tjm

I did have to look that up, I knew what it was and how they can be irritating, but could not recall the nomenclature. I did spend a lot of time reading dictionaries and encyclopedias as a child and remember odd words or bits of information at times, but it's been a couple of decades since my total recall slipped away. I have always thought that those benzenes were likely more of a cancer hazard when smoking tobacco than the nicotine was, but that was just an uneducated guess, and as far as I know hasn't been studied. I've thought for a long time that my brother's lung cancer and that of his wife, was caused by the smoky old wood stoves that they always kept.

Leaves don't burn completely and the smoke carries a lot of tiny solid particles, so that one good whiff could be enough to trigger an asthma attack or worse. They also, like burning any organic matter give off lots of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It's also possible that poison ivy or other toxic leaves were collected there and of course the leaves had some mold on them and that is what I suspect you inhaled from the symptoms described. Although raccoons are pretty nasty critters, I'm not sure they are any more of a problem than the leaves themselves. I don't know if 'coons mess in their dens or not, but I have observed den trees having six or more of them in the same hollow, and I have seen in the snow that over a four week time span that in one den only a single coon came out after the third week, went about three feet from the tree, pooped and returned to the tree; so they must either pee in the dens or be capable of holding it in for weeks. They will poop in the feed storage bin that they are eating out of. Anyone who has ever mucked out a barn knows that horses, cows, pigs, sheep, chickens ect. all poop where they sleep and I think the "most critters don't poop where they sleep" wisdom is a Disneyism to support anthropomorphism. I can't recall ever seeing a nest or den that wasn't nasty.

Most Americans would not eat meat if they ever spent a week in a kill plant and would not eat in a restaurant if they had ever seen the kitchens up close. I worked in a poultry plant for a few months mid '60s and over the years have remodeled several cafes and restaurants, my opinion, the kill plants are cleaner than the cafes, but as gross as both are , millions of people eat the stuff out them and few get sick as a result.

In the Ozarks, they are (or were) washed, then scalded and the scalding releases the skin so that it can be easily be peeled off and the nails removed. Once cleaned, the feet are boiled with the necks and then simmered until all meat is released from the bones. After meat and bones are separated, the broth can be used as very rich stock, very yellow too, or made into soup using the separated meat and whatever else you like in your chicken soup. I think there is more "chicken flavor" in a pair of feet than in two or three whole chickens without the feet. I had always assumed that the feet were used in commercially produced soups and stocks. I am surprised that they are now an export, I guess that means the "chicken flavor" broth, stock, and soups that we see in the supermarkets must be artificial.

That depends a lot on the individual agent. Some of the wildlife biologists would jump on it but the contact people for nuisance animal problems is usually the local law enforcement Agent.

Yes and no, animals not subject to that rule are migratory birds, white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, turkeys, black bears, mountain lions, and any endangered species. Also they don't seem to consider bees as livestock, or domestic animals; so you'd have to have the Agent's permission unless it attacks people or domestic animals. If the agent won't help you with trapping and removal, electric fence is about the only legal option. An empty hive with a bait of honey surrounded by electric fence might train the bear to leave hives alone, but my hogs could smell when the wire was hot and when it wasn't and I bet a bear can too, so the hives would have to all be fenced and the fence kept hot all the time. What a PIA. I'd rather trap the critter and be done with it, but an authorization from MDC is required, perhaps someone in the regional office or Jefferson City could override the local Agent. A large cubby baited with stale pastries, pies and such guarded by foot snares (special made for bear trapping) seems the most effective means of capture.

Need a foot snare anchored to a bucket sized tree. Or a culvert trap. I'd contact MDC, because I think it'll be back until you run out of bees.

There is a Facebook group that should have reports, as people post there every day, Grand Fishing Report

Reminds me of the air injected night crawlers of the 1970s. I bet it will catch fish anywhere that fish eat of the bottom. Did you try your erection system of jig hook and inverting bead with standard mop material? I've not used mops other than those found in the park, but they seem to float.

I was thinking more along the lines of giggers taking a boat load of over 15" Neoshos because they aren't named nor regulated as a gamefish. Or spin/bait/fly fishermen keeping 6 Neosho bass because they aren't smallmouth. And since they are no longer a subspecies they can not be listed as "including", so my take on it is still that MDC simply does not recognize the change. Elk River is managed as a special regulation area but only for Smallmouth Bass, which if the species division is recognized by the state should not even exist there. But yeah, past stockings were pretty ill advised and indiscriminate. I believe Ar put several species into the Elk drainage from the White way back when.

@Al AgnewDo you think a citation would stand up in court if the fish is misidentified by species? I got the impression a few years ago that regulation was left as is because the state employees didn't know the difference, but that wasn't said in so many words. I also recall some past discussion indicating both existing in some streams, and if true that must be polluting the streams with hybrids? If a stream is hybridized, at what point is the species extinct?

They underestimated, 5 miles north of BV the shady north side of house shows just a smidge over 94F right now. But then I've seen it this hot in December too, and almost this hot in January. I recall a Christmas eve that was 90 back in the '60s and a day on a Rogers, Ar, job site that had an 87* drop from 7AM to 6PM. The weather here is always about to change.

I was remembering an older study, but when I found it, it does refer to them as a subspecies, which I think dates back to the 1940s? It wasn't until 2022 that Kim et al. elevated Micropterus dolomieu velox to species status and 2023 when that was accepted by the American Fisheries Society. My apologies for my bad memory. 4 years. However if the state recognizes them as a species, even if as recently as last week, and does not list them as game fish nor regulate them as such, don't they fall into the non-game fish status? How are they protected if not as smallmouth?

They don't list them as a species on the web sites nor have regulations for them. 8 years should be plenty of time to include at least the name if they were recognizing it.

Then it's not a Neosho.

I believe they are still known as smallmouth in MO., KS. and OK, fisheries people in none of these states seem to recognize the Neosho as a species; AR seems to take more interest in them, and seem to think they have some pure origins.

I don't really know anything about "meanmouth" fish, can you tell what characteristics about this fish that made you think that?

Were the cheek scales smaller than on a smallmouth? Did the lower jaw stick out past the upper when the mouth was closed? Was it caught in fast water? The easiest way to tell the difference is by what drainage they are in. More or less if the stream drains into Neosho River or Arkansas River it could/should be a Neosho bass if from outside that drainage it must be some other species. I don't think you'll find any Neosho Bass in a reservoir even within it's range. FWIW MDC is not presently managing the species as being anything but smallmouth, not even listed on the website. (so much for MDC being based on science) And Oklahoma, Arkansas have already stocked northern smallmouth in places where they didn't exist naturally, so the purity of the Neosho as a species is compromised. I'm not sure to what extent. A study of them - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9534746/

It would be the same lot that make money on the Pro and semi pro contests. They will be selling boats and gear and clothing and food, drink and lodging. The associations them selves, the fuel suppliers. The TV, and media companies. I'm not sure how much the states net on the tourneys but there has to be money for them there or they wouldn't keep promoting them. The search bot says bass fishing is $115 billion annually. At the college level there are over 700 clubs nationwide. The next couple of generations of tourney anglers are being educated right now. They'll have sponsors and and endorsement as soon as they graduate.

Pretty sure the high school where my son lives has classes on bass fishing, at least I've run into their high school club on the banks of Grand Lake a couple times. They had pretty fancy boats and gear, I thought.

I don't see it diminishing much as long as boat manufacturers, tackle manufacturers and state agencies keep promoting it; that's why I asked Wrench to explain his thoughts. As you said there is always new blood. One guy gets divorced, another files bankruptcy, but there will be those few that won $100 for their $70,000 entry costs that will keep trying, and of course the guys that quit will have cousins that know they can do better, just because they can.

But those have been factors since the beginning, why would they matter more going forward?

Not exactly, although they are kinda anti fishing and do pose a hazard to other users of the water, but it's a fact that any competition inspires cheating. It happens in Little League baseball with the dads and coaches leading the way. Of course it will happen in fishing contests where thousands of dollars are at stake, even the losers have thousands invested in boats and tackle. I am opposed to trial by media and the "guilty until proven innocent" mindset that seems to prevail.

Objectively the evidence is circumstantial, the weights may match some found in his boat, but are most likely the same as sold in thousands of stores and bought by millions of anglers. The weights may have been found in his fish, but I didn't see where anyone saw him insert them, so, unless the weights have his fingerprints on them, there is no "without a doubt" proof of him weighting the fish. The wardens didn't get the fish from Daniels, they got it from someone else who could very well have inserted the weights themselves. I'm not sure how a Texas trial works or if he'd have a jury, but as far as what "The Bass Cast" reported, if I were on a jury I'd have to vote not proven guilty, although it seems that proof isn't required? Western justice was like the witch hunts, anyone could point a finger and the crowd would furnish a rope, or a fire and no one would ask about the truth. many a guilty person escaped punishment by hanging or burning an innocent. There is only one sure fire way to stop tournament cheating and that is to stop the tournaments. Even if money was not involved, the bragging rights as a tournament winner is enough for some to cheat.

lots of beautiful bradford pears in NWA when I went to Fayetteville last Tuesday. End of March is normal for the redbuds I think, so maybe a week or two early.