Letters

Submissions reflect readers’ opinions and may be edited for length and clarity.

Forest Management

Forest Management for White-Tailed Deer was a very good article. I did this two years ago. I called a professional forester, and he and I rode through my timber for an hour or more. He explained I had no regrowth of my oaks and hickories and my large walnut trees were the problem. A professional timber cutter harvested my walnut trees, and it sure opened up my canopy for regrowth. I’d suggest this practice to all outdoorsmen. The turkey and deer really use my woods as their homes.

Michael Romesburg, Oregon,

Missouri Bugs and Snakes

We are originally from Utah. When we came out here, it was a bit of a shock with the huge bugs and snakes. We had no idea what some of them were until your magazine arrived. I have saved every issue because they are incredible! You all do such a fantastic job serving the public. Keep up the good job.

ChrisDee Lerch, Dixon

Public Hunting

This was my first year using public hunting ground. I went out prior to the season starting and scouted for a location to use. Scrivner, Pikes, and Painted Rock are the closest, and I was impressed with each location. I wanted to take time to thank the people who make MDC what it is. Our state should be proud. The experience has taken me back to my childhood, working, hunting, and living outdoors.

Dale Bruemmer, via Facebook

Memories

I received my November magazine and read it from cover to cover. I am a 91-year-old lady in a retirement home, but I was a die-hard fisher lady in my younger days. The picture of the turtle and duck sharing a log is my reason for writing. I lived a couple blocks from Carondelet Park when I was 11–16, and that park held all our school picnics every June. That picture reminded me of those days. Thanks for the memories.

Laverne Schardan, St. Louis

Nature at Night

Thank you for publishing Dan Zarlenga’s marvelous photographic essay Discovering Nature at Night in the December 2015 issue of the magazine. Those images awed me. Zarlenga is clearly not only a skilled photographer, but also an artist with a special sensitivity for the beauty of Missouri’s landscapes.

Ian Darnell, via email

The December 2015 issue of the Missouri Conservationist was stellar. We do not hear much about light pollution, but intrusive city lights obscure the grandeur of the heavens. Dan Zarlenga’s time exposures reveal what ought to be observed by the naked eye, but is sadly so hidden nowadays. Thanks also to Deputy Director Tom Draper’s cover piece Note to Our Readers recounting his love of Weimaraners. That fabulous breed was also my boyhood companions and friends.

Fielding A. Poe, Sunset Hills

I would like to say that the “photos at night” in the recent issue of your magazine are quite impressive. However, I would like to say that the tree at Millstream Gardens is referred to as a cedar, but it is a pine tree that my grandfather, Elmer Tiemann, transplanted to that location.

Mark Clark, Fredericktown

Corrections

In Discovering Nature at Night, we misidentified the Twisted Tree at Millstream Gardens Conservation Area. It is a shortleaf pine tree. It is one of the most photographed trees in the state.

In Wondrous Wetlands, the salamander pictured is labeled as a marbled salamander. It is a mole salamander.

Reader Photo

Fox Hunt

Gay Lynn Horst of Troy captured this image of a red fox pouncing on its prey in a pasture behind her house. She was able to stand on her back deck to take the photo. “I only got the pleasure of watching this fox on two different days,” said Horst. “I enjoyed watching him on his hunt for what I assume was field mice or something like that.” Horst lives on 7 acres and has a 1-acre pond behind the house that attracts other wildlife like geese and herons. Rabbits, rats, and mice form the bulk of the diet of foxes. Foxes usually mate in January and February, with litters born in March or April.