17 minute read
Geese & bicycles
Bicycling with giant geese in Rochester
Home of the Mayo Clinic both loves and hates its geese
Editor’s note: Fabled Missouri outdoor communicator Joel Vance died last Dec. 9 after a long career of outdoor adventures, story telling and important issues discussions. He was a regular columnist in the Outdoor Guide throughout its history.
In this issue, we seek to honor Mr. Vance by running one of his columns that we had never used, about the rebirth of Giant Canada geese and how they interact with bike-trail riders in Rochester, MN, which aspires to be both goose- and biker-friendly, sometimes in the same places. How he came up with that topic, we don’t know, but after reading the story, we’re glad he did. We hope you enjoy it. –Carl Green, editor
By JOEL M. VANCE
No one would confuse Dr. Charles and Dr. William Mayo with Dr. Frankenstein, but they created a monster nonetheless. In 1932, Dr. Charlie and Dr. Will bought three pair ofCanadensis maxima, the largest subspecies of Canada goose, which had been used as live decoys (the practice was outlawed in 1935). And today 18,000 Giant Canadas clog the city of Rochester MN like plaque in an artery.
Rochester is the home of the Mayo Brothers Clinic which dominates the city economy, so the city fathers aren’t about to tell Mayo to get its damn geese out of town, but the flock of geese is a whole lot more healthy than most of the folks who visit the clinic.
Benumbed by geese and goose droppings, Rochester frets about how to introduce Zero Population Growth into the avian world. Egg shaking and other contraceptive ideas have trimmed the flock back to its present level, but there still is a world of geese, winter and summer.
It could be worse – in fact it was.At peak, the flock topped 30,000. Giant Canadas, as they are popularly known, tend to resident-nest rather than migrate and in Rochester, they have a lake kept ice-free all year by warm water from a power plant discharge – their own
Vance
little hot tub.
WHERE GEESE AND BIKES MEET
As annoying as the geese are (they do have terrible bathroom habits), they provide scenic accompaniment to a bicycle ride along the Zumbro River, which bisects the city of 103,500.
Other than having to bicycle through copious goose poop, the animals create no problems on the city’s more than 80 miles of bike trails.Rochester is among the nation’s most “bike friendly” communities, along with its larger northern neighbor Minneapolis.
Many of the biking trails wind along the Zumbro and around several lakes within the city. Other trails eddy out from the city, creating a network.
Goose droppings and feathers litter the green belt along the river, a less-than-attractive mess.But the geese are a perfect example of one man’s poison being another man’s passion (or in one case anyway, the passion of teenage girls).
A friend, jogging the bike/hike trail (and dodging avian fecal landmines) said, “Two days in a row I saw a pair of teenage girls – I swear the same ones – feeding Cheetos to the geese.A perversion!”
POPULATION BOMB
But while I recognized the sputtering population bomb, I had to stop and enjoy the sight of 10 goslings being herded across the bike path by their watchful parents.The babies, not long out of the egg, scooted in front of me, while the gander and goose hissed a distinct warning, shaking their heads – you don’t mess with the family life of a Giant Canada goose without risking contusions and shed blood.
This is a hunted flock, assuming it flies out of the city limits to feed during goose season but is protected by city ordinance. They tolerate bicyclists and joggers equably. Canada geese, being birds, are not intellectual giants, but they are among the most intelligent birds, and to them a shotgun blast anywhere within hearing means to draw into the urban sprawl and enjoy human watching.
“Rochester is among the country’s most bicycle-friendly cities, along with Minneapolis in Minnesota. You can link with 60 miles of bicycle trails from downtown,” said Brad Jones, former head of the Rochester Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
And those in turn link with many more miles through the Root, Cannon and Zumbro river valleys.The 20-mile Root River Trail is a rails-to-trails conversion that offers level riding.The 20-mile Cannon Valley Trail is on what used to be the Chicago Great Western Railroad line, which connected the towns of Cannon Falls, Welch and Red Wing. And there is the 55-mile Douglas Trail.
I stayed at the historic Kahler Hotel, Rochester’s original way-stop for Mayo Clinic-bound patients.I wheeled my bicycle into my room from the parking garage and rode out from the garage into downtown traffic.It’s a three-block ride to the river bicycle trail, but once there automobile hazards vanish.
THE ANGRY GOOSE AT LUNCHTIME
Always there are the geese, lounging by the riverside, herding their kids, bobbing in the chop of the lakes. Canada geese are a sociable lot – I’ve never seen a squabble among them, although they undoubtedly get ticked off from time to time.
In fact, a ticked-off Canada goose, especially of the giant variety, can be a formidable opponent. I vividly recall when I worked at the Missouri Department of Conservation, one of the assistant directors was returning from lunch at a nearby cafeteria along a path guarded by a large male goose. The goose sent him in full flight, much to the amusement of those employees lucky enough to see it happen. I think there was some talk about entering him in the Olympic sprints, but it didn’t happen. However, he ate his lunches out of a sack in the office until the nesting season was over.
Every spring for years, department employees would round up flightless geese during their molt so they could be examined and if need be transplanted to other locations. The wildlife workers handling the geese usually wore welding gloves or something similarly protective because the geese have toenails like the claws on a Bengal tiger. They also can flog you with their wings, which is somewhat like being beaten with a baseball bat.
And they have powerful bills that can snap shut like a rat trap –altogether a long way from a helpless creature.
TO THE BRINK AND BACK
The Rochester flock has the distinction of having provided seed stock for restoration of a creature once thought to be extinct. The giant Canada geese once nested and probably still do in the bluffs along the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark saw them on their historic journey up the Missouri and commented on them. Hatchling geese as light as feathers would leap off of their bluff nests and flutter to the ground far below them without injury. Then they had the daunting task of trying to make it to the river before some hungry predator discovered them.
It turned out the most daunting predator was man. Over-harvest and other human-related perils brought the geese to the brink of extinction. Once numerous, by the middle of the 20th century they were thought to be extinct.
Lewis and Clark wrote about many of their encounters with wildlife but didn’t mention any narrow escapes from pursuit by angry ganders. If they did have such an encounter, it probably paled in comparison with a narrow escape that a Private Bratton had after being chased a half a mile by an angry grizzly bear.
Then there was the time that Jim Fowler, host of television’s Wild Kingdom, literally ran for his life and climbed a tree just ahead of the claws of a grizzly bear that had awakened from a tranquilizer a little bit too soon. On the whole, I prefer an encounter with an angry Canada goose to one with a 1,000-pound bear.
Restoration of the giant Canada goose has been ongoing for more than 60 years to the point that the geese now have become nuisances in many communities where they eat gardens, foul golf courses and generally act like 1,000-pound grizzly bears. They’ve come a long way from a species once thought extinct.
LEAVE IT TO MAYO
In 1954 Jean Delcour in his book “Waterfowl of the World” said that the giant goose appeared to be extinct. But Forrest Lee, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, noticed Canada geese roosting on a warm-water lake at a power plant in Rochester.
Lee invited Harold Hanson of the Illinois Natural History Survey to take a look at the huge geese on Rochester’s Silver Lake. The geese, remnants of historic live decoy flocks, proved to be Branta canadensis maxima – the giant Canada goose of Lewis and Clark fame.
Geese transplanted from that seed stock to other areas began to breed, and now there is a nationwide flock of epic proportions, hunted and cursed, sometimes with equal velocity.
But they can be a charming sidelight to a bicycling trip in downtown Rochester, if you don’t mind squishing through goose droppings along the way. And if you do somehow run afoul of a fowl, you’re only a block or two from the Mayo Clinic, where they are fully equipped to take care of goose wounds.
The flock is hunted only when they fly outside of the city limits to feed during goose season.
Lures succeed, when conditions are right
Photos and Text By KENNETH L. KIESER
Many years ago, an old man told me that the majority of lures were designed to catch fishermen, not fish. But this is a falsehood. Truthfully, every lure is effective – in certain conditions.
Sporting goods store shelves are filled with the newest innovations in fishing lures that imitate live bait, especially crawfish, baitfish, insects, worms or snakes. Larger fish like big bass love easy meals that require burning limited energy. Most lures are designed to imitate exactly that.
Lures are manufactured in every color imaginable. White, yellow, black and chartreuse have always been old-time favorites, but every color has a purpose. You can find charts on the internet showing the best colors to use for time of day or night and different shades of water clarity.
Imagine being a newcomer to fishing and walking into a sporting goods shop where a dozen shelves are loaded with lures – a blur of shapes, sizes and colors. So where do you start?
Let’s go old school and begin with these favorites: • INLINE SPINNERS –Mepps, Roostertails, Panther Martins, Shysters and others have a metallic shaped blade, weighted body and dressed treble hook attached to the wire of the lure. Inline versions work best when you maintain a constant retrieve to keep the spinner turning. The constant spinning creates flashes in the water and a fish-attracting vibration.
• SAFETY PIN SPINNERS
– Spinnerbaits were once called “safety pin” lures because their shape resembles that of an open safety pin. A lead head of varying weight is combined with a wire framework, a sharp hook and one or more flashing spinner blades. This type of spinner is a proven big bass lure. Most are tipped with pork rind or plastic tails and fished over heavy cover. There are numerous quality versions on the market. • SPOONS – Al’s Gold Fish, Daredevils, Johnson Silver Minnows, Little Cleo’s and others are excellent for a variety of fish. Plated spoons like Al’s Gold Fish twist sideto-side on the drop, creating a light-reflecting flash that makes predator fish think a wounded baitfish is falling and thus, an easy meal. They work well on a slow-to-medium speed retrieve, making fish think a minnow or shad is trying to escape.
Spoons like the Johnson’s Silver Minnow work best when tipped with pork rind or plastics with plenty of movement and color. Daredevils are occasionally tipped with a smaller piece of pork rind or plastic. • WORMS – Few lures have made more of an impact on fishing than plastic worms. This important addition to angling was first introduced in a harness with spinners. Eventually the harness disappeared, and anglers started Texas-rigging worms by sticking the hook in, then pushing it through the worm and back into the side, making it weedless. Many of the worms were commercially scented with bass-appealing smells.
Today anglers use worms with Ned Rigs, Shaky Heads, Nose Hook Rigging, Do Nothing, Wacky Rigging, pegging worm weights and Texas Rigging. There are other ways, and all are effective when conditions are correct.
Plastic worms should be fished slowly. I let mine sink, then gently lift my rod, keep the line tight, then let the worm drop. You might just feel light pressure, see the line moving sideways or the bass may take off like a runaway train. You might only feel a couple of taps – good reason to use a sensitive but stout rod with at least ten-pound test line. • TOPWATERS – There are few moments more exciting than watching a big bass blow up the surface while taking your topwater lure. They hit hard by design, to kill or stun their prey for an easy meal. Jitterbugs, Hula poppers, Zara Spooks, Tiny Torpedoes, Devil Horse, Rebel Pop-R, various plastic frogs or mice and many other versions are excellent. The best topwater fishing is generally at dawn, dusk or possibly under heavy, dark cloud cover.
Topwaters are best fished slowly with twitches and pauses. Bass love to find an easy dinner, and you are selling that vision. A lure fished faster, for example a Zara Spook, may too trigger strikes. Let the bass show you what they want. • CRANKBAITS – Crankbaits are fishing lures made from hard plastic or carved from wood with a plastic lip designed to push it under the surface. Different angles of the lip determine depths. Some are lipless and shallow divers.
There is no end to the types of lures, and most will work under the right conditions.
These unique lures mimic the swimming action of a baitfish, crayfish or other prey. Hungry predator fish attack crankbaits while hoping for an easy meal.
Crankbaits were so named in the 1970s because you are constantly turning the reel handle to give them life. There are a zillion ways to fish a crankbait, depending on the lure and conditions. Luhr Jensen, Rapala, Rebel, Bomber, Strike King, Cordell, Norman and other companies all offer top-quality crankbaits.
A WARNING
Avoid bargain-barn lures that are cheaper but with little useful quality. They may look like a brand-name version, but there are many differences you can’t see. For example, occasionally a big fish will pull the hooks out of cheaper lures. I have seen this happen, especially with large bass or big trout. Finally, check the internet for ways to fish these time-proven lures. Start fishing with the basics before trying expert tactics. Have fun learning your fishing techniques and soon you will be fishing like an old pro. Sometimes old school is best!
Volunteers clear new conservation area
By DAN ZARLENGA Department of Conservation
The Missouri Department of Conservation’s Young Conservation Area, south of Eureka in Jefferson County, is about to get about 5 percent bigger with help from the Open Space Council of the St. Louis Region and 25 volunteers who gathered March 27 to help make the new section ready for public use.
The cleanup was sponsored by the department, the council and the Missouri Stream Team Program using a grant from the Conservation Federation of Missouri. Volunteer litter bashers included Stream Team members and six master naturalists from the Miramiguoa Chapter in Franklin County, working with department and council staff.
“These things definitely take a partnership effort to put on,” said Bonnie Harper, the council’s executive director.
The new 70-acre parcel adds to the existing 1,300-acre Young area, adjoining at the northeast border. Funds to buy the land, formerly owned by the Click
Some two dozen volunteers spent four hours clearing out 8.5 tons of debris including 66 tires.
family, came from donors and fundraising efforts of the Open Space Council. The purchase was completed last year and the Council presented it to MDC to be an addition to the Young area. A number of steps were needed before the site could be ready for public use, including clearing it of trash.
“It takes a lot of staff hours to clean trash,” said Raenhard Wesselschmidt, MDC district supervisor. “The work of these volunteers allows us to concentrate more on the resource management and not just the cleanup part.”
FILLING UP THE CANS
The volunteers spent nearly four hours removing garbage, metal, glass and tires from the addition. It was a socially distanced opportunity for the volunteers to make a significant contribution to returning the area to its natural state. “It’s pretty satisfying to start seeing the ground again and see those trash cans fill up and know that you’re bringing it back down to what it used to be,” said volunteer Lynn Stephenson of St. Louis, who attended the event with her son and husband. “It’s a great way of getting the family together and doing something. Everyone has a good time and at the end of the day, while tired, we’ve done something good.” One challenge was gathering up glass and other debris on a hillside near the former residence on the area, much of the litter having been there from past generations. “A lot of the cans are just flakes, and the two metal rims around the top and the bottom are all that’s left of them. So I think we’re talking about really old trash” said Master Naturalist Janis Schweitzer, who brought her husband Rick.
PROTECTING LABARQUE
In addition to providing recreation for the public, the addition will join Young and other MDC conservation areas in the vicinity to help protect the Labarque Creek watershed. Missouri Stream Team Assistant Brian Waldrop said Labarque is one of the most pristine streams in Missouri and has an exceptionally diverse fish and invertebrate population.
“The water quality is spectacular. It’s a precious gem,” Waldrop said. “Everything flows downstream, and that means downhill from this ridge. If that tire gets loose or that piece of plastic, it will migrate down to the small tributary, then to a slightly larger one, and then to Labarque Creek, and down to the Meramec and out to the Mississippi.”
TONS OF TRASH GONE
The cleanup work on March 27 helped to prevent that from happening. The final trash tally was 66 tires, 5,740 pounds of metal and a boat trailer, in addition to 40 cubic yards of trash. Altogether the team removed 8.5 tons of debris.
“I’m just amazed. We have two giant dumpsters totally overflowing,” Bonnie Harper said.
The tires will be shredded and recycled along with the metal. “We tried to minimize what went into the landfill as much as we could,” Wesselschmidt said.
The next stages include removing several structures, final grading and getting rid of invasive species. Wesselschmidt said woodland habitat management is in the property’s work plan, as well as trail connections to the existing Young area.
The day’s work was a big initial step. “I think we made some real progress in getting this site on the road to becoming a really great natural area for everyone,” Harper said. “I’m excited for new things to come and the continued progress.”
A volunteer finds old trash to clear from the conservation area.
WE HAVE THEM
2021 TE 300i Rockstar Edition
Also stop and check out our HUGE SELECTION OF MOTORCYCLES.
