Carlin Lake Association

A Couple of Turkeys

As I was observing 6 adult turkeys (4 females) under my bird feeder yesterday afternoon I was thinking, "oh no, here we go again." Funny thing to say about this majestic bird, who, if Ben Franklin had his way, would have been our national symbol instead of the bald eagle, but I recall a similar incident in the mid 90's while living near Green Bay.

One day Ann and I were astounded to see our first two turkeys in the yard. We called friends and family to tell them about it we were so excited. About 5 years later I recall counting 56 wild turkeys in the yard all at the same time! Soon we could no longer go barefoot in the yard due to turkey droppings and were inviting hunters to come on to our property to reduce the population. At one point I discovered a turkey nest behind the house. It had 17 eggs in it! Do the math and we could see a turkey explosion on Carlin Lake.

Speaking of turkeys... this turkey is finished with his temporary and woefully inadequate stand-in for Carmen. She and John are due back today. Thanks for putting up with me. Duanne

Fishing Forecast

Maybe in 30 days or so the hard water season will have come to an end so I thought if appropriate to put together my first (and probably last) fishing forecast for the summer of 2011.The DNR lists smallmouth bass and panfish as "common" in Carlin Lake and I would have to agree with that. Largemouth bass are listed as "present." Certainly true but there are others lurking below the surface.

 Walleye: Occasional catches but if natural reproduction occurs it is rare. Outlook for 2011: Poor. There are a few walleyes in Carlin and if caught they should be returned to the water despite the fact they are very tasty. Smallmouth bass: Like many lakes in the Northwoods the population is growing each year and these aggressive fighters are likely the dominant predator in the lake. Outlook: Excellent. Largemouth bass: Population is stable but likely they are being crowded out by the rapid expansion of smallmouth. Outlook: Fair with some very large fish present. Panfish(incl. bluegills, perch, crappies): Carlin is the type of lake that could be overrun by small bluegills if the larger predators are removed. Walleyes and larger bass of both species will eat small bluegills but this won't be enough to keep the population in check. If you have a taste for fish, bluegills should be on the menu and there are some whoppers. Outlook: Excellent with the possible exception of crappies. Crappies are naturally cyclic and 2011 could be a up year or a down. Time will tell. The perch population is largely overlooked and they tend to be pretty small. Pike or muskies: None present and that is why the bass fishing is so good. Redhorse suckers: Present and if you catch them keep them all. They actually are quite good eating...for eagles.

There you have it. My personal fishing forecast for the summer of 2011. I know you all have been waiting for it. Now, if I could just get my own fishing show on TV...

Early Spring? Maybe Not

For those of you not currently at Carlin Lake ignore my comments last week about an early spring. Windy and cold are today's bywords. My thermometer said 16 degrees this morning and what was slush a week ago is now a very nice coating of ice. Roads are great though, dry and not slippery. The good news is the snow experienced by the middle one third of the state missed us entirely. The less use my snow blower gets, the better.

Although Ann and I couldn't attend, some neighbors got together at the Carlin Club on Friday and met the new owners who took official possession of the keys on that very day. A good blogger would have gotten the personal details but unfortunately she's on vacation. If someone has names, etc. please send them and I will include them in a post this week.

A Very Sad Day

The Northwoods lost a friend today and I thought many of you might have known former Supreme Court Justice Bill Bablitch who passed away today at his winter home in Hawaii. Bill was 69.

I had a chance to know Bill as a result of our joint service on the board of the Discovery Center. He was always fair and open minded and made immeasurable contributions of his talent and experience to the board. Bill served 20 years on the Court retiring in 2003. Prior to 1983 he served 11 years in the Wisconsin Senate and as Senate Majority Leader for seven of those years.

Bablitch is survived by his wife of 25 years, Anne Milne, his daughter Bulleh Bablitch-Norkeh, and two grandaughters.

A Bit Batty

(Pop quiz- Which is thicker? The ice on Carlin Lake or the snow that rests on top of it? Answer below.)

What would a summer evening floating on Carlin Lake be like without the presence of the numerous bats that swoop and dive over the water as soon as dusk settles? At a recent home show I heard a presentation by the Organization for Bat Conservation and the Michigan based group had some scary news that could impact bat populations throughout the US. I have been aware of white nose syndrome (WNS) for a couple of years but thought this bat killing disease was confined to the the Northeastern US. Apparently, this fungus, that is recognizable by a whitish substance on the nose of roosting bats, is spreading eastward and may reach the upper midwest this year or next. To date, the disease, for which there is no practical cure, has killed millions of bats in caves in Pennsylvania and other states.

Some of you shudder at the very thought of this kinda homely mammal but probably would applaud its consumption of zillions of mosquitoes and other insects that make sitting outside in the summer a bit trying. Bats spend their winters in one of two ways, migrating to warmer climates or in damp caves, mostly in the UP in this region. It's the ones that hang (literally) around that are the most suseptable. They cluster tightly together all winter in caves or old mines and the disease can spread quickly in the close quarters. It is almost always fatal.There is a Wisconsin connection to finding a solution. The work to find a cure for WNS is taking place at the USGS Wildlife Health Center in Madison.

(OK, pop quiz answer: As of last Sunday... ice wins 14" to 10" of snow. Still a lot thinner ice than last year. A good sign for early ice out?)

Balmy Temps

The temperature at Carlin Lake today is improved, that is unless you are a big fan of winter and deep snows. Today the high will soar a staggering 62 degrees from Friday's low. Now, before you plan to put your pier in next weekend and perhaps rake the yard, Friday's low according the the thermometer in my truck was -22 degrees. Almost any time the temperature rises by 62 degrees you can expect to break into a sweat but not so much when the starting point is as low as it was on Friday.

Still, it's a nice break that is supposed to last all week. Maybe a late January thaw? Even  more encouraging is the fact that last years ice out was right around March 25 leaving only 39 days to ice out if Mother Nature stays consistent and we all know how good she is at that.

New Neighbor

New in the neighborhood this winter is a little vixen. She's very shy and and is a lady of the evening. No, guys, I mean this literally this time. A female gray fox has been hanging around our house for the last couple of weeks and I thought you might want to know a couple things about her should you see her in your yard.
The gray fox is quite rare and I have only seen one in my life. While you may have seen the red fox in your travels, this cousin is much smaller has shorter legs and is the only canidae who can climb trees. My hope is she will take over policing the grey squirrels out of my bird feeders when I'm at work. You can tell her tracks from the red fox by the absence of claw marks. The gray fox has semi retractable sharp claws that generally don't show up in the snow but make it possible to ascend trees.

While mice and other rodents make up much of her diet this one has developed a taste for the sunflower seeds that fall under our bird feeders. OK, I know some of you are wondering how I know this new neighbor is female. Ann and I learned in carnivore tracking school to watch for RLU. The yellow marks this little girl leaves in the snow are minus the "RL." And I promised Carmen I'd keep this a family blog, so enough said.

Herculean Effort Required

I know you've been waiting for me to post something. Some of you because you firmly believe (with some degree of accuracy) that I will forget my new responsibility and drop the ball. Since nothing appeared yesterday you might even have thought of sending Carmen an email to tell her of my failings as the substitute Carlin blogger. Well, I have an excuse for not posting during my first opportunity, I was waiting until my heart rate returned to normal after watching the Super Bowl.

I'm firmly convinced that being a Packer fan shortens ones life span. Watching the fourth quarter of the game was just a lot of work for me despite my bride's calm explanation that it was "only a game." Little does she know how much real twisting and turning, yelling and screaming by us couch potatoes, it takes for the Packers to win. One cannot sit idly by and expect the Green & Gold to do it alone. Getting them to the Super Bowl is exhausting, getting them to win it is life threatening. While Ann might ridicule my meager efforts I know there are some of you who know what is required to be a Packer fan. Thanks for  a job well done. I'll name no names, you know who you are!

 

New point of view

 

For the next few days, you get to enjoy Duanne Swift's way of looking at things.  

Thanks very much to Duanne for providing a little variety here in the middle of the winter!   

 

Causes of deer mortality

At the same Discovery Center session, we received a graph, prepared by the DNR, showing causes of deer deaths across the state.  The graph is from 2009, when state deer population numbered about 1 million animals, 37% above the state goal of 730,000.

If you click to enlarge, you can see the graph shows 122,000 deer killed by hunters during bow and gun seasons, followed by approximately 50,000 deaths from winter stress.  Next, it's estimated that 33,000 deer are killed by bears (33,000 bears x 1 fawn apiece.)  Coyote kill is estimated at 16,000 (8000 coyotes x 2 deer apiece.)  Estimated wolf kill is 13,000  (650 wolves x 20 deer each).  Vehicle accidents were responsible for 13,000 deaths, and estimated bobcat deaths were 6000.

I'm writing of deaths pretty blithely here---read if you are interested, and ignore if you are not.   I know many of you have more expertise in this area than I do.