Treating Tick Bites
Posted by admin in Camping, Missouri Animals on May 14th, 2012
Surrounding Missouri’s rivers, ponds and streams are beautiful landscapes and wooded areas, perfect for families to hike and explore. Unfortunately, heavily wooded areas also attract ticks. Here are some tips for removing ticks and treating tick bites should they occur on your next float trip. Read the rest of this entry »
Missouri’s Frog Season
Posted by admin in Food, Missouri Animals on April 30th, 2012
This summer many campers will enjoy fish fries over their campfires on their float trips. But a select few will enjoy frog legs. There’s nothing like trudging along river banks or ponds with your flashlight in one hand and gig in the other as you and your kids search for iridescent pink bullfrog eyes. Missouri’s frog season opens at sunset on June 30th and closes October 31st.
Most frog hunters, or froggers, look for bullfrogs because they have more meat, weighing up to several pounds. Olive in color with white or yellow bellies and dark brown stripes on their hind legs, their reflective pink eyes and light-colored bellies will help you to identify and locate them in farm ponds, rivers, sloughs, swamps and marshes. Bullfrogs prefer permanent wetlands without fish, making them the top aquatic predators with little or no competition for food. This is what allows them to grow large and become abundant.
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Protecting Your Gear From the Water
Posted by admin in Float Trips, Tips & Tricks on April 23rd, 2012
If you’ve spent a significant amount of time on Missouri’s rivers, you’ve come to appreciate the value of a good dry bag
Snakes of Missouri
Posted by admin in Missouri Animals, Safety on April 16th, 2012
This spring and summer many people will be reluctant to go on a float trip because of their fear of snakes. Missouri’s snakes play a vital role in nature, eating other animals like mice, and disease carrying rats, lizards, toads and frogs while serving as a source of food for hawks, owls, mink, skunks and herons. Unfortunately, many people are afraid of snakes, frequently killing those that are harmless. The more you know about snakes, the more you’ll appreciate their role in nature and overcome your fear of them. Read the rest of this entry »
Kid-Friendly Meals for Your Next Float Trip
Float trips are a great family experience with cooking over a campfire a big part of the event. Camping with children revolves around food because most children are on regular meal schedules, requiring 3 meals a day despite the fact that you may be nowhere near a kitchen. Cooking in an RV is not much different than it is at home. But if you’re cooking under the open sky, food preparation can be tricky. That’s why easy, simple-to-prepare meals are essential. Here are a few ideas besides hot dogs.
Kids love to cook when they’re camping and foil cooking recipes make it easy. Heavy duty aluminum foil and cooking spray is the only cooking gear you’ll need. Many experienced campers cut up their ingredients at home before they leave and store them in Ziploc plastic bags for the trip. All your little chefs need to do is spray the foil, empty the bag contents in the center and fold the foil into packets for the fire. Read the rest of this entry »
Campfire Safety
Fires and camping are as inseparable as coffee and cream. Camping just isn’t camping without a campfire. Whether roasting marshmallows or hotdogs, keeping warm from a crisp evening’s chill or to light our surroundings, a campfire provides that one of a kind camping experience. Today’s campfires are fueled by wood, propane and white gas. Abide by the necessary safety precautions and a campfire can be enjoyed by all. But ignoring or failing to observe the right precautions can be extremely dangerous. Follow these campfire safety tips to keep you and your fellow campers safe when enjoying the outdoors.
Don’t Forget Trash Bags
Posted by admin in Rivers, Tips & Tricks on March 8th, 2012
Every year the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) spends $1 million dollars in litter clean up along rivers, streams and lakes. While there are few people statistically who litter in Missouri, there are still some who do, making littering a lingering problem for the state.
Quite often, trash bags are one of the last things we think to pack for our annual float trips. In fact, sometimes we forget to bring them at all. Or, we make our best effort to collect our trash throughout the day, but then our canoe tips over and our trash scatters all over the river out of arm’s reach.
RV Camping in Missouri
With the rising costs in gas prices and the current state of the economy, one of the first things most people give up is the dream of a summer vacation. However, RV camping in Missouri is a great way to enjoy some time off this summer and it does not have to be too terribly expensive. RV’ing is one of the most economical and environmentally friendly ways of vacationing and it is a popular pastime which many people enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
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