Baker Ford to Tyler Bend clean up pictures and more

[Phil W.]

The clean up was a great day with great people. There were enough volunteers to split up. The larger group went Tyler Bend to Gilbert. I went with the smaller group up to Baker Ford and floated down to Tyler Bend. There were I think 3 including me from the Canoe Club. I think in the future maybe we should increase that number? There were at least 10 Arkansas Master Naturalist, including me who is the current President of the River Valley Chapter, we are currently looking for new members for our up coming classes Below are my Pictures and a video

http://youtu.be/uKPfqjFxIkE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmicdude ... 657469614/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cowper]

Also got some photos posted. Phil drew "first blood" by finding the first and largest of several tires; but I'm happy to say that overall you had to really work to find trash, much more so than in years past.

One of my favorites; this resulted in a background scene of screaming and scrambling to increase distance:



When I first handed one of the scouts my NRS soaker, they asked "why are you handing me a blue stick?" But after a quick demonstration of the tool, they quickly grasped the value of it...





Go here for the rest of the trip photos:

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos? ... ity=CjJSza" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Karla]

Very big snake. What kind is it? Was Debo measuring it?

Karla

[MikkiW]

I wasn't there but I can tell from the picture that it is a cottonmouth moccasin. He/she seems really relaxed despite having his full weight suspended in the snake grabbers. Debbie seems to have this effect on snakes when handling them. I have never seen one thrash when held by her. These are really beautiful snakes and do not deserve the bad reputation that most folks have assigned to them. Have never seen one get aggressive unless they were attacked or threatened first.

[Deuce]

I have watched them swim up to my boat on the Arkansas River and try to get over the transom and into the boat (bass boat). No biggie as I would just return them to the river with a boat paddle, but I always wondered what that was about.

[DeBo]

Sounds like you did it the right way. I have also seen them attempt to climb into boats. Another simple way to handle this is to just move the boat backwards or forwards.

Cottonmouths are not really water snakes. They will stay around water to catch food and they like swimming on the surface; their bodies are very fat and lite so they swim with most of their body out of the water. if they are swimming toward something and encounter a boat, perhaps mistaking it for a log, they may attempt to climb up on it rather than going under it or around it. True watersnakes will dive.

We humans tend to assign human intentions and human intelligence to animals that they just don't have. The best way to handle one trying to get in the boat is to just put your paddle between yourself and the snake and gently put it away or just move the boat in a perpendicular direction from the snakes line of travel. They will usually cross your path and continue on their way. Swinging a paddle wildly or trying to hit the snake may cause it to panic and try even harder to get out of the water. Some Cottonmouths will try to flee the scene by swimming away or diving but others may try to stay and fight when threatened. That depends on the temperament of the individual animal.

[bmartin]

I can't realy tell from the picture, but I am thinking those snake grabbers would have to be a lot longer before I would want to handle a cotton mouth that size! The snake was in the right hands with Debo.

Thanks for keeping our streams clean.

[Half Ton]

jealous

A cleanup with water to float! We had a couple of people walk about a 3 mile stretch of Lee Creek.

I am also glad to see that the Buffalo's floatable up there now AND that big snake.

NICE TIRE PHIL

[tomOzarkVideo]

Thanks a million for cleaning up!