Missouri Department of Conservation

Photo: Wolf Wandering Missouri Shot Dead By Hunter Who Thinks It's a Coyote

What are you more afraid of, a coyote wandering around Missouri -- or a wolf? In this case, it doesn't really matter, because the animal on the loose was killed by a hunter, says the Missouri Department of Conservation. The canine in question, new analysis shows, was in fact a wolf, though the hun ... More >>

Photo: Mountain Lion Spotted Near Elk Calf Carcass; Provides Clue About The Cougar's Diet

The Missouri Department of Conservation has released a photo of a mountain lion that was spotted in Carter County -- but the sneaky cougar caught on camera is not the most newsworthy part of the photograph. The image, large version on view below, shows the mountain lion right next to a depressing- ... More >>

Missourians Warned to Stay Away From Skunks

Skunks. So cute, so cuddly, so (if Looney Tunes is to be believed) romantic. You almost want to run out and trap your girlfriend one for Valentine's Day this Thursday, don't ya? Well, don't. Skunks are wild animals, ya'll. And they've got those musk glands they can squirt you with. That stuff will ... More >>

[PHOTO] Big Mountain Lion on the Prowl in Southeast Missouri

The following photo was taken by a trail camera on Dec. 21, near Van Buren in Carter County. The Missouri Department of Conservation has confirmed that it's a mountain lion. This particular photo, snapped in front of a deer stand, reveals a couple things: (1) How big these cats really are, and (2) W ... More >>

Another Mountain Lion Sighting - This Time Near Branson!

And so it continues. The Missouri Department of Conservation has just confirmed the fourth Mountain Lion sighting in the last two months. All have occurred in southern Missouri. The most recent photo was taken by a wildlife camera in Taney County, near Branson, on Halloween night. We know mountain l ... More >>

[PHOTO] Wild Bobcat Prowls Near Missississippi River. How Common are These Big Felines?

A reader up in Pike County, Illinois just sent us a photo of a bobcat. It was taken automatically by a wildlife camera on their property near the Mississippi River -- and in broad daylight. It's a totally sweet picture -- and as loyal readers know, Daily RFT lurves blogging about animals (albino hum ... More >>

Thousands of White-Tailed Deer Killed by Horrible-Sounding Disease

Some 2,800 deer have been killed in Missouri this year by something called "hemorrhagic disease," says the Missouri Department of Conservation. Here's the damage it does: Most deer infected with HD tend to die within one to three days. Typical symptoms include fever, excessive salivation, swollen ne ... More >>

Another Mountain Lion Caught on Camera Last Week in Shannon County

They keep coming. The Missouri Department of Conservation has confirmed that the animal in the photo to the right is indeed a mountain lion. It was photographed September 10 and 11 by a wildlife cam on public land near Eminence.  According to MDC, "widely scattered mountain-lion sightings have ... More >>

Albino Hummingbird Spotted in KC Is "Extremely Rare," Probably Going to Die Soon

A few weeks ago, a couple in North Kansas City saw this creature come to their hummingbird feeder. Here's how unusual that is:

Bear Cam!

We like "cams" -- head cam footage from the Grafton Zipline, for example, or the first-ever turkey vulture cam. But now we bring you, courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation: Bear Cam! What the MDC is doing is tranquilizing black bears and then fitting them with a camera that's designe ... More >>

In-Froggin'-Credible! Top 5 Interesting Facts About Frogging Season

Sure, it's so hot today you want to throw up. But tonight, after sunset, froggin' season begins! Below are some facts about frogging that might make you, well, grab your pole and get to it: Fact #5: Frog legs are delish,  you guys. They actually taste like fresh-water fish. If you eat fish, but ... More >>

VIDEO: After Almost a Century and a Half, Missouri Has Wild Elk Again

The gates to the temporary holding pen have finally been opened. Wild elk -- unknown to our state since the end of the Civil War -- are back. As the man in the video says: "Welcome to freedom." The Farm Bureau has warned that reintroducing elk to Missouri would wreak havoc on farms and roads. The ... More >>

'Shrooms Poppin' Up, Missourians Gittin' Some

​With gray and yellow morels peeking out of the soil all across Missouri, the Internets are all abuzz that the mushroom-foraging season has begun.  Judging from a statewide chat room (where users such as "Morelmaniac," "sponge rocket," "Shroomfever" and "Eagle Eye Mike" trade tips and tricks) ... More >>

Online Petition Aims to Stop Senseless Killing of Missouri's Mountain Lions

Stop SB738​Last week we told you about state Sen. Bill Stouffer's desire to eradicate mountain lions from Missouri with his bill that would allow the animals to be shot without reason. On Thursday Stouffer's bill moved one step closer to becoming law when it was read for a second time and referred ... More >>

Doe! Missouri Department of Conservation Raps -- And Chills With Gender-Bending Deer

The Missouri Department of Conservation is super-dope these days. First there's the bidness with the gender-bending deer, which is totally down with the brave new world of ambiguous sexuality. And then there's the winter rap, yo! Or should we say, doe! The MDC gets minor props for the first line of ... More >>

Conservation Department Releases Wildlife-Inspired Cookbook

Image viaBernadette's Catch-All Muffins​A former publications editor for the Missouri Department of Conservation, Bernadette Dryden sought out the advice of Show-Me State hunters, fishers, nut growers and mushroom foragers to pen a new cookbook that focuses on stuff you can find in your backya ... More >>

Frog Season Begins -- How to (Legally) Catch and Cook the Critters

Image viaIt ain't easy being green -- especially during frog season. ​Here's your chance to impress guests at your next underground dinner party or office social. Come sunset tomorrow, foodies and chefs from all over the state will be able to take to the swamps and lakes in search of that dele ... More >>

Man Slapped with $1k Fine and Six Months Probation in First-Ever Invasive Species Case

Courtesy Missouri Department of ConservationBad news! Agents remove a guy's boatlift that had an invasive species attached to it.​Silver carp. Emerald ash borers. Zebra mussels. Missouri's got all kinds of "invasive species," not native to our state, that wreak havoc on our ecosystem. Now the stat ... More >>

How To Survive a Mountain Lion Encounter

funnyaussiesigns.comYou, too, can survive a mountain lion encounter.​Another mountain lion was confirmed in Missouri this week. The Department of Conservation concluded Wednesday that paw prints photographed April 20 in Macon County in north-central Missouri were almost surely those of a cougar. F ... More >>

UPDATE: Arrival of Elk in Missouri Delayed

courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation​Updated May 6: The elk have arrived! The Department of Conservation reports that the trailer carrying the herd from Kentucky arrived at Peck Ranch at 6:30 a.m. yesterday. For the next two weeks, the elk will be confined to pens on the ranch ... More >>

Watch for Hummingbirds NOW

Courtesy Missouri Department of ConservationHere they come!​All ye birders in St. Louis, the first ruby-throated hummingbirds of 2011 are arriving. The big time to see them or course is July, when the young'uns start buzzing around, and also August, when many are heading back southward.  But ... More >>

Watch Out! Black Bears Are Back

courtesy the Missouri Department of ConservationBlack bear, black bear, what do you see?​We've told you all about the return of prairie chickens, elk and hummingbirds to Missouri, but have you heard that black bears are coming back, too? Yep, it's true. Biologists at the Missouri Department o ... More >>

First Prairie Chickens, Now Elk: A Look at the Dept. of Conservation's Latest Project

courtesy the Missouri Department of ConservationThe majestic elk...sort of like the ones that will be arriving in MIssouri next week.​Elk have not lived in Missouri since Abraham Lincoln was president. (Since 1865, for those of you keeping score at home.) For mere humans, that's a really, re ... More >>

When You've Got Elk Shit, Why Not Make Jewelry?

courtesy of the Missouri Department of ConservationOut of these two asses may come the means to revive southeastern Missouri's jewelry-making economy.​Folks in southeast Missouri hope that the elk that are coming to live at the Peck Ranch Conservation Area next weekend will prove to be a huge ... More >>

State conservationists scour the Kansas boondocks, aiming to repopulate Missouri with horny prairie chickens

PHOTO: Another Mountain Lion Spotted in Missouri

For the fifth time in four months (and just the 15th time in 16 years) a mountain lion has been confirmed in Missouri. Courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation​The latest evidence (above) comes from Linn County in north central Missouri. That's where a landowner captured the sight of a cougar ... More >>

Mystery Predator Attacks, Kills Alpacas in Jefferson County

Some wild animal has a taste for alpacas.​Two alpacas are dead after being attacked by one or multiple unknown animals outside of Hillsboro last night. Ron Arnhart with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department tells Daily RFT that the mystery predator(s) attacked the hindquarters, head and neck o ... More >>

Amish Hunters on "Predator Hunt" in Missouri Kill Mountain Lion, Won't Be Charged

Missouri Department of ConservationThis lion killed Saturday in northeast Missouri weighed 128 pounds.​For the second time this month hunters in Missouri have shot and killed a mountain lion despite laws protecting the animals. And once again, no one will be charged with violating the wildlife cod ... More >>

Cougar Sighted in St. Louis Suburb (And No It Wasn't Picking Up Young Men at a Bar)

Missouri Department of ConservationA trail camera caught this image January 12.​Let there be no mistake. The cougar sighted in Chesterfield this month was the real deal -- puma concolor, a.k.a. mountain lion, a.k.a. panther -- and was not, we repeat, not, a 40-something-year-old female homo sapien ... More >>

Turkey Hunting: Apparently Way Harder Than It Sounds

image viaSo easy, a kid could do it?​Either turkeys have gotten extra-sneaky, or Missouri hunters are extra-sucky this year.Though the Missouri Department of Conservation estimates the state's wild turkey population to be around 500,000, only 5,928 turkeys were killed this fall hunting season, the ... More >>

Judge Overturns "Deer-Dogging" Ban For Missouri Hunters

Image viaDeer do it doggystyle​Christmas just came early for the Show-Me State's laziest faction of hunters. A judge in Poplar Bluff recently overturned a state law that prohibits using packs of dogs to drive deer toward hunting stands, a practice known in Ozark-speak as "deer-dogging."On August 5 ... More >>

Bat With White Nose Syndrome Finally Spotted in Missouri, Caves To Close

Image viaHoly debilitating fungus, batman.​The weird and fatal white fungus first discovered on bats four years ago in New York has finally infected MO.It's not lethal to humans, but here's what it does to bats, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation: [it] causes infected bats to awa ... More >>

Video: How Do You Sterilize 200 Suburban Deer? Like So...

A Town & Country deer (with friends).​Last week the municipality of Town & Country launched a "deer management plan" aimed at depopulating the 800 or so deer known to wreak havoc on the otherwise sleepy St. Louis suburb. The "plan" -- which was recently bumped up to rid the community of ev ... More >>

Deer Hunters = Liberal Do-Gooders?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/journeyguy/ / CC BY 2.0​If we told you that Missouri deer hunters were engaged in liberal do-gooder activities to help the have-nots....would your mind implode? Watch the eff out. Show-Me State outdoorsmen donated about 270,000 pounds of venison to charitable organizat ... More >>

Gobble Gobble Hey!

flickr.com/photos/mychatham​With Thanksgiving rapidly bearing down on us, surer than death and taxes, it came as alarming news yesterday when the Missouri Department of Conservation announced that this year's fall turkey-hunting season was the second-worst on record.Hunters only managed to bag 8,3 ... More >>

Top Five Shocking Facts about Missouri's War Against Feral Hogs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8104587@N08/ / CC BY 2.0​5) Feral hogs are exploding in Missouri!Not literally. Their numbers are swelling, says the Missouri Department of Conservation. The offspring of domestic swine, wild razorbacks and Russian boars have formed entrenched populations in 20 countie ... More >>

A Sprawling Casino Next To A Conservation Area?

photo by Keegan HamiltonThe Columbia Bottom Conservation AreaLocated at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers just north of St. Louis, the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area is among the last stretches of undeveloped riverfront near the city. The Missouri Department of Conservation, t ... More >>

Epic Win So Far for MO Fishermen

Factoid: About five record-breaking fish get caught each year in our state. But with 2009 only half over, Missouri fisherpersons have already broken five records (so says the Missouri Department of Conservation). Did someone say RALLY?!?!mdc.mo.govForty-six Pounder!!!!Check out the photo of a monste ... More >>

Campin' this Weekend? Don't Move Firewood!!!

flickr.com/photos/bobydimitrovIf you're going back to Nature this weekend, do Nature a favor: only use firewood you find at your campsite. Here's why: our state's forests are gettin' downright infested with the emerald ash borer. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, the emerald ash ... More >>

How Sweet It Is

From sap to syrup

Going Bald

It's all the rage

Air guns legalized this deer season

Fishing for Answers

About the gilled ones

The Birds Are Back!

The Great Outdoors

Learn, shoot, love and leave

Eat More Beaver

Missourians have a healthy appetite for wild game meat. Some say raccoon tastes better than roast beef.

Bye Bye Birdie

A simply smashing affair

Best Place To Take the Kids Fishing

Harry L. Simpson Park

Animal Kingdom

A proposal before the Missouri Legislature seems tailored to make the Department of Conservation, already a fiefdom unto itself, even less answerable to citizens

Letters to the Editor