The June Traveler issue is our annual float issue. A young friend of mine, Jimmy Sherrell, said he saw this a day ago and thought of me.

What’s the best ORIGINAL caption you can come up with for these guys? There have to be hundreds of them out there.

Post your best caption here, or on Facebook and we’ll pick the one which most strikes our fancy at noon on Friday, and we’ll come up with some nice prize for the winner.

Jo only wishes the original wasn’t so large…or expensive. Sigh.

Jim Smith of Eminence’s CCTR and Wild Horse League, and the wild horses themselves have made the Wall Street Journal Online in an article about the problem of horse dumping in rural areas, and the controversy over establishing horse slaughterhouses in the U.S.

It’s a problem with no easy solution. Animal rights advocates believe horse slaughter is morally wrong. Others see it as the only solution for unwanted or unadoptable animals. Continue reading Shannon County wild horses targeted for “dumpouts”

Even hardworking employees have to have a little fun in their lives. Last night my husband Eugene and I went to a concert in Columbia, Mo. This double bill consisted of the farewell tour of Big Smith, a Southwest Missouri family string/bar/Ozark hill band, and a reunion concert of Ozark Mountain Daredevils, a 1970s era country rock band, most of whom are Missourians, and who found their music when they were in school together at SMSU (now MSU) in Springfield. Some members of the latter have been playing together occasionally at Wildwood Springs Lodge in Steelville for some time now; this concert included 10 men who were members over the years.
I’m going to miss Big Smith. The concert was excellent on many fronts, including lots of audience involvement, and a “burn down the house” encore of “Beauty in the River” which magically made everyone in the about 1250 person venue, graying rocker and onlooker alike, about 20 years old, if only for the duration of the song.

Still, it was Mike Granda singing his original and totally atypical novelty song Continue reading If you are from STL or Eastern Missouri…watch this

What do you think when you’re told you have to retrain someone?

You can imagine what I was thinking when I was told I’m going to have to retrain my honey bees.

Not all of them, just ones that keep sneaking into the hive from the back side.

It all started last winter, when a mouse family moved into the bottom super – or floor – of Gertrude hive, the hive that struggled most of last year after loosing the queen bee.

Each colony only has one queen but she sets the tone for the hive, and the bees since her only job is to lay eggs – as many as 1,200 a day.

Using the shiny silver insulation from the styrofoam I wrapped around the hive around Christmas, mice took over 2/3rs of the hive floor with their beautifully decorated nest.

I removed the mouse nest early March and replaced the damaged hive frames with new ones.

A few weeks later, I found wax moths had moved into a frame with dappled cells – the girls were raising drones, or male bees. They’ll raise about 1,000, then kick them out of the hive this fall before winter sets in.

To get rid of the wax moths, I had to destroy the whole frame, including drones, by placing the frames in a bag in the freezer for a day. Continue reading Bees in Training?

Longtime conservationist Leo Drey and the L-A-D Foundation have been honored with a proclamation from the Missouri Department of Conservation, thanking them for protecting Missouri’s forests and natural areas.

Public appearances by Drey, 95, have been rare in recent years. But he took the stage last week to accept the award, delivered by MDC Director Bob Ziehmer during a picnic celebrating the L-A-D Foundation’s 50th anniversary.

The proclamation was signed by Missouri Conservation Commission Chairman Don Johnson.

Since 1962, when Drey and his wife Kay, St. Louis, founded the L-A-D Foundation, the organization has Continue reading MDC honors Leo Drey, L-A-D Foundation for protection of Missouri forests, natural areas

A story in USA Today this morning about the fading of interesting American place names rang a bell with me. I’ve been a longtime grouch about real estate developers displacing homegrown American communities with fancy sounding, brand new towns with names like Saddlebrooke or Anthem and street names like Chantilly Lane and Venetian Way.

Spare me the European references that have nothing to do with the history of the place. Give me a West Plains where I can drive on Porter Wagoner or Preacher Roe boulevards, named for two locals who Continue reading Colorful names are fun but they just don’t rake in the bucks

By Bill Graham, MDC

WAH-KON-TAH PRAIRIE, Mo. — Greater prairie chickens, missing for some years among the grasses at Wah-Kon-Tah Prairie, strutted and boomed again this spring in an eons-old mating ritual. Biologists, digging deep in grassland ecology to save the species in Missouri, brought them back. Now, they watch to see if this iconic but state-endangered member of the grouse family can be restored long-term to prairies where they once thrived.

“Hopeful is the right word,” said Max Alleger, grassland bird coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “Perhaps our biggest question is whether intensive management can in the long run balance the fact that our grasslands are limited in size. Do we have enough grasslands to support prairie chickens on the landscape?”

A five-year translocation project by MDC to help answer the question concluded in April. MDC crews trapped Kansas prairie chickens where they are plentiful in the grassy Smoky Hills. Biologists then gave the birds leg bands and tiny radio transmitters before releasing them at Wah-Kon-Tah’s native grasslands north of El Dorado Springs. Continue reading Prairie chicken prospects looking better

Northwest Missouri event slated for Saturday, May 12

Wild birds make remarkable journeys, sometimes between continents, or they endure the weather extremes as year-round residents. That they do so in various colors and sizes, and with ingenious adaptive survival skills, is remarkable.
The annual Wings over Weston festival will celebrate birds and watching them from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at Weston Bend State Park, 16600 Highway 45 North in Platte County. Art, games, crafts, live bird exhibits, bird banding, educational programs and bluegrass music will be among the activities. Continue reading Wings over Weston fest devoted to birds and birding

May 19, 2012 is National Get Kids to Parks Day with the National Park Trust. I think we all can full agree that I take advantage of our local, state, and national parks and what all they have to offer. Hey I am lover of anything those kiddos of mine busy.

There is 3 events held in the state of Missouri for National Get Kids to Parks Day; Frontier Children’s Festival in Ash Grove, Quest U City in University City, Spring Kids Fishing Day at Roaring River State Park in Casseville, MO.

That is just three places in Missouri that you can enjoy some of festivities, but if you are like me those 3 locations are a bit of a drive. Do not fret, we got ya covered! National Get Kids to Parks Day, can be any park, your local park, the State Park up the road, or a National Park that you have been dreaming of visiting. Continue reading National Kids to Parks Day 2012

The second annual Sustainable Backyard Tour is set for Sunday, June 24 from 11 to 4 p.m. in private backyards throughout the St. Louis area.
“This self-guided tour will open the gates to private yards and gardens so that attendees can ask and learn, pick up new ideas, and share inspiration,” says Terry Winkelmann, owner of Home Eco and tour founder.
“The Sustainable Backyard is about converting unproductive, high-maintenance ground Continue reading 2nd Annual Sustainable Backyard Tour set for June 24