JEFFERSON CITY - Thousands of long-distance travelers are making a stop in Missouri this month. And unfortunately, they aren't staying at any hotels or eating at any restaurants.
These commuters are traveling without the use of a map or compass. They are sleeping in the grass and getting their meals from ponds and lakes. They're ducks.
The ducks are only here until either the food runs out or it gets too cold, according to Jim Loveless, wildlife management biologist with the Conservation Department. "When we freeze up, they'll move south," he said.
Loveless said the "tourists" at Eagle Bluffs park in McBaine number 15,000 or more. But the park is well-prepared for the influx of friendly fliers, who make a yearly stop in mid-Missouri on their migration south.
"This is the first year we've had water so of course we have more birds," Loveless said.
The aquatic habitat attracts migratory birds such as mallards, green-wing teal, scaup, and wood ducks. Bob Pierce, UMC's extension assistant with the fisheries and wildlife division, said the number of birds attracted to a certain area "depends on the water available for the birds."
The ducks' migration sequence is keyed into the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer, Loveless said. Their natural instinct will kick in as the weather gets colder. "If we get a big blast of northern air, the ducks will sense that it's going to freeze and will move along," he said.
But while the birds are visiting Missouri, local hunters will have their shot at them. Duck hunting season lasts from October 28 to December 16, and Loveless said mallards are most in demand. "In our part of the country, that is the image duck for hunters," he said.