Hello Clam Lake!
Happy Easter to one and all! May you find many eggs and may your bunnies always be chocolate!
SPRING FLING – On Saturday, April 6th there will be a Spring Fling held at the Clam Lake Community Center beginning at 4:00 pm. Those attending are asked to bring a dish to pass and whatever they wish to drink. Looks like a good opportunity to get out of the woods and celebrate the season with friends and neighbors. Always a fun time!
TOWN OF GORDON MEETING – The Town of Gordon will be holding their monthly meeting Monday April 1st at 1:30 pm at the Gordon Town Hall. The Clam Lake Cemetery is under Old Business with a future agenda addressing removal of the downed trees and the grinding of stumps at the cemetery. Anyone wishing to attend and put in input is welcome! We thank them for keeping us updated!
ELK 1923 UPDATE – THE RESILIENCE OF NATURE – I spoke with Josh Spiegel, our wildlife biologist this past week, about bull elk number 1923. On November 27th , elk 1923 was hit by an SUV. After sliding across the hood of the vehicle he proceeded to skid across the ground alongside the road resulting in a bad case of “road rash”. Although the vehicle was totaled, 1923 got up and walked away. The people responsible for hitting him immediately contacted the DNR resulting in Josh and crew coming out to investigate. Near the site of the accident, they found a group of elk with one bull sporting a fresh bald patch on his side. They noted, at that time, that there were no restrictions on his movements so the decision was made to monitor him. As luck would have it, he was one that wandered into their portable pen when they were doing their observations and testing in February. At that time, a discussion was had with the state veterinarian whom, once again, decided that he was recovering well and had no concerns. Josh noted that we need to keep in mind that wild animals are extremely resilient, often incurring a variety of mishaps from which they heal or learn to adapt and do quite well. He talked of cow elk 174, whom also got hit by an SUV near Ghost Creek. With her, they found evidence of significant bleeding leading to fear for her mortality but, she recovered and went on to live a long and healthy life. The losers in these events seem to be the SUVs. It remains to be seen what will be the long term look of bull elk 1923 as his skin continues to recover. It is unknown if he will always be scarred or return to a more normal appearance. But, for all intents and purposes he is doing fine and living his best elk life! Good news! (As a side note – some have thought he is suffering from mange but Josh wanted to remind people that mange is mainly a carnivore/canine illness. Animals such as deer and elk are not susceptible to it. Also a reminder that these are wild animals that live their lives for better or worse in the forest.)
Time to wish all those celebrating birthdays in April a very happy day! They are:
April 1st – Don Vecchie turning 92 years young!
April 2nd – Tim McFadden
April 3rd – Mary McCorison
April 7th – Lea Justice and Joan Wilbur
April 9th – Pam Hudson
April 11th – Annemarie Stuebe
April 12th – Jack McGregor
April 15th – Deb Straetz and Dan Hudson
April 18th – Kyle Kreitzmann
April 19th – Colton Miroslaw
April 20th – Brandon Eder
April 22nd – Brittany Heer
April 23rd – Brian Eder
April 24th – Jenny Scherschel
April 26th – Joy Heinlein and Matthew Street
April 29th – Rick Filter
The only couple celebrating a wedding anniversary in April are Ralph and Cheri Cornell on April 29th. We with them a great day!
Until next week….
