Infected Geese Migrated to Kansas

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December 11, 2024

Kansas Game Wardens are alerting the public that some geese have migrated into Kansas carrying Avian Influenza.

Kansas Wildlife and Parks Officials say that if you come across a migratory bird or raptor acting abnormal, please report it to any agency biologist. Officials may not collect or investigate each report due to staff availability. Many times, nature is allowed to take its course without intervention.

Please do not handle any birds that appear sick or injured or take any sick birds to any zoo facility.

Also, northeastern Kansas wildlife rehabilitator, Operation Wildlife, is not accepting any sick or injured birds at this time due to Avian Influenza.

If you have any questions, please contact KDWP Wildlife Disease Biologist Shane Hestings at phone number (620) 342-0658.

You Don’t Say!

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Steve Gilliland

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December 10, 2024

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With deer rifle season in full swing right now, my mind wonders (more than usual) as I sit in our deer blind. Something Joyce and I used to do as we sat together in the blind, was make up animal conversations for various situations. On a fall turkey hunt years ago, we had our hunting blind set up near an old feedlot. The owner had round bales stored there and a tractor path wound around through the bales. The turkeys followed the tractor path through the bales and into the pasture surrounding the old feedlot. We put a couple hen turkey decoys just across the fence into the pasture and settled in to our blind. The resident cattle soon came to see what was up, and became enamored with the decoys. You could almost sense their thoughts, so we named the cows Clara, Elsie, Audrey and Bessie, and imagined their conversation something like this; “They look like turkeys, but they sure don’t move much,” Clara thought starring at the decoys. Elsie added “Turkeys stink but these things smell like tractor tires or something. Let’s all run at them and see if they scatter and make those funny noises turkeys make when we almost step on them.” Audrey weighed in “No I’m pretty sure they aren’t real turkeys – if they were they’d be eatin’ corn out of our poo right now.” Bessie said “Girls I’ve got an idea – let’s all back up and try to pee on them and see if they run like they usually do.”

Perhaps the funniest animal conversation we ever conjured up came about at an old farmstead where we used to hunt deer. The abandoned farmyard sits back a long lane and we would park our pickup there and walk to the nearby deer blind. We knew deer routinely wondered through the farmyard and around the old buildings, so we tried to imagine how they would react to our truck sitting there if they wandered through as we sat in the blind. Here’s the scene: One morning as we sit there in our deer blind, two deer, Bucky and Chloe wonder through and come upon our pickup in the drive. “See Bucky,” Chloe states “I told you I smelled them again.” Bucky rests his chin on the hood of the pickup and replies “Yup, sure enough; hoods still warm, they’re here somewhere.” “What doofuses,” Chloe retorts with disgust as she turns and begins to walk away. Meanwhile Bucky jumps up and sprawls out across the hood of the pickup with his front legs sticking out in front of him and his back legs out behind him, rolls his eyes back into his head and hangs his tongue out the side of his mouth. “Chloe hears the commotion, and just as she turns around Bucky calls out “Ohhhhh Chloe, they got me!” “You get off there this instant,” Chloe scolds. “That’s not funny at all anymore, especially after you got shot in the butt last season!”

The nursing/retirement home where I used to work has two dementia units and I often marveled at the strange things the residents there with dementia would say and think. Making up animal conversations may see pretty weird and even goofy, but I can only hope that filling my mind with silliness like that now will help me ramble on about silly stuff like that when I get dementia rather than being mean & nasty and cussin’ all the time…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected]

Rural Water District 101 Nitrate Level

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Guest Columnist

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December 10, 2024

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Reno County, Kansas – December 10, 2024 – Revised from September 9, 2024
Nitrate levels have continued to be above allowable limits in Rural Water District 101, which serves theYoder area. The last nitrate level test was collected on December 4, 2024. The level tested at 10.9 mg/L,which exceeds the Kansas and Federal (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 mg/L for public water supply systems. The nitrate levels in water resources have fluctuated in many areas which come from natural, industrial, or agricultural sources (including septic systems and run-off).

Reno County provides routine notices for acute nitrate violations from KDHE. These notices provide Yoder residents education about nitrates in drinking water. Subsequent notices were sent informing residents that bottled water will be provided, upon request, to any household with members at increased risk from the nitrates, such as infants under 6 months, nursing mothers, pregnant women, and other at-risk customers as identified by a health care provider.

The Rural Water District will continue the KDHE required quarterly samples and public notifications until this issue is resolved. We appreciate your patience.

Projects continue on the Kansas State Fairgrounds

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Guest Columnist

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December 10, 2024

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Kansas State Fair General Manager Bryan Schulz gave Hutch Post an update on the ways the Fair hopes to upgrade visitor experience in the coming years.

“We actually are working with Landmark Architects to see what a brand new stage area would look like inside of the racetrack,” Schulz said. “Every year, we have to bring in a portable stage and all the sound and lights that go with it. That bill is right close to $200,000 a year. If there’s a way that we could have a permanent stage, we’d probably cut that in half, if not more. Obviously, you still have to have them bring in their sound and lights, but the setup and teardown would take a lot less time and that way, we could put in other events there as well. We could bring in some other touring acts. We could do some other special events going on the grounds. It all comes down to money.”

Schulz met with the local legislative delegation on Monday as the legislature has appropriated money for the Bison Arena project and that work is underway.

“We are in the midst of phase one,” Schulz said. “Phase one is basically the new roof, new windows, new doors, working out all the brick work, tuck pointing. We are bringing up two of the sides. They were starting to sink a little bit. We leveled that all out and there’s some interior work. That is all scheduled to be done by August of 2025, and then we will be going out for phase two bidding here, I think within the next month, and that will be to do a portion of the inside that we could open that up.”

Also, there will be a change in the look of the People’s Bank and Trust Arena.

“The canopies are starting to fail a little bit,” Schulz said. “We just wanted a permanent structure because there are a lot of events that we could do on that stage, so we decided to look into putting a permanent structure there, and we just got everything finalized. So I don’t know if we’re going to get any of the footings done yet this fall, early winter, or if it’ll all take place next spring, but it’ll be a full covered grandstand over in that area now.”

The People’s Bank and Trust Arena is the second-largest venue on the grounds, second only to the Grandstand itself.