Extension Outdoors from 2018

Thinning timber, prescribed fire and planting wildlife food plots are the most common tools in wildlife management, but there is another, often overlooked practice: using light disking to disturb the soil.

Wildlife scientists are learning that, in addition to being our “best friends,” dogs also can be also be our best conservation tools.

Mississippi is fortunate to have thousands of acres that are poetically "unpeopled and still." Those portions of our state are prime locations for people who want to escape urban stress and are willing to pay top dollar for the opportunity.

Hunters play a large role in helping to manage Mississippi’s deer population. Hunters not only help control deer numbers but also provide statewide harvest data that gives biologists insight into deer numbers, health and conditioning. 

As we enter the first deer hunting season since the confirmation of chronic wasting disease -- or CWD -- in the state, we need assistance from Mississippi deer hunters more than ever. 

As good food and hunting take center stage throughout the holidays, take a moment to give thanks for the pollinators that made much of it possible.

We acknowledge many benefactors during the holidays, but one group of little helpers in all of these traditions usually goes unnoticed. 

Deer hunters know all too well the power of a deer’s sense of smell, or more technically speaking, its olfactory system. A change of wind direction can give deer just a whiff of human scent and send them running and send a hunter back to the truck empty handed. 

Floating islands are increasingly popular as a way to provide attractive centerpieces in ponds while improving water quality.

From the shore, floating islands look like normal earthen islands covered in plants, but they are much more than that. They are hydroponic systems that, when fully colonized by growing plants, are essentially wetlands that float on the water’s surface and provide many of the same services as natural wetlands.

Growth and survival of planted hardwood seedlings are not guaranteed, and forest managers may need to learn more about establishment methods to avoid failed plantings. 

Streamside management zones have become critical tools forestry landowners and professionals use for protecting water quality during and after timber harvests.

Many hunters and landowners plant wildlife food plots these days, but this practice has become common only during the last 30 to 40 years in the Southeast.