The snuffbox mussel is inconspicuous, yet in many ways is a lie-in-wait predator. But instead of eating her prey, she uses the unsuspecting victim as host to her young. Mussels have a fascinating life history. Mussel babies, called glochidia, need to attach to the gills or fins of a specific type of fish to complete their life cycle. Snuffbox moms with babies sit in the bottom of a stream with their shells open somewhat to display their mantle (their fleshy body inside the shell). A fish swimming by will see that nice, soft flesh and think it’s a free meal. The fish will swim down and try to take a bite of the mussel’s mantle. Once the snuffbox feels the fish poke it, it grabs on to the fish’s head – for the snuffbox the particular fish host is a logperch. Mussels don’t have eyes, so it is purely by feel that the mussel grabs the fish. The mom snuffbox then shoots her microscopic glochidia at the fish’s head so that her young can attach to its gills. The glochidia mature within a few weeks and then drop off the host fish and live out the rest of their life on the stream bottom among the rocks. The glochidia don’t hurt the fish, and the process provides a great way for mussels to move away from their parents – it’s a free ride out of town. 
The snuffbox (Epioblasma trquetra) is a remarkable mussel that is in danger of becoming extinct. Unfortunately there are many threats to this species. Dams affect their ability to move both upstream and downstream, which can isolate populations. Mussels live most of their lives in a very small area, so toxins and poor water quality can easily harm them. Invasive species have also played a role in the decline of snuffbox. Zebra mussels often use any hard surface to attach to, including native mussels like the snuffbox, which end up suffocating because they can’t open their shells. 
By Austin Delano – Plot partitioning…that’s a mouthful of vowels that simply means keeping crops separate. With the increasing number of hunters planting food plots for wildlife, the need for some of us competitive minded folks to take farming for wildlife to another level has also risen. The days of just simply tossing a bag of grain bin floor sweepings out on plowed up field are over. With all of the research that has taken place over the last 15-20 years on the importance nutrition plays in the quest for healthier and bigger deer, gamekeepers have a lot of resources at their disposal to know what, when, where, why, and how to grow crops that are going to benefit their deer herd and other wildlife.
Lansing, Michigan – -(Ammoland.com)- The impending showdown over Michigan’s wolf management looms large, as we head into the current election cycle.
On one end of the spectrum is the largest anti-hunting organization in the nation – the Washington-based Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), while opposition comes from Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management (CPWM).
Over 5 ½ years ago, then Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Lynn Scarlett, announced the removal of the western Great Lakes wolf population and portions of the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act.
“Wolves have recovered in the Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountains because of the hard work, cooperation and flexibility shown by states, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions,” said Scarlett. “We can all be proud of our various roles in saving this icon of the American wilderness.”
Well, almost all of us.
HSUS has already sent its lobbyists to Lansing and has threatened even more lawsuits.
