White Ribbon Conservation Issue

[Chief Grey Bear]

I am not hell bent on changing any rules. In fact, I have never addressed the issue of the rules. No double standard at all.

Nice try on the spin. I won't deduct points for running out of bounds while claiming to have scored.

Is the armadillo native to Missouri?

[Al Agnew]

Chief, your scenario is a possibility, certainly, but like ozark trout fisher said, it was a human action, the building of the dams on the upper Missouri, that made it possible in that case. As far as I know, there were no spotted bass occurring naturally in any tributary of the Mississippi that entered the river upstream from the Ohio. The Ohio historically dumped in a lot of water, often nearly as much as the Mississippi itself was flowing at the junction, and it was usually much clearer than the Mississippi upstream, so it probably diluted the Mississippi's silt load enough to make the river usable as a highway for various fish species.

I'm certain in my own mind, due to the time lines--spots invading the smaller Mississippi tribs between the Diversion Channel and the Meramec in order going upstream, that those fish came either from the Diversion Channel or from farther down the Mississippi, and the Diversion Channel would have been the closest place from which they would have come--that the Meramec fish came from the Diversion Channel.

But as for the other north Ozark streams, according to Pflieger, spots were stocked sometime in the 1940s SOMEWHERE in the Osage watershed above Bagnell Dam. By the late 1960s they had invaded the Moreau River, which enters right close to the mouth of the Osage, but in the 1970 something version of his book there had been none collected in any of the other north Ozark streams. MDC stocked them in the Lamine, so that's how they got there. Where they came from to get into the Maries and the Gasconade is a toss-up, in my opinion, between the MDC stocking in the Loutre River and the fish coming out of the Osage. As to why they haven't gone upstream on the Missouri, don't know. Maybe the Missouri itself is still only marginally hospitable to them, enough for them to be carried downstream or travel a short distance, but not for long stretches upstream.

[laker67]

Is the armadillo native to Missouri?

I'm glad you bring this up. I think they are hybridizing with our native possum and ruining their habitat.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Just figured out a way to introduce smallmouth to Taney and save on my water bill! I'll just piss in buckets, save it and haul it down there to God's Country, dump it below the dam every weekend, then convince Al to call the MDC after awhile and let 'em know that the temps are right for smallie re-introduction! Then maybe he'll have a place to be happy about again... my hearts-a-flutter for the big guy!

[KCRIVERRAT]

I'm glad you bring this up. I think they are hybridizing with our native possum and ruining their habitat.

Nope... they will most likely hybridize with your coveted browns Laker. Big furry gray hardshell creatures with teeth, spots, and fins. Of course, catch one that's tagged and you're in the money.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Chief, your scenario is a possibility, certainly,

The only thing for certain, is we are not certain.

I'm glad you bring this up. I think they are hybridizing with our native possum and ruining their habitat.

I really only brought it up to make a point. The armadillo has been moving north for 1000's of years. If we would have shown up 300 years later, we would consider them native. And maybe the same can said of the spot.

[ness]

I think the hand of man has been instrumental in the northward migration of the armadillo too. They can make much better time using the highway system, though it is significantly riskier. It will be interesting to see if, over the next few thousand years, natural selection leads to a more car-resistant and/or safety-minded Hoover Hog.

[snap]

...and one of them hogs got hit by a car this week right in front of my house!!! and I live in the middle of town!!! Could not believe it when I saw it splattered there. First one ever seen in the middle of town!!!

[Trout Commander]

...and one of them hogs got hit by a car this week right in front of my house!!! and I live in the middle of town!!! Could not believe it when I saw it splattered there. First one ever seen in the middle of town!!!

A huge smallie got bullied from a trout stream to a road in the middle of your town and you ran it over??? :lol:

[snap]

...something like that!!!..amazing, ain't it????