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:ar • •ey ~ly je la- )5- al je are no ~nt ion )0. sh Volume 10 MAY 15, 1951 Number 5 hio re )De red ent THE MYSTERIOUS MIGRATORY EEL are ------, * liltS * * * * * * * * * *I By P aul Bulla BATS IN THE Reprinted by Special Permission of ~tic Audubon Magazine .ike REFRIGERATOR 'ic Off the North American con sti tinent, southeast of Bermuda and northeast of Puerto Rico, lies a ild You've heard it said that some ten tract of sluggish water known to people have bats in their belfry, but mariners as the Sargasso Sea. lue, there is a young Marion couple red Here, according to legend, the Gulf who have bats in their refrigerator. Stream is born and here below the "Collecting bats is sort of a weed-choked surface is the breed the hobby with me,'' stocky Glen Sand ,nd- ing and spawning grounds of the erson explained. And since captive fresh-water eel. e, if bats are very difficult to feed, he In this sea within a sea they are :on put a couple of them in the refrig • or born, and here, after years in far erator the other day to hibernate places, they return to reproduce ery until be gets a chance to stuff and to die, for no spent eels have ;hat Fish and Wildlife Service Photo. them. Of a ll the fish known to mankind , none has puz:zled scientist s for so long a time as have ever been seen, and adult eels have the The bats are probably just as the fresh-wa ter eels of Europe a nd Ame rica. never been known to run upstream. 1ose comfortable in the paper sack be Of all .fish known to mankind, ~ of hind the milk bottles as they were none has a more remarkable life :Ia- in the Maquoketa Cave where history, and none has puzzled Sanderson caught them. - scientists for so long a time as - Unusual? For some people may have the fresh-water eels of the ky.' be it does seem unusual, but young rivers and lakes of Europe and Mrs Sanderson's interest in bats is America. Down through the cen t of prompted by his work as game turies they have been a food
she biologist with the Iowa Conserva ...... __ ... ~ ...· ...... delicacy in European and Medi tion Commission. terranean countries, but their ped Sanderson probably is the only migratory habits and method of collector of bats in Iowa, and you ;eat· propagation remained unexplained. must agree that his pretty wife, but Men knew that each autumn vast Beverly, is the most understanding numbers of eels moved down M!"S "little woman" in the state. y in stream to the sea, where many Not only does she tolerate his were caught by .fishermen awaiting 1otN hobby and work, she helps him- and their migration, but those that and she likes it. And, in case bU1 avoided capture moved out into the you're wondering, that sort of sit ocean, never to return, for no :UII uation seems to make for a happy adult eel was ever seen returning t95~ homelife for these two. to ils fresh-water home. 2,000 -· Audubon Magazine Illustration. They live at 786 Fifth Avenue in Each autumn, vast numbers of eels move d ownstream to the sea neve r t o return, for no In the spring and summer of td f a home which originally was built adult eel has ever been known to re visit its fresh·wa ter home. each succeeding year, after the t]lll for a garage. But as the housing adult eels' fall migration, tiny eel ~oot· shortage grew more acute in like creatures appeared along the Marion the garage was remodeled SNAPPERS AND SOFT-SHELLS coast of Europe and moved ·red into a comfortable, though small through the Straits of Gibraltar r5(\ home and office for the young By R ober t B. l\l oorman and into the Mediterranean. These tor couple. Sanderson has his office Kenneth D. Carlander fera spinifera) ana the spineless young eels, or "elvers" were in JdS on the second floor. Iowa tate College soft-shelled turtle (Amyda muti correctly assumed to be the off \\'3~ The two met in Manitoba, Can cttS). spring of the adult eels which had he ada, in 1917 where Glen, (a stu Unpopular in the pond but wel Although not the most common gone down the rivers the previous ·biCJJ dent from the University of Mis come at the dinner table! These turtle in Iowa, the snapping turtle autumn. Later the elvers entered . tbf souri) had a summer job as re phrases aptly describe three of our is probably the best known. The the fresh-water streams and rivers .";tt search assistant at a wildlife sta Iowa turtles. For they are noted horny shields of the upper shell, that ran down to the sea, moving ~ fa· tion. for their vicious and savage tem the relatively long tail with its upstream to the interior of Euro b'' Beverly, a schoolteacher from perament, and at the same time crest of horny plates and the very pean countries where they grew to ~pei· Toronto, was summering at the are almost as famous for their eat small lower shell are familiar maturity. Scientists were further 11eiJ station as assistant to her brother, ing qualities. These three are the sights about Iowa's water areas. puzzled as to how, when, and ·or who was the wildlife photographer. common snapping turtle ( Chelydra 11nt ' A more complete description would where young eels were born, be "·est. But after meeting Glen, her main serpentina serpentina), the spiny include mention of the large pow- cause the eggs of eels had never 1 (Continued on page 13ti) soft-shelled turtle (Amyda spim- IC· (Continued on page 135) (Continued on page 134) Page 130 IOWA CONSERVATION I ST • Iowa mal vtsion-if he were looking Conservationist through a yellowish filter." Publ!!lhed Monthly By ThE> IOWA CONSERVATION COMMISSION One of the most devastating East 7th and Court-Des Moines, Iowa arguments in favor of fishes' abili (No Rights Reserved) ty to recognize colors came out of tests conducted by the scien WM S. BEARDSLEY, Governor of Iowa tists Kottgen and Abelsdorf. In BRUCE F STILES. Director JAMES R. HARLAN. Editor all eyes-human, fish, and other animal-the only identified sub MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION stance which permits color per F G. TROST. Chatrman. F -rt Dod,,e E. B. GAUNITZ ...... Lansmg ception is a chemical known as ARTHUR C. GINGERICH...... W ollman rhodopsin; by comparative tests F. J. POYNEER ...... Cedar Rap1ds J. D REYNOLDS ...... Creston of rhodopsin from human and fish C. A. DINGES ...... Emmotsburg eyes, these sctentists found that MRS. DAVID S Y'R'JIDENIE11 D• r Mo ne' each had virtually the same quali CIRCULATION THIS ISSUE . 44.000 ties. Entered as '><' td class r a t •r a t th The fishing tackle business has post office a t Des Momes, lowQ, Septembei 22, 1947, undor the Act of Ma rch 24, 1912. reacted to the color argument with enthusiasm Anglers can buy lures Subscription ra t£ lC r year in practically any color of the 3 years for S 1.00 spectrum for the purpose of at Subscription.. r e ved a t ( -nscrvation Commission, East 7th and Court Des tracting fish. A whole lot less at Moines, Iowa. Send cash, check or money tention has been paid to another order. important color angle, however the use of color in lines to hide NATIONAL WILDLIFE WEEK thctr presence in the water. Jim Shermnn Photo Many dry-fly fishermen will use Since its inception by presiden It is proba ble t hat la rge mouth bass are a ble to distinguish a mong colors In about the tial proclamation in 1938. National same manner as would a human being looking through a yellow filter only light colors m their lines They Wildlife week has been used as a • * • • • • believe that since a fish normally symbol to point out the urgency of THE COLOR QUESTION gUlsh among about twenty colors sees a dry-fly line as it lies on top of the visible spectrum of the water- silhouetted against conserving, protecting and restor the sky- light colors are less no ing our fast diminishing store of By Tom Farley Dr. Frank A. Brown, working 1 natural resources. For decades, with the Tilinois Natural History ticeable and thus less hkely to I we have been digging deeper and Can you fool a fish with colors? Survey, made nearly 15,000 experi spook the quarry. farther into our storehouse of na This reasonable question has ments ·with the color perceptton of Bait-casting lines are, of course, tural resources. Four billion tons provoked one of the longest drawn largemouth bass. In one of the a different story They have no of soil are being washed away each out controverstes in angling. No tests he lowered a glass tube, floating qualities and they are year, our forests are being cut one knows who brought the ques wrapped with a colored band, into much more finely calibrated than down 50 per cent faster each year tion up for the first time- or when; a tank of the fish. When a bass fly lines. Therefore, the possibility than we grow them, our waters are it bas been k1cked around for at swam near it he was rewarded of their casting a shadow in the getting more and more polluted least a century, and perhaps since with food. Then other colors were water is considerably lessened. and the drain on other resources is the inception of sport fishing. wrapped around tubes which were However, the color of a bait-cast equally appalling. Some anglers maintain that fish placed in the tank- but when a ing line may very well be of far This year, with a national emer are so sensitive to colors that you bass investigated these he was greater importance than that of a gency upon us, the need for a care can put down a trout rise, for ex given a small electric shock. After fly line. This is because a sunken fully planned program of wildlife ample, simply by switching to a a few experiences with this treat bait-line comes directly into a p rotection is doubled. As the key different shade of the same fly pat ment most of the fish could dis fish's view. stone to this program, we find con tern you had been using with suc tinguish between strong shades of By far the most commonly used servation education. F or too long cess. And they'll point to a mass red, yellow, g reen, and blue. color in bait-lines is, at present, Dr. Brown decided: "It is prob t bas an apathetic public smiled tol of reports based on scientific ex black. There is no apparent ex able that largemouth bass are able e erantly, sympathetically and dis periments which show that fish planation for this; black is cer to distinguish among colors in couragingly whenever a profes have excellent color-perception. tainly not a shade calculated to E sional conservationist begins to tell about the same manner as would blend in with all types of water. Other scientists, however, have a human being with perfectly nor 'a of the far reaching values of con muddied up the question thorough * • • • • • Nor is it a shade which fish can't g servation. This attitude is fostered ly by proving to themselves and see. If bass, for example, were to a very large extent by a com to a great many others that all totally oblivious to black, there plete misconception of the aims of fish are color-blind! would be small point indeed to conservationists. fishing for them with black plugs All too few have paused long Who is right? which actually are notable bass enough to hear the true story of Well, back in the 1880's the Ger killers under some conditions. a balance between nature and man, man scientist Graber ran exhaus One fishing tackle manufacturer, between animals and forage areas. tive tests on several species and The Horton Bristol Co., bas en between forest land and flood concluded that fish were definitely gaged in extensive research and areas, between supply and demand attracted by certain colored lights brought out a line which they say as a businessman might describe and food. Another German, Bauer, will match water colors and condi it. This then is the true aim of conducted similar experiments in tions- the variations which are conservation, so to balance the 1910 and 1911 and came to the encountered among lake, creek, supply of wildlife that it will neith same decision. river, pond, and ocean fishing The er grow so abundant as to destroy At about the time Bauer was idea behind the blended colors is, itself by impossible demands on backing up Graber's theory, a of course, to disguise the fact that space and forage nor to allow the scientist named Hess was making the lure is connected to a line demands of thoughtless hunters some tests of his own. When he which in turn is connected to a businessmen, farmers, or JUSt plain completed them, in 1914, he an fisherman -circumstances which you and me to reduce any of our nounced that his findings disagreed fish regard with understandable God-given heritage to the point of sharply with those of Graber and concern. annihilation Bauer. Hess concluded that a A good many fishermen will em National Wildlife week is dedi fish's vision was similar to that of brace the idea of blended lines be cated to spreading this information a color-blind man; that its r e cause it agrees exactly with what to all walks of life. To point out sponse to colors depended upon the they have been saying all along. color's il!fcnsity- not its hue. how conservation, or its lack, has The others- the ones who scout its effects on all people, city dwell T\vo more scientists, Scbiemenz and Wolff, looked into the squab the notion that fish can be fooled ers or country folks, on the dust with color? They'll wait and see. bowl in Texas or Oklahoma, or the ble over fishes' color perception in the mid-'20's and stated after a After all, this squabble bas been flood zone of the great Mississippi Th e fishing tackl e busin ess has react ed to going on for generations. - Davenport Democrat. time that a minnow could distin- the color a rgument with enthusiasm. - I O WA CO NS E RVATI O NI S T Page 131 ng
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crn HOME MADE er SMOKE HOUSE tb-
as ;ts 50 GALLON OIL OR' JN REGULATE DRAFT IK FIRE ORUN .sh 9'1' WELOING OLO FURNACE OOOR at TO OPENING Ui- SNOKE SPREAOER 50 GALLON OIL ORUN HALF BURIEO IN GROUNO taS ith res !he at at- 1er * * * * * * • * * * • YOU CAN SMOKE FISH Keep fire low, smoking gently, so ide -- that the smoke rises steadily out By Cur ly Sharp of the opening in the smokehouse. .ISe A smokehouse should never get hot tey Where there's smoke - there's - never over 150°--you should be Jly fire. But where there's smoke, fire able to hold your band inside with :op and fish-something good to eat is out any discomfort. In 6 to 8 hours il.st Jim Sh~rmnn Photo. cooking. the fish should acquire a rich These wild whistling swa ns have stopped to bathe and preen on La kin Slough in Guthrie smoky-brown glaze, and the meat ao· County, 54 miles northwest of Des Moines. Ever eat smok ed fish? Ever to * underneath should be a flaky white, • • • • • * * * * * • try smoking them yourself? You'll separating easily from the bones. RECORD FLIGHT OF THE WHISTLING SWANS find smoked fish have a succulent If you wish a little added flavor 'Se, smoked-tanged flavor all of their brush the fish the last hour or so For the first time in many years no own and will provide a pleasant lightly with dark Karo syrup. large flocks of whistling swans state, however, between 1875 and change from the usual methods of are When done take them out and put have slopped during spring migra 1900. lan preparing th em. Rough fish such on layers of heavy brown paper tion in I owa, apparently attracted The whistling swan is our larg Uty as carp and buffalo are excellent in a cool, dry place. lbe by flooded r iver bottoms. Groups est waterfowl with a length of al and smoke up bettter than most led. of from 12 bir ds upward have been most 60 inches and a w eight up to gam e fish. Smoked sturgeon are It's just as well to call in your tst· reported from widely scattered 18 pounds. also a delicacy when available. fr iends because once the fish start far areas. L a r gest single flock con Use only fresh-caught fish for coming out, they'll sure be ther e fa taining 41 birds was observed on smoking! Befor e they are ready to help with the eating. {eD the Wapsipinicon bottoms in Chick A FREE GUIDE TO EASY for the smok ehouse they must be ONE L AST WARNING! ! Fish a asaw County by H erb Eells, con DOG CARE cleaned, washed and thoroughly prepared like this are dope! Once servation officer. dry-salted over night. Fish weigh you've tasted them you're an ad Considerable numbers of whis Tom F arley has hit the bulls-eye ing over two pounds must be split dict, you're sunk! ! ! Sed with a new free leaflet titled, so the fish will lay flat or may be ~t, tling swans migrate over Iowa each year, but at great heights "Guide to Easy Dog Care." This cut in chunks. If you live near e.~ little, 12-page illustrated booklet TROLLING WITH MOTOR ;er· where they are seldom recognized. the Mississippi or :Missouri river Each year, especially in the spring, will be a boon, especially to new where there are commercial fisher BOATS NOW LEGAL to dog owners. "Easy dog car e is in IN IOWA ter. a few stop on the inland lakes, men, you can buy carp all dressed tended for people who are blessed and for a few cents a pound. We lll't generally in singles, pairs, or trios. with common sense, but who can have a lot of fun getting our own The trolling bill recently signed rere The whistling swan is not an by Governor William S. Beardsley Iowa nester. It raises its young use a few hints on how to make with pole and line. tere themselves and their dogs a little has become law, and fishing by to in the Arctic region. The now very Scale the fish if you prefer but happier." it is not necessary. (Do not skin trolling with a motor bas become ugs ra re trumpeter swan was found legal in all state-owned waters in nesting in this state when the early W rite for a free . copy to Tom fish.) We prefer to dry-salt them 1ass which fishing is permitted, except settlers moved into the natural Farley, G1dde to Easy Dog Ca1·e, and use the following formula, or if 551 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, available use Morton's Tender in artificial lakes of less than 100 lakes district of the north. The acres. On the following a r tificial rer, trumpeter became extinct in this N. Y. Quick which is excellent, and all en· * • • • • . ~...-______ready to use. Our formula is: 3 lakes, motors of five horsepower or and pounds salt-1 pound sugar-1 less may be operated: Macbride, .sa\'. ounce saltpeter- mix all together Becd's L ake, Lake Wapello, Swan odi· well and rub on the flesh side of Lake, Geode, Lake Darling, Union are fish until they are covered with all Grove, Three F1res, Ahquabi, Al ~k . they will hold. As they are salted, lerton, Backbone. tfbe pack them in a clean earthen jar Artificial lakes open to fishing ~ iS I or crock. Sprinkle a little extra on which trolling or use of motors t.bSt of the salt between each layer as is prohibited include the following: liJle they are packed in the jar and Echo Valley, Osceola Reservoir, ,0 8 the same on the last fish put in. Springbrook, Pilot Knob, Pine biCb Store in a cool place overnight. Lake, Upper Pine Lake, Red Haw able .... When fish are removed the next Hill, Lake Keomah, :Mill Creek, mornmg wash thoroughly of all Lacey-Keosauqua, Artesian Lake, eJll" salt and slime. Drain for a few Dead Man's Lake, Lucas Forest · be minutes and then arrange them Lake, Walnut Woods, Arrowhead, ~bst skin side down on the racks in Beaver Meadows, Heery Woods, lg. your smokehouse. Steamboat Rock, Coggon and cout Any kind of hardwood may be Spring Lake. 1ed used but we prefer maple or hicko On all natural lakes and streams 10 ry. Never use pine! ! ! Fire should see Jim Sherman Photo. on which fishing is permitted, there befll Whl s tli~g swans in flight a re things of rare beauty. With their pure white plumage, be kept small and steady. Start is no restriction on the size of mo large s tze and long outstret ched neck they can be confused with no other nat1ve bird. with a brisk fire then smolder it. tors that may be used for trolling Page 132 IOWA CONSERVATIONIST - cuts in the park. Many of the Burton Sweet, Waverly attomey, THE ROCKS OF BACKBONE STATE PARK stones along the streams in the who owned 600 acres of the land B :\ Charlc . G" ~ nne park are from the drift. They can and whose father owned it before • \ ' ' ot·oa t e P rore.,!>or be recogn1zed because they d1ffer him. n e vartm e u t o t (. eo l op;~ in appearance . from .the dolom1te ' Topography of the land selected I o " n 'ta t e C oHegt- The regton m which Backbone was found by engmeers to be ideal One of the most pictut esque lies has been subject to weather- for the purpose state patks in Io""a and one well mg and stream erosion for millions All of the swamp will be to- known to all lo\iers of trout fish- of years, both before an.d follow- cated along the east bank of the ing is Backbone, neat Strav. berry mg lhe retreat of the ICe. The Wapsie River Point in northwestern Delaware IMaquok.eta River has cut a. de.ep Huge d1kes \\ill confine the wa- County It was the flrst slate park valley mto the limestone 10 Its ters of the swamp and will divide purchased and is also one of the course through the park area. it into three areas with each sec- largest, havmg an area of O\.er Tributaries to the river also have tlon contaming sltghtly over 300 two square miles The Maquoketa ' cut valleys, and so the country IS acres. River flows nght through the park, a htlly one The sides of the val- At the north end of the area an and in domg so forms a sharp loop leys ha"e steep . cliffs of dolomite, earthen dam is being thrown around the "backbone," a narrow ~ade rough by Irregular weather- across Plum Cre£;k, and waters of ndge of hmcstone from wluch the I mg. In places,_ huge blocks have the stream Wlll be impounded in park gets its name. From some separated, leavmg deep crevic~s. an 80-acre reservoir that will sup- places on the ridge one can see the Frost action has helped 10 thiS. ply water for the swamp during Maquoketa flowing at Its base on Some blocks have fall.en dry seasons. each side. It flows south on the 1 The dolomite carnes the tm- Concrete spillways will be con- west side and north on the east. I pnnts of corals and other sea- structed in the dikes dividing the The solid rock which forms the dwelhng aD!mals One of. these three sections of the swamp, per- "backbone" is one known to geolo- animals had two-shells, like a milling accurate control of water gists as dolomtte, a type of lime- clam, and Its impnnts crowd the levels. stone. It directly underlies the rock m some places . Many of the ~t the lower end of the project, soil and subsoil of all or parts of rmpnnts are of the InSides of the a illway will permit surplus wa- several counhes of eastern Iowa, shells They look hke some sort t to flov.. through the dike and mcludmg Dubuque, Delaware, of a nut, but of course are not mlo the Wapsie River. Jones, Jackson, Clinton and Scott Backbone, near Strawberry Point In Dela· The trout fisherman of the park Under regulations covermg Pitt- ware County, is one of the most pict uresque w 111 p ha b d t d t 0 This rock, hke so many of the st a te parks In Iowa a nd well kn own to all er • ps e tsappom e . man-Robe1 tson appropriations a formations in Iowa, formed as a love rs of trout fi shin g learn that there were no fish hke portion of the total area of any deposit of limey material in an • * * those of the present m the anctent project must be maintamed as ancient sea This sea covered the have been changed by chemical s~a Fir~ w~~ ev~nt be~ore.~h~~A~e wildlife tefuge. land millions of years after the act10n of the sea water. They were o s es. u e s o . e Hence Iowa duck hunters will be one in which the sediment of the partly converted to magnesium pleased to recogmze that he lS fish- assured of at least 500 acres of rocks of Pike's Peak were laid carbonate before hardening Thus mg 10 an area. founded upon the marsh lands on which to build down, and extended mto Canada, they became what are called dolo- deposits of ancient seas, and that their blinds and as far east as New York. The mites, or dolomitic limestones. This the fine .park r~gwn has had a The balance of the marsh will be ou t croppmg. e d ges o f th e h ard ene d IS the case With the rock at Back- long.t b and mterestmg h fi h' historyd be fore c1 ose d t o s h oo t'mg as a b'Ir d sane- deposits formed in thiS sea can be bone State Park. • ecame IS s mg groun . tuary. traced through eastern Wtsconsin, Long after Iowa and the sur- The stale will keep a full-lime north around Lake Huron, through rounding stales were lifted above SWEET MARSH manager on duty at the marsh the southern Ontario, and across Ni- the sea for the last time, glaciers year around. The man assigned to agara Falls mto New York. The covered th1s part of the world. Come the 1951 duck hunting sea- that job is Jack McSweeny, for- rock forms the rim at Niagara They were like those of Greenland son, the largest concentration of merly assigned by the Iowa Con Falls, and so has been called by today, and were thousands of feet migratory waterfowl in Iowa may servation Comm1ssion to duly in geologists the Niagara senes. thick. When they melted, they left be found a mile east of yfipoh, a the northwestern Iowa lakes area. The limey material deposited m the drift, a jumbled mass of clay, Bremer County town of 1,100 popu- A good deal of the credtt for the seas such as this one is composed sand, and stones. This dnft was lation location selected for this first Pitt- of the chemical substance calcium later covered by loess. This was There, in the lowlands of the man-Robertson project must go to carbonate. If this hardens to rock deposited from the wind, following Wapsipinicon River valley, con- the Wapsie Sportsmen's Club of 1t is plain limestone However, the melting of the glacier. The struclion crews are working around T ripoli. many of these ancient deposits drift and loess are exposed in road- the clock on what will be a huge Probably no similar organization * • • "' • * * * * "' "' • man-made marsh to serve as a m the state can match this group breeding grounds and sanctuary in enthusiasm. for water birds. It boasts approximately 375 Here Iowa sportsmen will see members. Th1s includes practically tangible returns from the federal every adult male in Tripoli, as well taxes they have been paying on as farmers from miles around sportmg arms and ammumtion Numerous members may also be This federal tax is levied under found in such nearby Bremer the Pittman-Robertson Act, which County commumties as Sumner, provides that the federal tax F rederika, Readlyn and Denver money collected Will be prorated When members of the club con back to the states in direct propor- ceived the idea of a vast duck tion to the number of huntmg marsh on the nearby '-''apsie flats licenses issued in the respective they lost no time in getting state states. officials to Tripoli to inspect the The Pillman-Robertson appt·o- site priation provides that 25 per cent The enthusiasm of the Bremer of the cost of the project must be County sportsmen apparently was pa1d by the state contagious, for soon slate con- The stale has acquiied 1,700 servation officials were pushing the acres of waste land for the project, p t•oject with equal enthus1asm ... of which approximately 1,000 acres And although the swamp is lo will be covered with water rang- cated on the very doorstep of ing in depth from a few inches to Tripoli, the editor of the Sumner possibly as deep as 12 feet in one Gazette, with commendable com location where an old lake bed munity spirit, always asserts that creates a sizable depresswn. it is located seven and one-half The project is to be known as miles west of Sumner. Waterloo The spectacular balanced rock in Backbone State Park Is one of the strange forms ldt after millions of years of weathering. Sweet Marsh, named in honor of Couner. Page 133 - IOWA CONSERVATIONIS T •\' daytime, crossed the bridge at that •J• ECHOES FROM TH E nd place, from east to west, and very fre PAST deliberately made his approach to a small patch of woods just west of By Rueben Babcock the town. This bridge is at the ma in four corners, m the business Many foxes are being bagged in district of town. Badgers are seen Chickasaw County, and occasion quite frequently, and the raccoon, lo· ally a party of hunters will round the woodchuck, and the fox and he up two or three in one hunt. Six gray squirrels we have always with ty-five or more years ago a fox was us, and likewise, the cottontail a almost unknown in this part of the rabbit; however, the writer has not de state; however, one was occasion heard the mention of the flying ally taken and it was a great curi squirrel for many years. osity. Oldster s tell of the flocks of blue Prairie wolves, sometimes called pigeons that would came in flights .an coyotes, were quite common, and that would cloud the sun. They iVD occasionally one of the timber wolf have been extinct for many years. of family was seen. A few m en had There was a time when there were in hounds, and these dogs would go pheasants, also called partridges lp· out on a chase and in many in which were never very numerous, ng stances bring a wolf to bay. When and were infrequently bagged. The I was just a kid (I was born in prairie chicken that once furnished In· 1873) the old timers were in the real sport, and a relished food, are ;he habit of telling us of being chased practically gone; however, with the er by wolves and how they bad a last few years people have reported ter hard fight to get safely home. seeing a covey of the birds. These stories were told with varia The quail have come and gone a ct, tions; something like the fish dozen times, and they are scarce 1a· stories that are told in these days. about here at the present writing. .nd Wildcats were n umerous and The deer population of the state once in a while a lynx was caught has been estimated at ten t hou tt· in a trap. My mother used to tell sand, and Chickasaw County evi a us kids (so I know it is a fact) dently has their fair share as prac ;ny that a blacksmith who worked for tically every day somebody reports as Sportsmen a re boys who have grown up under the prope r guidance of a friend or f a the r my father m· a shop 1·n Fayette seeing one and sometimes as many who has st eadied them as the leaves of life unfolded . ' as three in a herd. * * * * * * * * • • County made a hobby of trapping be * • wildcats, and like Frank Buck, he of HOW SPORTSMEN saw this and promptly foresook brought them back alive. H e w ould IOWA DEER INCREASE iild Hegel for Hilda-flickers. I believe take them from the trap by wrap 52 PER CENT ARE BORN he is today a better philosopher ping them in a buffalo robe, and be than he ever was before. I know such robes were plentiful. Iowa's deer population bas in nc· some fellows that fish along the Wildlife comes and goes. For creased approximately 52 per cent I saw a little friend at the city since 1950, according to Glen Sand dump the other day looking for bank here in Bellevue; after land- instance, in the time spoken of me ing a crippled catfish, become in- there were no jackrabbits, and the erson, game biologist for the Con the rats. He was properly guided by servation Commission. This in a friend who helped him steady the veterate fishermen, and I'm not opossum was not known hereabout I to mentioning any names either. until about thirty years ago. The formation is obtained from a ·or· gun, and the lad's father stood special survey conducted by con nearby. The boy (Sammy) didn't Bellevue L eader. beavers have made a comeback on· after having been a minus quan servation officers. kill any rats, but be got some In 194.7, 1,650 deer were reported. in fundamentals on firearms in an tity for many years and t hey are ·ea. MULTIFLORA ROSE building dams within ten miles of In 1950, 4,330. In 1951, the deer orderly manner. His eyes sparkled population had increased to 6,553. tbe at the prospect of shooting. That's where this is being written. )tt· If anyone bas any doubts about An old resident, years ago, told The water courses still contain the way good marksmen are born. multiflora rose being good cover 1 to me he bad shot a deer just below the major deer population; how of Fishermen, on the other band, and making a good fence, they can the dam at the Old Red Mill at ever, each county in the state has are born when they accidentally see the answer for themselves by Waucoma. Recently a deer, in some deer. going out to Walton Oaks, the ;ion land a big fish. I recall the expe * * * * * * L------ouP rience with my pal, Ha rvey, a stu Izaak Walton club grounds, located dent of philosophy. He r eluctantly six miles northwest of Cedar Rap 375 went fi shing with me several years ids on Glass road. The multiflora ago, but remained on the bank rose planting is located near the allY well reading- some of Hegel's output. railroad, creek and rifle range. This His girl friend went in the boat stand is four years old, was planted l!ld· with me, a nd hooked a huge pike in a very dry year, and is now be which broke her pole, and caused thick enough to stop all traffic. Oler much furore in the boat. Harvey Cedar Rapids Gazette. 0er, r. :on· ucl\ .at:, tate p Y CAT, PUSSY CAT t}le Displaying every feline grace, untamed, Your hou e cat stalks his prey my garden through. This picture should be circularly /ranted; ; to- 1 of Aly rifle's peep sight gives a charming view. It lief :onl" t]J!\t - Edward S. Parker, M.D . .bl1il " Th e qual' I h ave come an d gone a dozen times and they are scarce a boutJ m Sherman here at Pboto the rloo prennt writing." Page 134 IOWA CONSERVA T IONIST - self at the breeding stage in au while their t iny American relatives tumn, when fresh-water eels arc drift westward toward the coast between the ages of 7 and 15 years, line of America. at which time the s1des of the1r During thetr first summer of bod1es take on a metallic sheen hfe the European larvae are found and their backs become a deep in the western Atlantic. By the black Th1s is their breeding dress, second summer they have reached and they are then known as "silver the central Atlantic, and by the eels." third they have ar rived off the Upon assuming this dress cer coast of Europe. During their two tain other marked changes take and-one-half years in the ocean, place in the females. Their snouts they have attained a length of become sharp, the eyes larger, and from two to three-and-one-half the pectoral fins, just back of lbe Inches, but still retain their flat • • gill slits, more pointed than usual. leaf-hke larval form. They a re Although they have been voracious now faced with a new way of life eaters all of their lives, they cease and must be prepared to meet it. feeding at this time. Leaving the They cease feeding, lose their lar lakes and rivers in which they val teeth, shrink in depth and
Th e breed ing a nd spawnin round f Audut"n. M•r '· 1"< 111 ' .trou.. hved, they move downstream to length, and become elvers, or "lit found southwest of Bcrmud~ n9ear t h! ;argb:stsho ~he~ Etuhr~p eaa n antd Amt ere.ca n eel . have b een the sea. While these Vl.SI.ble tle eels " While they are shaped • ~ w rmes wa er 1n the med ·Atlant ic * .. ~ "' ~ changes have been taking place, it like their parents in miniature, they are still transparent, and so Migratory Eel . . . lish Channel to Chesapeake Bay IS not until they have reached salt on the North Amet·t·can coast, and water that their ovaries mature. are known as "glass eels." C on t 111 t.d f rom pa~->e 129) U Our American eel has a shorter been found 1D the bodies of the from Greenland to Puerto Rico pon arriving in the bays and larval h1story, for it reaches its adults. and males of the species collecting and correlating the estuaries of theit home shores they size~ home shores and the elver stage had never been seen. . of eel larvae. He reasoned that are joined by the mature males m about one year. After the trans It was not until 1777 that the the lan·ae were growmg as they that have been living there, and formation from larvae to elver, the O\ ary of the eel was first recog- moved toward the coast and thetr together they start the journey females of both the American and nized by a professor of anatomy at fresh-water homes. away from the back to their birthplace in the At European species ascend the fresh the University of Bologna, thus oceanic depths in \":hicb they were lantic Ocean off the Nor th Ameri water streams of their native lands dcfinitely establishing an eel fe- spawned. It followed, therefore, can coast. to live their lives in the interior male sex. Ninety-five years later that the smaller the larvae found It is not known how far below unlll the moment when the migra the sc~enllfic discovery of a male in any part of the ocean, the nearer the surface migratmg eels swim, tory instinct drives them back to eel was announced, but where the such a specimen must be to the but somewhere beyond the coo the sea. In these journeys up eels came from and how they were place where it was born After tinental shelf they pass from the stream, they feed ravenously on reproduced still remained a mys- years of tireless effort Schmidt range of human observation. fishes, worms, clams, snails and tery. Then in 1846, a German, was able, through this method, to Neither is it known how long it aquatic plants, travel through pipe J ohann Jakob Kaup, found in the fix the breeding and spawning takes them to reach their destina lines and sewers, clamber over wa sea a small ribbonlike fish with a grounds of the European eel, lion, but it has been estimated that terfalls and surmount dams to liny head. Placmg the creature Angwlla rulgaris, and the Ameri- the European eel requires about reach the1r destination. The males, in a bottle of alcohol, be labeled it can species, Anquilla rost ratct, six months to make the crossing, however, remain in the brackish Leptoccplwlus brevirosths, after within the latitudes 20-30 degrees swimming at the rate of one-half waters of lagoons and estuaries, which the tiny creature seems to north and longitudes 60-78 degrees mile an hour. As the migration where they grow to maturity, and have been forgotten west, to the south and southwest from the European continent be- await the dov.rnstream migration Half a century passed before two of Bermuda near the Sargasso gins in early autumn, and spawn of the females. Italians, Gracci and Calandrucci, Sea, the warmest water 10 the ing starts in early spring at the As eels have been found in ponds found one of Kaup's little fish in mid-Atlantic. He further estab- breeding grounds, this estimate having no outlets or inlets, it is be the Mediterranean, but it was lished that the European eel seems to be justified lieved that they will travel over much larger and more fully de- spawning beds overlapped those of Upon arrival at the breedmg land to reach these waters, choos veloped than Kaup's fish had been. the American species. grounds near the Sargasso Sea, IDg nights when the grass is damp The Italian scientists identified But this discovery uncovered only the European species shares its for the journey. As there is no the1r discovery as the young of one phase in the life cycle of the spa\vning beds, to some extent, evidence to establish this presump the edible fresh-water eel that in- eel. During the period of growth with its Amencan cousm whose tion, their presence in these iso habited the streams of the Euro- in the fresh-waters of their home beds overlap its own and extend lated waters is something of a pcan continent' Thus, the stage continents, eels arc a uniform westward from it. From Labrador mystery. They a re at borne in was set for the Danish scientist. green to yellowish-brown above, southward to Panama and the b1gh as well as low altitudes, hav Dr Johann Schmidt. shading to a pale dirty white be- West Indies, the "silver eels" f rom ing been found in Swiss lakes 3,000 For 15 years, starting in 1906, neath, and are called "yellow eels.'' America have journeyed to the feel above sea level. Schmidt towed nets from the Eng- The migratory instinct asserts it- rendezvous in from one to two Female eels average from two .. ... * months after reaching salt water. to three-and-one-half or four feet * * * * * * * Hundreds of fathoms below the (Continued on page 136) seaweed-clogged surface of t his * ...... • tropical sea, the eggs of both * species are spawned; the females each produce from 5-20 million transparent, almost colorless, tiny eggs. I A week or so after fertilization the eggs are hatched and lar vae \ of both species begin life with a length of about one-fourth inch. Ribbonlike, and so transparent that newsprint can be read through thetr bodies, they float for a time from 600 to 900 feet below the sur- face. Later they rise into the up 5 per layers of water and slowly move northward. Reaching the flVfR ',\1\(,E latitude of Bermuda a separation occurs. The larvae of the Euro- pean species drift eastward with p Audubon :'t.rnrrn .. ln<' Jllu t:rallon the Gulf Stream on their long jour- -- Oureng t he first summer of life, t he European larvae are found in the w estern Atlantic ney baCk to their native ShOreS, Audubon Magazine Tllustratlon By the second summer they have. reached t he centra l Atla ntic, a nd by the third they Eels have been found in la kes 3,000 feet have amved off the coast of Europe. feeding on plankton as they go, above the sea level. I OWA CONSERVATIONIST Page 135
- them. The two soft-shells can be ground by its tail, its head will ~es turtle off the ground. This will .st- ingness to fight an aggressor is separated most readily by the protrude and can be easily cut off found even in newly-hatched snap character that gives both their with a sharp axe. It should be pers, who will bite viciously, if names- the presence or absence allowed to bleed freely for about of of spine-like tubercles along the half an hour. The most simple IDd provoked. Unlike most of the turtles the front edge of the upper shell. Both way to dress out the dead turtle the snapper seldom leaves the water probably have quite general dis is to turn it on its back and pro 1ed to lie in the sun. What little bask tribution over the state, although ceed as follows: Insert a very the ing is done occurs at the water the spineless soft-shell has not been sharp knife through the skin at its the surface or on the sunlit bottom of collected in the western part of junction with the upper shell and VO· shallow bays. Actually a poor the state. cut completely around the under an. swimmer, the snapper spends con side of the top shell. It makes of Rivers and large streams are the siderable time walking on the bot favorite haunts of the soft-shelled little difference where the knife is alf started, but it should follow the at, tom mud, where it gets much of turtles, but lakes and smaller its food. It often spends long peri streams are also used. They show outline of the top shell as closely J.re as possible. The top shell should life ods motionless on the bollom, its no preference to areas containing moss-covered back resembling a water plants as do the common be separated from the lower shell it. by running the knife through the half-buried stone. snappers. ar tough cartilage which connects the nd Snapping turtles were once Soft-shells are powerful and thought to live entirely on the flesh two. Next the turtle is turned over lit agile swimmers. They can run rap and the top shell lifted off. The Jed of fish and other animals. We idly on land although they spend now know that al times they eat four feet are then cut off at the l!'e, very little time out of the water first joint. The skin from the legs, so considerable amounts of plant and never get far from it. When materials. One study showed that neck and tail can be pulled off or coming out onto a sand bar or bank may be removed more easily by ter about one-third of lhe foods eaten they move cautiously and go scur in :h.fichigan waters was made up pouring scalding water over it. The its rying for the water at the slightest next step is to remove the turtle 1ge of water plants, a third of game disturbance. If prevented from fish, and a third of insects, cray meal from its attachments to the ns reaching water a soft-shelled turtle lower shell. The most important the Unpopula r in the pond but wel~om e a t t he fish, snails and carrion. Snappers displays extreme viciousness. The dinner t a ble, the sna pper has a v i ~iou s , capture their food either by stalk- pieces to save are the legs, the lnd s na ppy t e mpe ra ment. knifelike edges of the jaws of neck and the tail. There are two ing or by lying in wait for it. sh· • • * • • mature specimens make very ex tenderloins in the back, however, lds Snappers hibernate during the cellent weapons, capable of badly Turtles • • • which are delicious and well worth 10r (Continued from page 129) winter, burying themselves in the lacerating a man's hand. When saving on the larger animals." ra· erful head with its booked jaws, mud of the bottom or in holes in captured they hiss loudly and Sauteed or F ried T urtle to and the serrations or notches at the bank. Turtle hunters often thrust out their head, snapping lP· the back edge of lhe upper shell. find a number of them in the same vigorously with accurate darting "Pour about Yz cup of flour into on Normally the snapper prefers muskrat burrow or hollow log movements. a No. 6 (medium) paper sack. Add LDd the quiet water and the association under the ice. A rather unusual physiological 1% teaspoons of salt and 'h tea pe· of water plants found in our small Since they are so thoroughly arrangement permits these turtles spoon pepper. Place a few pieces va· er lakes and ponds. Frequently, acquatic the mating of the males to remain under water for hours of turtle at a time in the sack and to however, il seems to forget these and females takes place only in on end. The lining of part of the shake well. When all pieces of es, preferences and lives in rivers or the water. The eggs are laid in throat is capable of removing oxy turtle have been well floured, pro ash even clear swift streams. June in a bottle-shaped cavity dug gen from the water and releasing ceed to fry as follows: Melt Yz ,es, Contrary to popular belief the in loose soil or sand above the wa- carbon dioxide. The submerged cup of lard or vegetable fat in a Uld snapping turtle is relatively harm ter line. The nest is dug by the animal pumps water in and out medium-sized frying pan. When ion less when in the water and free to hind feet, the soil being loosened of its mouth, getting sufficient oxy hot, drop in pieces of turtle and move about. When surprised un and thrown alternately to the left gen to maintain life. brown rapidly on both sides. Re lds der these conditions it will attempt and right. When the 20 to 30 eggs duce heat, place cover on pan and have been placed in the nest they When not pressed for food these to escape to deep water . If cor add 1 ~ cup of water. Cook slowly ~er· nered on land or lifted from the are covered with soil raked in by turtles spend hours on end floating until meat is very tender. This the hind feet. The eggs may hatch lazily at the surface or lying buried os· water its real savageness is quick in the mud and sand in shallow will depend somewhat upon the DIP ly displayed. It will defend itself in the fall of the same year or water. size of the turtle. The procedure no with vigor, and will even move to hatching may be delayed until the is exactly the same as frying op the attack. An enraged snapper following spring. Food of the soft-shelled turtles chicken. If desired, turtle meat so· holds its jaws wide open, then jabs The spiny soft-shelled turtle and consists largely of crayfish, min can be placed in an oven after it a its head forward with lightning the spineless soft-shelled turtle are nows and other small fish, insect has been browned instead of com in speed. If the jaws reach their much alike in appearance and larvae, and frogs and tadpoles. pleting the process on top of the av· goal they close in a vise-like grip habits, at the same time differing They eat little vegetable matter or stove in the frying pan." ooo that is reminiscent of the bite of greatly from the other Iowa tur- carrion fl esh. a bulldog. If the strike misses, ties. Their flexible leathery shell The three species of turtles dis FOX AND WOLF TRAPPING ;WO the force put into the blow may and the long soft snout and their cussed here find a ready market ·eet be so strong as to actually lift the "pancake thinness" readily identify as food among people acquainted GOOD • with this use. The snapper is * • * * * * * * * * "' widely used for food, even reach It was fox day at the office of ,t/Ofl 'l,'f ing the markets of large cities. County Auditor Ethel Carl, Satur ....~ '1.1 ( The soft-shelled turtles are never day forenoon of last week. ct. captured in numbers and rarely Tom Johnson of Washington reach such markets, but are sold township presented 40 foxes and locally where their flesh is rated two wolf pelts for bounty. Mr. superior to that of the snapper. J 0hnson trapped the foxes and Turtles for eating purposes may wolves in Washington and Jackson be captured in a variety of ways. townships On a single day he Snappers are often taken in large caught as many as three foxes and numbers by winter fishermen one wolf out of the six traps he searching in bank holes and other had set. He caught 13 foxes in hibernation sites. All of them may one field and in another caught 11. be taken on hook and line or in The trapping was done within a underwater traps. mile of his farm home. One of the most quoted descrip The same morning, Kenneth tions of preparing and cooking Chafa of Bridgewater presented 12 turtle is that of Everett Speaker foxes for bounty. Mr. Chafa has in the November, 1942 issue of been operating a trap line south lhis magazine. Portions of his de and west of Bridgewater for a num Jim ShPnnAn Photo. scription follows: ber of years. Greenfield Free Sn a pping t urtle e ggs may h a t ~ h in the fall, or ha t ~hlng may be delayed until the following spring. Newly h a t ~ h ed youn g are a little larger t han a quarter d ollar. "When a turtle is lifted off the Press. Page 136 IOWA CONSERVATION I ST
band uses different techniques Migratory Eel . .. which ha vc been developed to de (C"ontinut.d rom png-P t.d) termine age, sex, etc. in leagth, males a' erage around 14. to 18 inches and never grow For example, the age of a fish longer than 24. inches The verte is determmed by its scales, while brae of these fish m.nl< the only a squirrel or rabbits age can be difterence between the American determined by examinmg the leg and European species: the Ameri bone, quail by its wing, muskrat can has an average of 107 seg by its pelt, deer by its teeth, and ments: the European eel averages waterfowl by its notched tail feath lll. ers Differing from their salt-water Sanderson de,·eloped a method cousins, the lower jaw of both of measunng the productivity in fresh-water eel species projects be raccoon when he was working on yond the upper jaw, and the large hiS thesis. mouth gapes back to a point even He has already published one with, or somewhat behind the eyes article in a scientific journal based On the side of the nccl< there are on his thesis. Recently he delivered gill slits with upper corners on a a paper before the Natwnal Wild line with the center of the base of life Conference at :Milwaukee. the pectoral fins. A single fin, At present he is planning a pa soft and \Vithout spines, extends per on the Iowa raccoon population along the back, around the tip of for the IO\va Academy of Sciences the tail, and fonvard on the under meeting to be held next month at Side of the body. There 1s no sep Waverly. aration into dorsal, caudal or anal But all of this studying hasn't fins as with many other fishes. Bats In t he ieebox, yes, but neither Sandy nor Mrs. Sa nde rson v ~ ~;t':" r n t b~rt to. Sandy, ,like hundreds of othe r youn !J scientist s throughout the United St ates, is e~ : caused Sanderson to lose his sense After the third or fourth year of t rlbut en!J t o th: basle *kn owled ge of the new seiene e of fish a nd game manageme nt. • + • • of humor He can laugh when his life, eels develop small scales that wife jol