This week’s field notes
OUTDOORS May 7, 2011 12:36AM
Dale’s mailbag
Q: Just saw a [coyote] at 73rd and Kedzie, just south of Marquette Park. Not sure if this is rare, but I’ve never seen one in this area.
— Mike Lynch
A: It’s rare, but increasingly less so, as recent sightings and traffic reports about traffic slowed by coyotes in Chicago have shown. Coyotes are well on the way to becoming fixtures, even downtown on the lakefront.
Related Stories
Updated: August 27, 2011 12:34AM
MOREL OF WEEK
Last weekend was the true beginning of morel finding around Chicago. Tony Bolda sent this of buddy Ed Gurick with a find in Cook County, and we’ll leave it at that. E-mail MOTW nominations to straycasts@sbcglobal.net.
SHABBONA RESCUE
Duane Landmeier said 42 fishermen helped rescue 51 muskies (24-40 inches) and 24 walleyes (14-30.5 inches) from below the Shabbona dam on Tuesday. The fish were returned to the main lake.
WILD TIMES
HUNTER SAFETY
June 9 and 11: Newark; (815) 254-6913.
FISH GATHERINGS
Tuesday: Capt. Mel Christenson on electronics, 7:30 p.m., Chicagoland Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies Inc., Park Ridge VFW; contact Dean at (847) 677-0017.
Thursday: Frank Hyla on bass, 7 p.m., Riverside Fishing Club, La Grange American Legion Hall; riversidefishingclub.com.
WOMEN OUTSIDE
June 10-12: Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop, Lorado Taft Field Campus in Oregon; dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/Bow/index.htm.
CHICAGO RIVER EVENT
Saturday: Chicago River Day and Urban River Challenge; to find a site, go to chicagoriver.org/events/chicago_river_day/.
ILL. PERMITS/SEASONS
Thursday: Final day, fifth season for turkey hunting,in north zone.
PADDLING
Next Sunday: First Skyscraper Canyon Trip, 5:30 p.m. from Lawrence’s Fisheries to downtown and back; chicagoriverpaddle.com. Reservations required at (773) 704-2663 or info@chicagoriverpaddle.com.
BIG NUMBER: 10
Percentage of corn planted in Illinois through last Sunday, which compares to 85 percent at the same time last year and the five-year average of 46.
THE LAST WORD
“Like other iconic species such as the whooping crane, the brown pelican and the bald eagle, the recovery of the gray wolf is another success story of the Endangered Species Act. The gray wolf’s biological recovery reflects years of work by scientists, wildlife managers and our state, tribal and stakeholder partners to bring wolf populations back to healthy levels.’’
Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, on the proposal to delist biologically recovered gray wolf populations in the Western Great Lakes, and reinstating the Service’s 2009 decision to delist biologically recovered gray wolf populations in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
