Most bryozoans live in saltwater environments and they build stony skeletons similar to those of corals. There is one group of bryozoan species that live in freshwater habitats, including Missouri’s lakes, ponds and streams. Worldwide, bryozoans are found on every continent except Antarctica.

The tiny (about one millimeter long) individuals in a colony, called zooids, are filter feeders. They extract plankton, bacteria and detritus from the water and help to recycle nutrients in the water. Their colonies can form gelatinous masses as large as basketballs, although they typically are closer to the size of a softball. Colonies may be found free-floating or attached to submerged rocks, dock supports, logs, plastic debris or vegetation.

Bryozoans can reproduce by several methods. They can form small structures, called statoblasts, which are easily transported to new water bodies by waterfowl. The statoblasts can remain dormant for years and become active again when conditions are good for growth. Colonies can also reproduce by pinching off portions of their gelatinous, zooid-containing material that can grow into another colony.

Although strange-looking, bryozoans are harmless and their presence usually indicates good water quality, as they are intolerant of pollution or muddy water. They can become a nuisance only if they attach to the inside of pipes or filters and impede the normal flow of water.

Of course, nature doesn’t always respond in picture-perfect ways. The purple coneflowers I planted at the front of my garden are tall and flopping over, not standing perfectly like the ones on the book cover. I love those charts, though, that include tips on how each plant helps wildlife, what’s special about it, what sun/soil conditions it needs. It’s not as easy as putting plastic flowers around the yard (something a friend’s neighbor did), but planting perennials once that last for years of blooms isn’t as tough as adding new annuals each year. (If you want to see more information on particular native plants, you can also go to our Grow Native! website.)

The subtitle of the book is “How to use native Midwestern plants to beautify your property and benefit wildlife.” The 182 colorful pages help you do just that for $18 (plus sales tax and shipping where applicable). The books are available online, at our nature centers or by phone toll free at 877-521-8632.

One last note. After hearing about the distinction between “landscaping” and “gardening,” I’m curious what you think. Does one word appeal more than the other? Is it because it suggests more work or something else?

The Migratory Bird Hunting Permit ($6) is required for persons hunting doves, woodcock, snipe, rails, teal and other waterfowl. The opening day of dove season, September 01, 2009, always garners a large turnout of hunters. You don’t want to be standing in line at the permit vendor the night before when you could be at home hunting for your shotgun shells, stool and camouflaged clothes. This year the daily limit for doves is 15, up from the 12-bird limit of recent years.

Teal and other waterfowl hunters will also need a federal duck stamp ($15). These should be available in early July at post offices and at some permit vendors. The Conservation Department’s “Migratory Bird Hunting Digest  2009″ will be online in early July with hard copies available at permit vendors in early August.

Deer and fall turkey hunting permits also become available on July 1^st.  Permit prices for Missouri residents are unchanged from last year, but non-resident prices have seen increases. The “2009 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information”  booklet will be available at vendors in early July. It’s a must-read for Missouri deer hunters, especially those planning hunts on areas owned or managed by the Conservation Department. A table in the back details available deer and turkey hunting opportunities on more than 500 conservation areas statewide.

 Instead of just dreaming of cooler weather and the return of hunting seasons this fall, take steps in early July toward getting  yourself ready for September hunting.

Each year our agency puts on a June weekend workshop (Friday to Sunday) designed to give beginners a chance to experience a variety of outdoor skills. Throughout the year, Missouri Conservation staff also offer shorter Discover Nature—Women classes around the state. The program gives women a chance to learn to fish, shoot, camp or canoe in a relaxed, supportive setting. Some come alone, some with friends, and others with daughters age 14 or older. The Conservation Department also partners with the Missouri Botanical Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve to do a weekend Discover Nature—Women event. It has also been in late Spring.

After I attended my first similar workshop some years back, I finally felt comfortable buying the 20-gauge shotgun I’d always wanted (but had never shot until then). A little later I bought a bow for archery practice. Some of the women at the recent event noted they’d be getting their own fishing gear to join their husbands. Others had already met new friends at the course a year earlier and attended a pheasant hunt together.

So if you’re tired of the usual routine and wish you could get outside and feel comfortable with a bow, fishing rod, shotgun, or camping gear, check out the Discover Nature—Women events coming up now and next year.

I still quail hunt, sometimes with my dad’s old 16 gauge Model 12 Winchester pump shotgun. I still clean my guns the way he taught me after each use, knowing that he would turn over in his grave if I let any rust appear on any gun - “If you don’t take care of what you have, you’ll never have anything.” I can report that neither the little brown glass bottle nor the smell of Hoppe’s No. 9 powder solvent have changed in the past five decades.  It’s nice that a few things haven’t.

I still bass fish in ponds, now with my son, and use mostly the same type lures that my dad and I used. Every time that I fasten a Heddon “Lucky 13″ onto my line, I think of my dad, who preferred it above all others. It’s a beefy plug (wooden then, now plastic) with three sets of treble hooks. It can be cast a great distance and will catch large bass as well as some that are barely bigger than the lure. Other favorites were and are the Rebel Minnow, plastic worms and H & H spinners. My own children now kid me about my antique lures, tackle box and the rod and reel from my childhood, all of which I still use. My Heddon glass rod was salvaged from a fishing neighbor’s trash pile about 45 years ago. My father said it was a good one; I guess I’m not ever going to wear it out.

My father’s influence on my life is not unique. Most children value the time spent with their father, whether or not they realize it at the time. Outdoor activities are a great way to create lasting memories with children and Missourians are blessed with abundant public land and water for recreation. Get out there and enjoy it and . . . have a happy Father’s Day!

Then there are times when I see a wonderful shrub in bloom and want to add it to my garden. That happened in May with a New Jersey Tea bush covered in white flowers. This book would make it so easy to ID it.

Plants are also making that transition from spring towards summer. The spring woodland wildflowers have mostly faded as the leafed-out tree canopy has brought shade to the forest floor. Open areas with native vegetation, like glades and prairies, remain rich with color. The earliest blooming violets, yellow star grass, blue-eyed grass, lousewort, Indian paintbrush and shooting stars have faded and now are maturing their fruits. Now butterfly weed is coming into flower to join the coneflowers, coreopsis, beardtongue, roses, spiderwort, sensitive briar, Missouri primrose and many others.

Wild strawberries already have ripe fruits, providing sweet treats for box turtles on the move. Quail, turkey and prairie chicken eggs are hatching and young chicks are feeding on the great variety of insects found in areas where plant diversity is high. Those areas with some bare ground as well as woody escape cover are best meeting the needs of all ground nesting birds.

Hummingbirds are becoming less common at feeders as they disperse to nest and tend their young. They should return to feeders later in the summer, along with this year’s production of young birds.

Late June and July should bring drier and hotter weather that will greatly reduce the lush growth and rapid succession of flowering plant species. Before the dog days of summer arrive, consider taking a hike at a nearby conservation area  or a state park . Unfortunately, the chiggers are joining the ticks and mosquitoes to the discomfort of unprotected explorers, so dress appropriately and use bug spray as needed.

 This weekend is when anyone, Missouri residents and non-residents, qualifies for free fishing. You won’t need a fishing permit, daily trout tags or trout permits at most locations. Requirements for special permits may still apply at some county, city or private areas. Normal regulations , such as size and daily limits, still apply.  

If you aren’t a regular angler and don’t have a fishing permit, this weekend is your chance to experience Missouri fishing without the expense or the extra step of buying a permit. Perhaps you have fished before but fell out of the habit. Try it again and you may find that you enjoy it as much as you did in years past. If you haven’t fished before, you may wish to take advantage of the special fishing available at some Department areas, where equipment and instruction is provided. Contact your regional MDC office  for more information.

If you have children or grandchildren, consider introducing them to the sport that you enjoyed so much when you were their age. Even after this weekend there are plenty of opportunities  available to introduce kids to fishing.  It’ll get you and them back to the outdoors for some quality time together - even if you do get stuck with baiting the hooks.

At the Summit on the Future of Missouri Outdoors held last week in Columbia, people gathered from across the state to translate their interests into a renewed, unified call. I sat there marveling at the mix of interests—urban, rural, farm, business, recreation, education. And yet, as most agreed, those attending still didn’t represent the diversity that Missouri is now or even less what it will be 75 years from now. Nonetheless, it’s a start.

As he opened the Summit, Governor Nixon noted the importance of the outdoors to the quality of our lives. Directors of Missouri Departments of Conservation, Natural Resources, Agriculture and from the US Forest Service/Mark Twain National Forest and US Fish and Wildlife Service in Missouri shared their views on what it will take to work together and involve all Missourians. (Missouri agency people in photo from left: Agriculture, Conservation, USFWS, USFS, Natural Resources)

By looking ahead at what our future could be and then stepping back to the present, the group was able to suggest what actions now are most important to bring that vision of quality outdoors to life. Here are some of the priority goals the group picked (as I recall from my notes):

1) Get the message out that a healthy outdoors is essential for quality of life.

2) Conserve plants, animals and natural communities on public and private land so they are diverse, healthy and resilient.

3) Create stable funding for quality outdoors

4) Have an up-to-date state water plan and make it widely available

5) Next time you go outdoors, take someone with you (Help others connect to nature/the outdoors)

Sharing a passion for something is the best way to keep it alive and well in the hearts and minds of others. The Conservation Federation of Missouri served as an catalyst to pull people with a passion for the outdoors together. (Video from the opening talks will be posted on their website as soon as we get the digital files transferred to them.) There is plenty to do to ensure healthy nature/outdoors in the future.  The next step will be to give that passion some form so it’s not just ideas but also actions.

It grows as a narrow, pink to orange tube that is six to seven inches long and tapers to a blunt point. At the tip of the hollow tube is a greenish-brown slime, which contains the reproductive spores. The stinkhorn’s foul-smelling odor attracts flies, which eat the slime and spores and also pick it up on their feet. They spread the spores when they fly off. Although stinkhorns do have a disagreeable odor, I’ve had to get my nose close to them to smell it.

This stinkhorn can be found in lawns or in woods or cultivated fields. Most of the reports I’ve received were from lawns or flower beds in urban areas. I’ve had them in the grass of my own lawn a couple of times; appearing overnight when the ground is moist and disappearing after a day or two. Like mushrooms, they don’t necessarily reappear again in the same location.

Stinkhorns are a good reminder of the diversity in the natural world – something odd that we didn’t know existed. Several observers have remarked to me that they’ve lived many years and have never seen one before. Keep your eyes open – there may be something new to you just outside!