July 2022

Application period open for fall, winter special hunting opportunities

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) is currently accepting applications for 2022-2023 “Special Hunts” – hunts conducted on lands not normally open to unrestricted hunting, which include select KDWP-managed properties, refuges, Walk-in Hunting Access areas (WIHA), city and county properties, and other locations. KDWP’s Special Hunts also limit the number of participants to ensure a quality experience or to achieve specific management goals, such as herd reduction.

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Blister beetles are unwelcome pests

Blister Beetles These beetles are notorious for quickly stripping vegetables (especially tomatoes) and ornamentals of their foliage. There are several species of blister beetles which vary in size (often between 0.5-0.75 inch long) and color (such as black, gray or brown-striped), but most are recognized by their elongated, narrow, cylindrical, soft bodies with middle body part (thorax) narrower than the head or wingcovers.

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Kansas 4-H

Thirty-six Kansas 4-H members representing 22 counties recently competed in the National 4-H Shooting Sports competition in Grand Island, Neb., winning the state’s first-ever Tom Davison Sweepstakes trophy.

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The midnight perils of hunting frogs

Welcome to bullfrog season in Kansas. Now I’m not much of a team sports player, but frog huntin’ when we were kids back in Ohio came terribly close to being a team sport. Half the fun of our frog hunts was just being there with our buddies, and the anticipation of what would go wrong. Whenever we went on any kind of foray after dark, the vehicle ended up broken down, stuck in the snow or mud or in the ditch, so the more passengers in the car to help extract us from our predicament the better. Our transportation needs were simple; four wheels, two seats and something that already smelled as badly as we would when the night was over, which was easily accomplished because that perfectly described the old beaters we all drove.

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It’s a small world

When I was a young girl, I thought my father must know more people than anyone in the world. I would meet someone from another school and mention my new acquaintance to my father, and he would proceed to tell me who my new friend’s parents were, and sometimes who the grandparents were. Of course, his wide acquaintances were primarily in the half-a-dozen counties where he had been raised.

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Lack of information

On July 5th, I delivered my load of shingles in Junction City. I then bounced up to Blue Rapids for a Stafford, TX., Load. It was hot that afternoon, tarping the load. I drank plenty of water and when I checked out at the guard shack, she gave me another ice cold bottle of water.

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As temperatures rise so do fentanyl deaths; experts say education saves lives

Dr. Paul Christo, Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been on the frontlines battling the opioid crisis, and his message to lawmakers is clear: “First of all, we have to make sure that we cut down on those that are manufacturing fentanyl illegally in the United States and also selling it illegally. And then … we need to make sure that we educate young adults on the dangers of the use of fentanyl. This is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It can lead to death very quickly by ingesting just a little bit of it,” Dr. Christo said in a recent interview.

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Make no mistake, this is a choice

The conversation about abortion has centered around women’s rights. There has not been an explanation of what the medical procedure involves. It is not like removing a cyst or a tumor, a cancer or a liver or heart transplant. It is the removal of a baby or child from a women’s womb. It is a choice. A choice of life or death.

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