Nothing makes a raccoon any madder than when a family of humans invades its sweet corn patch. It happens every summer in Iowa. But the masked marauders sometimes get the last laugh by raiding brim full garbage cans and scattering the heat ripened contents far and wide. They add further insult by conducting late night
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Predicts Strong Duck Migration For 2016             When the leaves turn color and autumn winds blow, Iowa duck hunters can anticipate seeing a strong migration during 2016. That’s the official assessment from this year’s North American Breeding Duck and Habitat Survey released this week by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Conducted
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  One thing that my Dad and I could always agree on was that neither one of us had ever landed a walleye while mowing the lawn. I am reminded of that depressing truth every time I crank up the mower and begin another mindless session of circling round and round the yard; engine roaring, blades
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  They were a motley looking crew; a bachelor group of four drake mallards quietly sneaking their way through an opening in the cattails. Deep into the summer molt, the birds scarcely resembled the familiar elegantly plumed “Greenheads” of early spring. Rendered flightless by a complete loss of primary wing feathers, the drakes would remain grounded
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             Not All Wildlife Encounters End in Warm Fuzzies  Nothing compares to a day spent in the great out-of-doors. Depending on individual interests, outdoor fun may include hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing, biking or birding. The list is virtually endless. But hidden among all that outdoor fun are potential dangers; many of which may take us by complete
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  The Fourth of July parades and picnics may be past; but for this North Iowa gobbler the celebration continues.  In spite of the calendar date and return of mid-summer heat, I spotted this gobbler proudly strutting his stuff in a Cerro Gordo County hay field.  Assuming he began displaying [like most gobblers did] sometime in
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  GOOSE RODEO AIDS IN WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT VENTURA -- The trap was set. The noose was tightening. With canoes, kayak, and DNR patrol boat drawing ever closer; the retreating goose flock had little chance for escape. With adult geese rendered temporarily flightless by the summer molt and this year's crop of youngsters not yet capable of taking
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Moving from one home to another is never an easy task, especially if you’re a mother with eight growing kids to look after. That’s the Moving Day scene that unfolded when I caught a glimpse of a female opossum busily engaged in relocating her youngsters from their den in Clear Lake’s McIntosh Woods State Park
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  Iowa turkey hunters harvested 12,173 gobblers during this year’s five-part spring hunting season which ended May 22. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the harvest represents the largest number of spring turkeys bagged since hunters were first required to report their harvest beginning in 2007. Nearly 51,000 licenses were issued for the 2016
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                The spring migration of blue-winged teal through Iowa is one of my favorite outdoor events.  Teal are rarely at rest during spring migration; courtship flights occur from dawn to dusk as hens lead parties of colorful drakes in dramatic low level, high speed chases that twist and turn across the marsh.  Whenever flocks touch down the show
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  A nearly impenetrable fortress of mature oak, wild grape, and dense gooseberry has helped to keep Bill’s pond a well-kept secret. Small but mighty, the shallow wetland is barely twenty yards in width and is well punctuated with a mix of emerging sedges, river bulrush, and floating duckweed. For nesting wood ducks, Bill’s pond is
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  Although the peak of this year's morel mushroom crop is past, the hunt is not over.  A mix of generally favorable temperatures and ample moisture is sustaining the harvest for hunters scouring the peaks and valleys of Iowa's Upper Mississippi River bluff country.  While turkey hunting in Clayton County this week, I've managed to stumble into enough fresh 'shrooms for some
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