By Jo Schaper

Last Friday I went out to lunch, and saw a half dozen signs that said Big Book Sale!
Well, they weren’t big books, just some surplus the Scenic Regional Library was getting rid of.

I found a modest number to add to our gently used vintage selection. Now, these are all ‘ex-library,’ which means they have the card pocket in them, and library bindings. They are all in good to fair shape. The find of the day was a copy of “Passages of a Stream, the story of the Meramec River by James P. Jackson. Our readers have asked several times if we carry nature field guides….I ran them out of what they had on birds and birding, mammals, an astronomy sky guide, one on insects.

There is a slim volume on training coonhounds, and a book on white tailed deer.

Take a look at the revised list below, then come on by between 10 and 5 on Thursday and Friday.
If I leave for lunch I post a note, but you can always call 800-874-8423 x 2, and I’ll be back soon. We’ll also have copies of the June issue, the free floating guide, and all our usual new books and other media for sale. Come meet our new plants (outside and inside) and see what we’re doing to spruce up the joint. As always, bring your rock specimens for free ID, too!

Hope to see some of you tomorrow or Friday. – Jo

Top Shelf Vintage Books
Book	author	price	quantity
North American Elk	Olaus Murie	12.00	1
Selective Trout	Swisher/Richards	14.95	1
Come Walk with me	Rudroff	5.00	2
Bull Cook and authentic recipes	Herter	20.00	1
Herbal Home Remedies	Wardwell	6.00	1
Good cheap hunting	Glisvik	5.00	1
Field n Stream Hunting		5.00	1
Rifleman’s Handbook	Jamison	8.95	1
All season hunting	Gilsvik	5.99	1
Hook Line and Sinker	Soucie	10.95	1
Hunting’s best SS	Staudohar	5.99	1
Sportsmen’s Trophy care	Brake	4.95	1
Out of Africa	Dineson	2.99	1
Girls guide H &F	Bank	2.99	1
Desert Solitaire	Abbey	4.99	1
River Rescue	Bechdel	4.99	1
Wildwater Sierra Club	Flores	4.99	1
Your Dog	Vine	6.99	1
Military Mountaneering	US ARMY	3.99	1
Map Reading	US ARMY	5.99	1
Map & Compass	Kjellstrom	3.50	1
Discover Natural MO	TNC	5.99	1
MO Hiking Trails	MDC	3.00	1
Trails MO-AR	Frey & Baron	4.95	1
Geology Underfoot in IL	Wiggers	4.95	1
Arrowheads & Projectiles	Hothern	6.95	1
Learn to swim	McKay	3.50	1
Outdoor Cookery	Marshall	14.95	1
Rock and Ice Climbing	Roberts	3.50	1
Big Game Hunting	Petzal	6.99	1
Family Poultry	Schwanz	4.99	1
Raising Turkeys	Mercia	3.99	1
Ultimate Shotgunning	Henderson	8.95	1
Prospector Cowhand	NPS	6.99	1
Angler’s Guide to Jigs	Oberrecht	6.99	1
Advanced Hunting	Elman	6.99	1
The Canoe Book	Ray	6.99	1
Ozark Whitewater	Kennon	5.99	1
Raccoon in my Parka	Hancock	3.99	1
Reflections Current	Featherston	$25 -signed	1
Digest of outdoor cooking	Farmer	$5/best	3
Creative Fishing	Farmer	6.99	2
Shepherd of the Hills	Wright	4.00	1
Calling Dan Matthews	Wright	4.00	1
Underground Wilderness	Weaver	6.99	1
MO Shadows	Terry	14.99	3
The Coon Hunter	Schlemper	16.50	1
Patience & Repetition	Schlemper	16.50	1
Unspoiled Beauty	Farmer	7.99	3
Canoeing God’s Gifts	Beletz	25.00	3
Rt. 66 in the Ozarks	Sonderman	21.99	1
Old Fish Hawk	Jayne	11.99	5
Pissing in the Snow	Randolph	5.99	1
Stars Upstream	Hall	5.99	1
Stiff as a Poker	Randolph	5.99	1
Passages of a Stream (Meramec)	Jackson	6.99	1
North Star to Southern Cross	Kuselka & Lanterman	4.99	1
Bird Behavior 1&2	Stokes	$10 for both/$7 for one	2
Teach Yourself Birdwatching	Sharpe	5.99	1
Ornamental Waterfowl	Kolbe	8.50	1
America’s Fav. Backyard Birds	Harrison and Harrison	5.99	1
How to raise and Train a Coonhound	Henschel	2.99	1
A field Guide to the Mammals (2)	Burt & Grossenheider	4.99	2
There’s a Raccoon in my Parka	Hancock	4.99	1
Observing insect LIves	Stokes	5.99	1
The World of the White Tailed Deer	Rue	4.99	1
The Prairie World	Costello	5.99	1

We’ll let Plus 1 do the honors. Announcing the MDC elk arrival video:

Enjoy. (Video courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.)

When they loaded elk in Kentucky, there were 39. When they got off the truck in Carter County, there were 40.

Story by Joe Jerek, photos courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.

CARTER COUNTY, MO. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) added 20 adult cow elk, 16 yearling cow elk, three yearling bull elk and one newborn male calf to its elk restoration project in the Ozarks Tuesday morning.

Transported via livestock trailer from Kentucky, where they spent the past four months quarantined in a holding pen, the elk arrived at temporary holding pens on MDC’s Peck Ranch Conservation Area at first light. MDC staff quickly ushered the hoofed cargo into spacious holding pens, and within an hour Missouri’s newest four-legged residents were resting in the shade and grazing on lush clover.

Thirty-nine elk started the journey west, which ended with 40. MDC’s Jake Rieken, who made the trip west with the elk after spending the past four months caring for them in Kentucky, got a wonderful surprise when the convoy stopped so staff could check on the animals. He discovered that one of the pregnant cows had delivered a male calf. To avoid injury to the newborn, Rieken and other MDC staff removed it through a side door in the trailer. They placed it in a large animal crate in the bed of a pickup truck, secured the blanket-covered crate, and continued the trip. The newborn calf, nicknamed “Plus-1,” was reunited with its mother in a holding pen at Peck Ranch.

“He is doing very well,” said MDC State Wildlife Veterinarian Kelly Straka. “He looks good and his heartbeat sounded fantastic.”

Dr. Straka added that all of the elk underwent extensive health and disease testing in Kentucky before being brought to Missouri.

The elk will remain in the holding pens at Peck Ranch for up to several weeks as they acclimate to the area and MDC staff continue to monitor them. Some cows will begin dropping calves while in the holding pens.

“We’ve divided the pregnant cows into small groups in various pens to give them privacy and reduce their stress,” said Dr. Straka. “Those that do not calve before being released from the holding pens will seek out secluded spots to give birth. Most calves should be born by mid-June. This year’s group of 40 elk will add to the approximately 70 already living in the restoration zone. We expect several dozen new calves this spring from established elk, plus more calves from this year’s group.”

The Missouri restoration of this once-native species began with MDC bringing elk from Kentucky in May 2011 and again in May 2012 to the Department’s elk restoration zone covering 221,000 acres in parts of Shannon, Carter, and Reynolds counties.

This year, MDC again worked with Kentucky and Virginia state wildlife agencies to trap elk in January from the Appalachian Mountains of southeastern Kentucky. The effort resulted in 51 elk being trapped with Missouri getting 39, plus the newborn calf. Virginia will receive the remaining elk for its restoration effort.

As done in the previous two years of trapping, Missouri-bound elk received radio collars right before their trip west as part of a research project between MDC and the University of Missouri. The collars help track movement patterns and preferred habitat. The research project is funded by Federal Aid from the Wildlife Restoration Program administered through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation helped fund the 2013 capture and care of the elk in Kentucky. RMEF also donated materials and volunteer help at both Kentucky and Missouri holding facilities.

“This restoration effort is another conservation legacy, for us and for future generations, that could not have been possible without the enormous help and support from our staff and many conservation partners including The Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, LADD Foundation and Forest Service,” said MDC Deputy Director Tom Draper.

“On behalf of MDC leadership,” Draper continued, “we continue to be impressed with the passion, talent and dedication of MDC staff, and thankful for their ongoing hard work on this project. We are also grateful to the states of Kentucky and Virginia for their partnerships in elk restoration. We also thank the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, Big Game Hunters Foundation and Bass Pro Shops for their generous funding and support of this project. We are grateful to the many local landowners who have shown their support by creating elk habitat on their nearby properties, and to the communities of Eminence, Winona, Ellington and Van Buren, which have embraced the effort. We are also appreciative of The University of Missouri and the University of Kentucky for providing research support for the project.”

As in the past two years of elk restoration efforts, the 12,000-acre Refuge Area at Peck Ranch, where elk tend to congregate, is closed into July as new elk acclimate and cows give birth. MDC will open the area to elk driving tours later this summer.

For more information on elk restoration in Missouri, visit mdc.mo.gov.

(MDC news release)
(VIdeo/Link to live peregrine chick cam)
Four St. Louis FalconCam chicks flourishing, banded for WBS research

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Through a partnership of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Ameren Missouri and the World Bird Sanctuary (WBS), people around the world have been getting a bird’s-eye view of peregrine falcons raising four chicks in a nest box at Ameren’s Sioux Energy Center in St. Louis. A camera mounted near the birds’ nest box provides video feeds to each organization’s website.

This year’s nesting activities were first spotted in the beginning of February. According to WBS Director Jeff Meshach, the female peregrine falcon laid four eggs in mid-March, which hatched in mid-April.

Meshach placed leg bands on the four falcon chicks on May 17 — three males and one female. Continue reading Peregrine chick cam stars doing well, now banded

By Jo Schaper

It’s official. Turtles are on the move. I’ve stopped twice in the last three days to turn turtles (one three-toed and one painted if you must know) that for some reason have decided to travel the roads in the same direction as traffic, as opposed to simply cross the road in search of turtle love.

So far, by my count, it’s live turtles 4, squashed armadillos 5. How about you?

We had so much fun with this last year, the little kid in us says; AGAIN!

Opening Turtle Photo Contest II – Now until June 1

Rules: Original photos only. Post on our Facebook page, or send to Jo and she will post for you.
No prior entries. If we get 10 entries, there will be fabulous prizes for the winner and runner up.
Contest open until midnight May 31. Winner by number of ‘likes’ on Traveler’s FB page only.
Winner announced June 1. Make sure we have a way to reach you (phone or email) to notify winners.

Meanwhile, help those turtles across the road if you can do so safely.

Lens & Pen Press’s newest title is their third book to receive IPPY recognition

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir, by Leland and Crystal Payton, has won a silver medal in Best Regional Non-Fiction Mid-West (which includes eight states) in the 2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Lens & Pen Press’s newest title is their third book to receive such recognition. Mystery of the Irish Wilderness in 2009 received a gold medal; See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image was an IPPY award finalist in 2004.

This respected competition is open to independent book producers, university presses, and divisions of major publishers that release 50 or fewer books a year. Chosen from a total of 5,300 entries, the 382 medalists represent 44 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, five Canadian provinces, and eight countries overseas. Co-author Crystal Payton will receive the award at a ceremony on May 29th, in New York City. Continue reading Damming The Osage Awarded National Silver Medal

The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Fourth Annual Prairie BioBlitz will be held on June 1-2 at Lattner

and Denison Prairies in Vernon and Barton Counties. At these prairies, owned by the Missouri Prairie Foundation, you can take part in intensive nature study with experts on mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, bees, ants, butterflies, moths, and plants, and help inventory species on the 440-acre prairies, divided by the county line. An interest in nature is all that is required.[ Continue reading 4th annual BioBlitz provides opportunity to study prairie flora, fauna alongside experts in field

By Jo Schaper

As I put together the Float Trip Guide my eyes kept drifting across the room to our paddling books.
While many of our people are old hands at the river, float technique and finding where to get information they may need, I noted five titles that might prove useful in our gently used and vintage book section.
These are ones of a kind, so if you want one, please jump at the chance by calling or emailing Jo Schaper at either 800-874-8423 x2 or jschaper@rhtrav.com. Prices are before tax and shipping. Sometimes we’re negotiable on price…we’re not going to give these away, but if you’re ordering multiples, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Let’s start at the beginning. How about a book called “Learn to Swim” by Rob & Kathy McKay. This 128 page book is for parents wanting to “waterproof” small children in a fun and safe manner. For $3.50, this is a steal. Not everyone is an Olympic star, but knowing how to ‘not drown’ is a good first step to enjoying paddlesports. Continue reading Need to know how to canoe? Traveler has books

The River Hills Traveler Float Trip Guide 2013 is now online. A big 20 all-color pages, we cover more rivers than ever before, including Emery’s childhood hangout, the Elk in southwest Missouri, and the Buffalo River in Northwest Arkansas. This

Did we miss your favorite stream? Tell us and we’ll try to go there next year. This publication holds all you need to know to plan your next river outing, so share it with friends!

Squirrels and smallmouth bass make Missouri a great place to hunt and fish.

JEFFERSON CITY–Whether your taste in outdoor activities runs toward fishing or hunting, May 25 is a day to mark on your calendar.

Missouri’s hunting season for gray and fox squirrels opens May 25 and runs through Feb. 15, 2014. Legal methods include rifles, shotguns, or archery equipment. The aggregate bag limit is 10 squirrels and the possession limit is 20.
“Aggregate” means hunters may harvest any combination of fox and gray squirrels so long as they do not exceed 10 squirrels total in one day. If hunters bag a daily limit two days in a row, they will have a possession limit of 20 squirrels. After that, they must eat or give away some squirrels before going hunting again in order to stay within the possession limit.

Largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, known collectively as black bass, may be caught and possessed throughout the year from impoundments and in areas other than the Ozarks. These “other” areas are defined as the Mississippi River, all waters north of the south bank of the Missouri River, the St. Francis River downstream from Wappapello Dam, and streams in that portion of southeast Missouri bounded by a line from Cape Girardeau following Missouri highways 74 and 25, U.S. highways 60, 67, and 160, and the west bank of the Little Black River to the Arkansas state line. Black bass may be caught year-round in the defined area of the Ozarks, but they must be released immediately after being caught from March 1 through the Friday before fourth Saturday in May.

The daily limit on black bass in most of the state’s waters is six, with a possession limit of 12. However, many lakes and streams are subject to special daily and length limits. These are listed in the 2013 Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations. The booklet is available from permit vendors, Missouri Department of Conservation offices, and online at mdc.mo.gov/node/11414.

The 2013 Summary of Missouri Hunting and Trapping Regulations is available at mdc.mo.gov/node/3611416.