Deadline Extended for Wildlife Habitat Seed Program

Whether you are a photographer, a hunter or just like viewing wildlife on a sunny afternoon, anyone who has spent time overlooking a food plot will have a deep appreciation for wildlife plantings.

Food plots are very attractive to wildlife enthusiasts because they can supplement daily nutritional needs at a low cost. These plots can be designed to serve as a source of food and cover. Well-managed food plots have the potential to not only increase the wildlife population and their quality of health, but can also increase our opportunities for wildlife viewing.

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THE SKY LAKE BOARDWALK
with Clarke Reed

When our ancestors first arrived in the Lower Mississippi River Valley they were awestruck by the giant cypress that had thrived here for centuries. As they cleared the fertile land, no one in the entire Valley thought to preserve a stand, or even one, of these spectacular trees. They are all gone…or so we thought! Providence and a remote swamp spared the site that contains “some of the largest and oldest baldcypress trees that remain on earth,” according to Dr. David Stahle, Director of the Tree Ring Laboratory at the University of Arkansas.

Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area is located approximately 8 miles north of Belzoni. With our encouragement, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks acquired the 773-acre site that will soon be enlarged to approximately 4,000 acres.

It is imperative that we protect these trees of national and international significance, and provide access for scientists, writers, photographers, wildlife enthusiasts and a host of the rest of us. Consultants tell us to expect thousands of visitors annually.

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Conservation Corner
(For the week of March 8, 2010)
Time to Scout for Deer
by James L. Cummins

By the time hunting season ends, the last word many of us want to hear is "deer." Yet, before the season starts it is the only thing on our minds. No one questions the importance of scouting in September for an October bow hunt or a November gun hunt for white-tails, or even for a photography outing. But we seldom think about scouting in March – a time when Mississippi's largest land mammal is leaving a clear sign saying, "Yes, I was here."

That sign is in the form of shed antlers. Antlers are made of fast growing bone and are shed every year (except in rare cases). Horns, on the other hand, are slow growing and permanent and are usually grown by both sexes.

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