Call Ms. Wiggins…

On our spring hikes on Truman Lake, we pass at a respectable distance, this nesting eagle, which has nested here for at least 7 years.

Remember last week when I said spring was here and the fishing was about to bust loose… I hereby rescind that column. I don’t know that the fishing isn’t just as good as it was last week when we had those warm days, but I know I quit trying to find out. There were icicles hanging from my oak trees just a night or so ago, and I built a fire in the fireplace. Somebody in the Ozarks hasn’t been living right! This is the latest spring I can remember, and I wouldn’t doubt if every tree frog on Lightnin’ Ridge hasn’t froze to death because of it.

Floating down the river before winter came back, I saw a brand new eagles nest being finished up. And not far away, a pair of Canada geese were nesting in a hollow sycamore about thirty feet above the water. It was where a large limb had broken off, leaving a big hole, and those geese are taking advantage of it. It isn’t far from a nest I found last spring up above a gravel bar against the trunk of a large tree, where an old goose was incubating eggs, and threatened to attack me. A few days after I found it, a big rain raised the river and washed away that nest. Maybe that same pair of geese learned from the experience and selected this hollow way above the river to escape any floods.

If you were to ask a biologist where wild geese nest, he probably wouldn’t name a hollow sycamore thirty feet above the water as a nest site. That’s a nesting place for wood ducks and hooded mergansers. But wildlife species learn to survive by adapting. Giant Canadas have long been known to nest high above the big rivers of the upper Midwest along the ledges of bluffs and rock outcroppings. Seeing those geese in that hollow sycamore is really an unusual sight. I wish I could be there to watch those goslings leave the nest and hit the river.

They might be prey for one of the biggest river otters I have ever seen, only a quarter mile downstream. Maybe she was unusually big because she is about to have youngsters too, but that was a king-sized otter.

There’ll be some great fishing soon, I am sure of that, when it gets to a point where fishermen want to let the fire burn down and the sun is warm enough for just wearing one or two shirts. And I am betting that it’ll get nice enough in the next couple of weeks that we can take one or two of our annual spring trips to a wild area on Truman Lake where you can forget civilization exists for a whole day. We take ten people per trip, across the lake on a pontoon boat to a remote woodland where a pair of eagles are nesting, and you can get a good look at them, without disturbing them. We take a three-hour hike up through the woods; returning for a mid-day fish fry, then hike again for three more hours. You will see some wildlife, if we are lucky, including those nesting eagles, and some trees of several different species that are as large as any you will find. It is a great trip for all you master naturalists out there. We are going to try several dates between now and the beginning of turkey season, and if you want to get on the list, call Sondra Gray at 417-234-9104. We meet fairly early in the morning at Wheatland Missouri, and the cost is $40 per person.

I will be speaking on Friday evening, April 1st at a father and son wild game dinner at the Cass County Elks Lodge at Harrisonville, Missouri that is open to the public. It begins at 6:30, if you would like to attend and bring a youngster. I do as much public speaking as possible, much of it to raise money for charities and different causes. If you would like to have me come and speak to your group, or church for any type of event where country folks and outdoor lovers congregate, you can call Sondra at that number above and she will schedule it. I never charge for such events, and I love to help raise money for good causes.

I remember when I was a boy running that pool hall for my dad in Texas County, there was an old timer who had been a preacher most of his life and never really had his own church. He would just go where he was needed occasionally, to little country churches where the pastor was ill or had to miss a Sunday for various reasons. One Friday evening a country church deacon came into the pool hall and found old Preacher Booker there telling a big fishing story. He asked if he’d be available on Sunday morning, and the Preacher allowed as how he would. Then the church officer asked what kind of money they were talking about and the good Preacher thought a moment before answering. “Well sir,” he said in his deep strong preaching voice, “I most generally give a dollar, but if you’ll allow me a whole hour I’ll be glad to pay a little more!”

I never preach sermons, but I have a lot of good outdoor stories to tell if you won’t charge me too much and you’ll let me stay for dinner.

The man who won the Canadian fishing trip last week at our spring swap meet is David Ball, a 58-year- old truck driver who has never fished in Canada, never caught a walleye or a northern pike or a muskie. He will not be able to say that much longer. David has done some fishing, but not as much as he would like, and he intends to take his wife to Lake of the Woods in September to fish for a week with Tinker Helseth, who graciously provided this trip. We were hoping someone would win the trip who had never been there before.

We’ll have another big swap meet next October. In the meantime, the April-May issue of the Lightnin’ Ridge Outdoor Journal will be out this coming week. If you’d like to get a copy, call my executive secretary, Ms. Wiggins, at our executive offices, phone 417-777- 5227. Ms Wiggins missed our swap meet when she tried to cross the creek between here and town, and flooded out her old ’89 Datsun pickup. Some local folks stopped and helped her get it started but they said she was a real mess by the time they got it running, what with wading around in that creek and getting her makeup all washed off and her fingernails broke and her hair back to looking natural.

Ms Wiggins is a fair secretary, but I don’t want her coming to some public event representing my magazine looking too natural. If you call her, tell her you missed her, not seeing her there, even if you didn’t. She could really use some second-hand parts for an ’89 Datsun pick-up.

My website is www.larrydablemontoutdoors.blogspot.com and my e-mail address is lightninridge@windstream.net You can write to me at Box 22, Bolivar, Mo. 65613.