s pets, who do need a little “coloring” in the book.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in every five children under the age of 15 killed in traffic crashes was a pedestrian. Kids are at risk of crash injuries, even when they are not inside a vehicle. Adults can help protect their young ones with tips about road safety.
Terry says: “Let’s All Be Safe on Roadways.” The coloring book’s message is that motorists must drive defensively and walkers must walk defensively. When you’re at a marked crosswalk, don’t assume that oncoming drivers will stop.
In 2022, St. Louis was shocked when residents were killed trying to cross Chippewa Street to get to a popular city custard stand. Pedestrian deaths are a concern for everyone. St. Louis suburbs also have lost residents to crosswalk accidents and curbside collisions.
Peanut the Turtle swims in a pond at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center.
Peanut the Turtle is turning 38, and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is throwing her a birthday celebration. The birthday partying takes place at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center Saturday, Nov. 19 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. It’s a free event and open to all ages.
Peanut the Turtle has attracted attention all over Missouri, along with national and worldwide fame, as an anti-littering mascot. At a young age, the red-eared slider wandered into a discarded plastic six-pack ring, and it stuck around her shell. As her shell grew, it was constricted by the plastic ring and developed an unusual, figure-eight shape. In 1993, when she was about nine years old, she was found in the St. Louis area and brought to the Saint Louis Zoo, where the ring was removed.
They named her Peanut because of her shell’s shape and gave her to staff at MDC. Peanut has been under the care of MDC since, where she has served as a popular ambassador for litter awareness. Peanut’s permanent home is now at the nature center.
In the spirit of Peanut’s message, participants can help with litter pickups in and around Powder Valley during her birthday celebration event. “We’ll provide MoDOT NoMOre trash bags for participants, and for each bag of trash they collect, they can enter a raffle to win prizes,” said MDC Naturalist Shelly Colatskie. She added that participants can also qualify for the raffle by sending photos of themselves picking up litter at other places in the area.
The nature center will also serve birthday cake in honor of Peanut’s big day. Educational programs will help make visitors aware of the environmental challenges that plastics pose and inform them about ways they can help prevent Peanut’s fate from happening to other wildlife. Activities will also include information on Missouri Stream Teams, crafts, a chance to see live animals, and meet and greet Peanut herself.
Peanut’s 38th Birthday Celebration is free, but MDC asks visitors to preregister online at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/4pm.
Environmental Echo 