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Grab the fishing gear and go fishing this weekend...for FREE!Ohio residents may fish in all of Ohio's public waters...

A largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, hunting among water plants.
Photo (George Grall Getty Images/National Geographic Creative) 

Wildlife Center caring for orphaned bobcat

This cute 3-week-old bobcat is receiving care by
wildlife specialists at Lake Metroparks Wildlife Center.

On May 13, the Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife (DOW) contacted the Lake Metroparks Wildlife Center to arrange care for this orphaned bobcat. It was found by the side of a road in Athens, Ohio (southeast of Columbus) not far from a dead female bobcat. DOW transported the baby bobcat to the Wildlife Center on May 14.

"That ODNR Division of Wildlife would choose to entrust care of this orphaned bobcat to Lake Metroparks demonstrates confidence in our Wildlife Center," notes Paul Palagyi, Lake Metroparks Executive Director. "This affirms the Center's excellent reputation and the high level of care that our professional, educated and experienced staff provides."

A local veterinarian performed a full physical exam on the animal and determined he was fairly healthy except for being slightly malnourished and needing treatment for parasites. Wildlife Center staff anticipate to remedy both conditions. The bobcat is fed formula every two hours for 16 hours a day and making steady improvement. Young bobcats can survive alone in the wild around six to nine months of age. The goal is to release the bobcat back into a suitable habitat as determined by the DOW sometime this fall.

The bobcat is a native, threatened species in Ohio, and is very rarely seen. For more bobcat facts from ODNR, click here.

Lake Metroparks 10-year Strategic Plan - The Marsh Creek Basin

Lake Metroparks’ approach to planning and formulating strategic actions was to divide Lake County into six diverse districts. The establishment of districts will better enable the park district to focus future investment decisions on the unique opportunities and specific needs that exist within each district. The distinctive geography that defines Lake County has influenced development patterns and created unique districts. District 3: Marsh Creek Basin The Marsh Creek Basin encompasses the low flatlands with drainage feeding streams that reach Lake Erie west of Mentor Marsh and east of the lower Chagrin River corridor. Like the Urbanized Lake Plain to the west, the area was easily developable and as the Cleveland metropolitan area expanded to the east, it saw extensive growth between 1950 and 1980. The district includes Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake and parts of Concord Township.  Lake Metroparks manages one park in this district:  Veterans Park Future Objectives During the coming decade, Lake Metroparks will work with local communities, agencies and organizations to contribute to the preservation of the Marsh Creek riparian area. Click here to download the Marsh Creek Basin information sheet. In a continuing effort to meet the needs and desires of all Lake County residents, Lake Metroparks periodically reviews its approach to fulfilling the agency’s mission and goals. The park district has recently created a ten-year strategic plan that will inform decision-making with regard to policies, operations, maintenance and capital improvements over the next decade. Lake Metroparks’ strategic plan examines how to best fulfill the agency's mission given the current and projected economic, demographic and environmental trends facing Lake County and the surrounding region. For more information about Lake Metroparks' Ten-year Strategic Plan Executive Summary, click here.

Turkey Calling

Wild Turkey - Ohio Game and Fish

Gobble, gobble, gobble goes the call of the wild turkey in the spring looking for a mate.  Listen for them everywhere but specifically at Penitentiary Glen Reservation, Chapin Forest Reservation and Chagrin River Park.

Did you know?

The wild turkey is Ohio’s largest upland gamebird, standing three to four feet tall and weighing up to 24 pounds. It has a slim build, long neck, and nearly featherless head. The body feathers appear drab brown at a distance, but are actually iridescent when the bird appears in good light; this iridescence gives the bird its true coloration--bronze with hints of red, green, copper, and gold. The large tail is brown with a black band at the tip. Adult males (gobblers) have a reddish head, a long, tasseled “beard” that dangles from the breast, black-tipped breast feathers, and spurs on the legs. Female (hen) turkeys, have a bluish head, usually no beard, buff-tipped breast feathers, and no spurs.

An adult male turkey will weigh between 17 and 21 pounds; females are slightly smaller at 8 to 11 pounds. Gobblers stand about 40 inches tall; females 30 inches.

The wild turkey has returned to the Ohio landscape after many years of absence. This bird once inhabited forested areas of the entire state, providing food and sport for Native Americans and early Ohio settlers. As settlement continued and forest lands were converted to cropland, the wild turkey’s population dwindled to the point that no birds remained in the state by 1904.   As large tracts of land reverted to forested areas, the ODNR Division of Wildlife began a nearly 40-year effort to reestablish the wild turkey in the state.

For more information about Habitats and Habits, Reproduction and Care of the Young, Management Plans, and Viewing Opportunities, click here.

Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources