Visions Winter 2009 Cedar County Conservation Board Volume 21 Issue 4

Transcription

1 Visions Winter 2009 Cedar County Conservation Board Volume 21 Issue 4 Food Safety for Hunters By: Christina Voss Asst. Environm entalist Cedar County Environmental Health & Zoning Office Every year millions of people across the United States practice the sport of wild game hunting. Wild game includes deer and other hoofed animals, bear, wild hogs, birds and small mammals such as raccoon and squirrel. Millions more eat wild game in the form of burgers, steaks, stews and jerkies, among other preparations. Diseases that spread from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases. There are many zoonotic diseases people can get from wild game. Most of these diseases make people sick when they eat undercooked meat, but some can make people sick from touching blood, muscle, brain tissue and organs of a wild game animal. Insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, flies, fleas or mites serve as vectors; capable of transmitting infection from an infected animal to another animal or a person. Tick-borne diseases pose a hazard to both hunters and their dogs. They are usually transmitted to people through tick bites, but skin contact with the internal fluids of infected ticks also poses a risk of infection. Hunters and their dogs are especially vulnerable to tick-borne diseases because of time spent in tick-infested environments. The following guidelines are recommended for hunters and their dogs to avoid tick-borne and mosquito diseases: Apply tick repellants to exposed skin and clothing. Avoid wearing the same clothes on consecutive days without washing them first to remove ticks. Wash clothes immediately after returning home. Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Conduct body checks immediately after returning from outdoor activities in tick-infested areas. Anyone involved with the hunting, preparation or eating of wild game should be aware of diseases that can be acquired during hunting or with these animals and their meat. Become familiar with food safety procedures that can help prevent infection at all stages of preparation, from field dressing to cooking and storage. Field Dressing and Butchering: Many of the diseases wild game animals can spread to humans are serious. It is very important to remember that not all infected animals look sick. You may feel sick soon after coming in contact with an infected animal or you could start to feel sick months later, depending upon on the type of disease. You may be at risk of becoming infected with a disease when field dressing or butchering an infected animal or bird. This is especially true when there is no soap and water available with which to clean up. You can get infected if blood, muscle, organs, or brain tissue of a wild animal comes in contact with your: eyes, nose, mouth or a skin cut. Not only can you get sick from having direct contact with an infected animal's fluids or organs, but tools can also spread germs if not cleaned well. There are simple things you can do to protect yourself and your family from getting sick continued on page 2...

2 Page Two Cedar Valley Visions Volume 21 Issue 4 Vampire Valley Ghosts, goblins and ghouls of all shapes and sizes gathered at Cedar Valley Park this past October. What were they doing there, you might ask? Celebrating the holiday by carving pumpkins, enjoying a hike down a haunted trail and eating lots and lots of candy, of course! Our first Vampire Valley was a success and the only really scary thing was the frigid temperatures so early in the month! 71 county citizens of all ages braved the cold to come to the park to play games, watch a Halloween movie, and much more. Ideas, additions and improvements for next year are already being hatched. Don t miss out next year, contact the CCCB today if you are interested in participating. Was he doing a little brush removal or just scaring the hikers? This FFA member from Tipton helped design the Haunted Trail in Carving pumpkins, donated by Mike Goetz at Family Foods in Tipton, was one of the favorite activities of the evening. The temperature may have had the blood moving slowly, but the creative juices were still flowing. The offices at the County Courthouse helped get into the scary spirit by taking part in a pumpkin decorating contest. The competition was frightening! continued from page 1... Prevention: Safe Field Dressing and Butchering Avoid all contact with visibly ill animals or those found dead. Use clean, sharp knives for field dressing and butchering. Wear eye protection and rubber or latex gloves (disposable or reusable) when handling carcasses. Avoid direct contact (bare skin) with fluid or organs from the wild game. Burn disposable gloves or place in a bag and throw away in the trash. Burn or bury inedible parts of the carcass after butchering. Wash hands as soon as possible with soap and warm water for 20 seconds or more and dry hands with a clean cloth. Clean all tools and reusable gloves used in field dressing and butchering with a disinfectant such as dilute bleach (Read the safety instructions on the label). Remember quality control: do not expose the carcasses to dirt or water and field dress as soon as possible to remove heat conducted naturally from the animal s body. Food Prep, Cooking and Food Storage Consumers can greatly reduce their risk of food borne illness from wild game by following these four easy steps: CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often. SEPARATE: Don't cross-contaminate! COOK: Cook to proper temperature. CHILL: Refrigerate promptly. More information on safety during the hunting season for both you and your hunting dogs can be found at Questions can also be directed to your local Cedar County Environmental Zoning Office at (563)

3 Page Three Cedar Valley Visions Volume 21 Issue 4 What s coming up... Free Room and Board Wednesday, January 13 6:00 pm Need a new bird or bat house? Call the office to place your order by December 31st, 2009, and our staff will build them for you. Or come to our shop Wednesday night and learn how to build your own Wren house. Materials will be provided and registration is required. $5.00 per house donation requested. For more information call or us at cedarccb@iowatelecom.net. Please contact us if you have barn boards to donate to this program. Ice Fishing Saturday January 16-tentative 10:00am Bennett Pond If you re feeling the winter blues and need to get back outside, join the CCCB for an introduction to this fun winter sport. Poles and bait will be provided. Number of participants will be limited so call to register. Program is weather dependent. Watch the local paper and our website for information or call the office for details. Star lab Monday February 8 6:00 pm Experience the stars indoors as they are projected in a 360 degree view around you! Rain or shine, you can see the constellations and watch the stars rotate through the night sky in this small planetarium. Space is limited so call to register. Fly Tying Saturday, February 27 1:00 pm Think summer in December! Join Park Ranger Noah Krob as he demonstrates and then helps you learn the delicate art of tying flies for you summer fishing outings. All ages welcome, no experience necessary for this hands-on program. Please call to register. Nature Tails Monday February 22, and Friday February 26 Monday March 15 and Friday March 17 10:00 11:00 am Kids ages 2 and up and their parents will spend the morning together learning about nature. Each session includes a story, craft, snack and other activities based on different nature topics. Attend just one or all four. Pre-registration is required, cost is $1.00/ child. Call or check our web page for further details and daily topics. Finding Your Way Saturday March 27, 10:30 am Cedar Valley Park Shelter #1 Are you lost? Let the CCCB help you to get back on track during this scavenger hunt through the woods. Reconnect with nature as you use a compass to locate clues and goodies all along the way. All ages welcome, no experience necessary. Spring Hunters Safety course location and dates TBA call for details 50th Anniversary Celebration! The Cedar County Conservation Board was established in June of 1960, which means that we are celebrating 50 years of a rich history in Look for special events throughout the year, marked with this symbol- For more information on these programs contact the Cedar County Conservation Board office at (563)

4 Page Four Cedar Valley Visions Volume 21 Issue 4 Kids for conservation Blending in with Winter Camouflage is a way that animals can hide or disguise themselves in nature. Most animals are shades of brown and black, allowing them to hide in the woodlands, prairies, and croplands of Iowa. But in the winter, the world can become a blanket of white. There are a few animals who are happy to see the snow fall, and when it does come they are well prepared. Take a look at some of these winter-ready animals like the snowy owl, and polar bear. The ermine on the bottom of the page takes advantage of both summer and winter by changing its fur from brown to white depending on the time of year. Which animals can be found here in Iowa? What color would you have to be to blend in with your favorite location or time of year? Polar Bear Artic Fox Trumpeter Swan Snowy Owl Snowshoe Hare Ermine in summer and winter A Quote for Any Season Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail. ~Proverb Can you think of any other animals with white fur?

5 Page Five Cedar Valley Visions Volume 21 Issue 4 Conservation Board Members Chairperson Marnell Scheeper Lowden Vice-Chairman Dick Maske..West Branch Secretary Jean Driscoll.....Mechanicsville Board Members Craig Jackson.. Tipton Leon Steinhagen.....New Liberty Conservation Staff Executive Director.Mike Dauber Park Ranger.Noah Krob Naturalist.....Reba Reddick Office Secretary...Maureen Krutzfeld Conservation Aide...Harry Denny Park Technician.Lukas Gottschalk Cedar Valley Visions is published four times a year by the staff of the Cedar County Conservation Board. It is provided free of charge to anyone who requests to be on the mailing list. If you would like to receive your own copy, please phone the conservation office at (563) or send your name and address to: Cedar County Conservation Board Courthouse, 400 Cedar St. Tipton, IA or at cedarccb@iowatelecom.net Web site: If anyone believes he or she has been subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap, he or she may file a complaint alleging discrimination with either the Cedar County Conservation Board or the Office for Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C Environmental Education Update As 2009 comes to a close we take the time to look back at how this year compared to past seasons. Overall, 2009 was a very successful one for our environmental education programs. Participation was at 5894 people, an increase of 1062 people from This was mainly due to a few large scale programs that we participated in, including the Water Festival, a state wide program for Iowa s 4th grade classes, and two separate boy scout camps. The CCCB is excited to be able to collaborate with other organizations and help present at these types of programs in and out of the county. Our school and preschool programming also continues to increase each year. We are proud to visit each of the five school districts in the county every year. The pie chart below shows that school programs account for 46% of all the participants attending our programs. There is always room for improvement and the CCCB staff has set attendance goals for next year. We would like to continue offering a variety of quality public programs to Cedar County Citizens, increasing that number, which was 750 participants this year. An area that saw a reduction in 2009 was the attendance at the County Fair., standing at 568 people, compared to almost 1000 last summer. If you have suggestions on new program ideas you would like to see the CCCB offer, or would like more detailed information on the 2009 EE program report, contact our Naturalist Participants schools 46% Volunteers 0% Fair 10% preschool 12% libraries 2% scouts 10% Public Programs 13% camps 4% Organizations 3% Prairies; Past, Present and Future Exhibit coming to Tipton in April! This NEW exhibit, sponsored by the Iowa Association of Naturalists, will be traveling across the state of Iowa for the next 2+ years and is making it s stop in Cedar County this spring. We will be the first location to have an opportunity to see the exhibit from April 1st to May 27th, It will be displayed at the along with other locations throughout the county. Check our web page for more details and related prairie programs!

6 Winter 2009 Cedar Valley Visions Volume 21 Issue 4 Cedar County Conservation Board Mail: 400 Cedar St, Courthouse Office: 713 E. South Street Tipton, IA Phone NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No TIPTON, IA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED A Fall Snapshot Photos of our Halloween Program Vampire Valley held on Saturday October 10th. 71 people attended and 17 FFA students volunteered at the event. Checking out our turtle at a Nature Tails program The Sherriff was in town for our Halloween eventpumpkin was designed by the staff at the Sherriff s office Our newest Board Member Craig Jackson Working to help instill the conservation ethic in the citizens of Cedar County.