Environmental Echo

Press Club members pause in the English Woodland Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden to collect their thoughts before composing prose at a nature writing workshop. Photo by Jessica Brown.

by Don Corrigan

You don’t have to go to David Thoreau’s Walden Pond or Joan Didion’s Tinker Creek to get some outdoor inspiration for writing prose and poetry. The Missouri Botanical Garden has some perfect spots, some quieter than others, for inspiration.

Michaella Thornton and Sean Dougherty give nature writers some instructions and encouragement before a June 10 creative writing workshop at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Photo by Jessica Brown.

Earlier this month, St. Louis Press Club members were hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden to take a nature writing tour led by Sean Dougherty and Michaella Thornton.

Doherty is vice president for education for MoBOT and Thornton is an award-winning educator whose work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, best of the Net and Best Microfiction.

The educational tour was designed to acquaint participants with special park locations, to build nature vocabularies, and to provide background on the natural world and local landscapes.

Participants were invited to bring their electronic tablets or pens and notebooks. There was plenty of space and time allotted for some short writing exercises.

Among the park sites visited:

– The Victorian District, which includes statues and the home of Henry Shaw.

– The English Woodland Garden, with tall, leafy trees shading a hot sun.

– The Japanese Garden, with its soothing waters gurgling away.

At the Victorian District, Thornton read from Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s Calendar Poetica, including this excerpt: “My writing instrument is a Sheaffler fountain pen with a #304 nib. Everything else in my life is chaos: I am, of course, sleep-deprived, and the edges of my garden start to blur and shimmer as if near a gas flame  … ”

Continue reading →

Photo courtesy MDC.

by Don Corrigan

Roadkill bear news stories usually originate from states such as Florida, Montana, Wyoming, Michigan and California. However, an increase in black bear population and bear highway incidents may put Missouri on the roadkill road map for large animals.

The most recent bear-versus-traffic incident in the Show-Me-State happened shortly before Memorial Day. A black bear that had been spotted in the Festus-Crystal City area was struck by a vehicle and killed on Tuesday, May 23, according to authorities.

Festus Police reported that at 9:10 p.m. a bear was struck by a vehicle and was found lying in the median of I-55 south of Highway A. The location is about 20 miles south of St. Louis.

This was not the first time a bear was struck and left as roadkill on I-55 in southern Jefferson County. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), bear sightings are more common this time of year, because mothers push male cubs to go out on their own.

Bears wandering in populated areas present a danger in any state. Nationally, a number of states far surpass Missouri in bear populations and roadkill traffic incidents with bears.

Continue reading →

The tradition of eating muskrat during Lent began in the 1780s, when French Catholics from Detroit moved south to establish homesteads in what now is known as Michigan’s Downriver region. To survive the harsh winters, trappers and hunters ate muskrat, a tradition that continues with Michigan’s annual muskrat dinners in February.

by Don Corrigan

“Muskrat Love” is a romantic rock hit by Captain & Tennille from the 1970s. But muskrat love can also be about firing up the old taste buds with a savory muskrat steak or a garlic-seasoned muskrat smothered in onions.

An American tradition of chowing on muskrat began in the 1780s. That’s when French Catholics from Detroit moved south to establish homesteads in what’s known as the “Downriver Region.” To survive the harsh winters, trappers and hunters ate muskrat.

The downriver dining tradition was carried to other parts of the United States, including Missouri with its many rivers and its fur trappers. Fur trappers sometimes survived on the little critters as they headed west in pursuit of pelts.

Today, a muskrat meal is not considered a culinary delight in Missouri, but the eating tradition continues in parts of Michigan. In Missouri, you will not find Missouri Conservation Department officials offering muskrat recipes in their MDC literature.

Continue reading →

Photo courtesy MDC.

On May 23, a bear was struck and killed on I-55 near Festus—a reminder that bears are especially active this time of year, and that bear-human encounters are more likely.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds St. Louis region residents black bears are becoming a growing part of the St. Louis area landscape, even at times in highly populated areas.

MDC’s ongoing bear research indicates the Show-Me-State is currently home to around 900 black bears, and that population is growing by 9% each year.   Only one species can be found in this state—the American black bear (Ursus americanus)—though multiple color phases can occur in Missouri other than black, such that a bear’s fur can be brown, red, or cinnamon in color.

Most of our bears are found in the southern part Missouri, according to MDC wildlife biologists, which is where the largest tracts of forested habitat are.   Despite their primary concentration in the Ozarks, sightings and potential encounters with bears are likely to increase in the St. Louis region as the population continues to grow.

Find helpful tips below to avoid issues if a bear has been reported near your area.

Continue reading →