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The Ragged Edge:

Nature doesn't color within the lines; it's messy, unkempt. But it's also beautiful and fascinating. We must learn to love the ragged edge, because that's where Nature lives. Being environmentally responsible in our yards -- letting Nature in -- is part of a larger land ethic, as espoused by Aldo Leopold -- the idea that we're all connected through Nature; through the "indivisibility of the earth -- its soils, mountains, rivers, forests, climates, plants and animals." A land ethic compels us to "respect it collectively, not only as a useful servant, but as a living being." Loving Land and loving Nature is the same thing, a powerful part of loving each other.

Summer 2025 Stories

Cottonmouth

“SNAKE!!!”

That’s a warning cry that almost always gets the adrenaline pumping. Summer is when snakes are active, hungry, and on the move. For those of us who spend a lot of time on the rivers, one of the most dangerous snakes is the northern cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus, often called water moccasin. The cottonmouth’s scientific name is Latin for “hook-toothed fish eater,” pretty self-explanatory. But no one seems to know for sure where the “water moccasin” tag comes from.

Francis Skalicky of the Missouri Department of Conservation suggests we not use the term “water moccasin” because it is applied to a variety of snakes people see around water. But whatever you call them, one thing is certain — A. piscivorus, the world’s only semi-aquatic pit viper— has a nasty reputation.

Brain Greene, a professor at Missouri State University, spent a big part of his life studying northern cottonmouth. Soft-spoken and articulate, Greene has piercing eyes that seem well suited for spotting dark snakes in dim surroundings. He grew up in New York State — as he puts it, “500 miles from the nearest cottonmouth” — and early on developed a keen interest in reptiles.

Not long after arriving at Missouri State, he heard about an abundance of cottonmouth near Crane Creek in Stone County. This clear, spring-fed stream, home to the unique McCloud rainbow trout, is also frequented by fishermen.

Greene wasted no time checking it out. Sure enough, one warm spring afternoon in 1999 he found about a dozen cottonmouth after only an hour of searching along the stream, and realized that this snake hotbed provided an ideal setting for his research on reptile populations.

Crane Creek lies near the northern edge of cottonmouth territory, which extends from southeast Virginia southward through Florida, westward across the Gulf States to east Texas, then up through Arkansas into southern Missouri. The Florida sub-species can be monsters. While Missouri specimens reach about four feet in length, Florida cottonmouth can be six feet long and, Greene adds emphatically, “as big around as your leg.”

Why do cottonmouth congregate at places like Crane Creek? The answer, Greene says, is at least partly in the lay of the land. The reach of Crane Creek he studied, as it flows through an area managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation, is primarily oriented east-west, with several stretches of south-facing bluffs. Warmed by the winter sun, these rocky outcrops provide ideal hibernacula for the snakes within sheltering crevices and caves.

Somewhat surprisingly, Greene found that Crane Creek cottonmouth eat very few trout or other fish. Instead, they forage almost exclusively on small mammals. Prey species are evenly apportioned into separate feeding territories, with large male snakes taking primarily cotton rats in pastures away from the creek. Smaller females specialize on deer mice and voles living near the stream.

By contrast, Arkansas biologists report that cottonmouth there feed heavily on fish, but only in intermittent streams where pools dry up in summer, providing easy pickings. Spring-fed Crane Creek never dries up, and cottonmouth there are at a competitive disadvantage with water snakes, which have evolved to feed efficiently on fish in open water.

Missourians typically see more water snakes than cottonmouth, but often confuse the two. Cottonmouth are usually darker with more triangular heads and thicker bodies. Scales protrude above and hide their eyes, as opposed to the bulging eyes of water snakes. Cottonmouth are also more buoyant, floating high in the water, often with their heads arching well above the waterline.

It is notable that despite their localized abundance — not to mention their aggressive reputations — cottonmouth bite very few people. As Greene meticulously explains, “People are afraid of them, don’t think straight when they’re around them, exaggerate what they’ve seen when they’re near one, and very often misinterpret what they observe.” This has given rise to many dubious claims of being “attacked” or “chased” by cottonmouth.

Cottonmouth can certainly appear threatening. If approached, they assume a characteristic defensive posture, rearing up, opening their mouths to expose white throat linings and fangs, puffing up their bodies and rattling their tails. But unless stepped on or grabbed, they almost never bite.

Studies in Georgia put cottonmouth through a series of “tests” over hundreds of encounters, including touching or prodding with prosthetic limbs. Over 80% percent of the time, even with persistent goading, the snakes didn’t strike.

So there is no reason to unduly fear cottonmouth. But one shouldn’t take any chances with them, either. Their bite is serious, comparable to a rattlesnake and worse than a copperhead. They can even bite underwater, though this is rare, with only one fatality recorded in this manner. Recovery from bites is prolonged, often with tissue damage and later atrophy.

So it is always advisable to use caution in likely cottonmouth habitat; watch where you step and don’t approach or attempt to capture any snake. Even with the knowledge that cottonmouth are not particularly aggressive, it is difficult to keep your heart from pounding when you see one.

Humans and other primates have been shown to harbor an innate fear of snakes. Perhaps this has kept us from harm in the distant past. But thanks to people like Brian Greene, we now know a lot more about these impressive reptiles. And as he suggests, a better understanding of them should help us maintain a healthy respect, rising above our tendencies toward irrational fears or, as too often happens, unnecessary extermination.

The button takes you to the Missouri Department of Conservation northern cottonmouth field guide.

Photo courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation

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Mowing Green

My lawn mowing chore isn’t as onerous as it used to be. My electric mower is much lighter than my old gas model, so it’s easier to push (although both are self-propelled). All I have to do is take a battery off the charger and slide it into the mower. No more storing and pouring gasoline, or going to the gas station to fill the container. I don’t have to worry about gas in my shed going bad, or rust from the fuel can clogging the engine filter. And my electric mower is more eco-friendly.

According to the EPA, gas lawnmowers and gas-powered yard tools (weed eaters, leaf blowers, chain saws, etc.) account for about 40% of the volatile organic chemical emissions in the U.S., and about half of the fine particulate emissions—particles that are breathed deeply into the lungs, where they do significant damage. They also produce high amounts of benzene, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone precursors.

There are an estimated 140 million of these machines, and their pollution is not regulated nearly to the extent of that from cars and trucks. Electric lawnmowers, by contrast, produce little pollution during operation, and they only consume electricity during charging.

Other benefits of electric lawnmowers:

They may be slightly more expensive initially to buy, but are much cheaper to operate. Over the lifetime of the mower, there is a considerable savings on fuel, oil, and maintenance.
They are less noisy than gas mowers, a real benefit in the already noisy urban setting. However, electric mowers do have some noise related to the turning motor and cutting action.
They are safer. Gasoline engines require the use and storage of hazardous products like gasoline and motor oil. Gas mower blades turn at higher speeds, which makes them more dangerous to users.
They are easy to start. Much of the frustration of gas mowers is yanking on the cord when the crazy thing won’t start.

Downsides of electric mowers:

Gas mowers are more powerful and able to cut through taller and tougher grass.
Run times on battery-operated mowers are usually less than run times on a tank of gas.

Sources and types of electric mowers:

Consumer Reports lists EGO mowers in the top spots for battery-operated mowers (about $400 for a 20-inch push mower, $600 for self-propelled). Compare with a Craftsman gas-powered mower at $300 and a Toro gas self-propelled for $420. Greenworks mowers also get high ratings from Consumer Reports.
Popular Mechanics suggests the EGO 21-inch Select Cut is the best overall, and the Ryobi 40V 21-inch is the best value.
EGO mowers are carried by Lowe’s and Westlake Ace Hardware in Springfield. Ryobi mowers are at Walmart and Home Depot (HD currently has a Ryobi push mower on sale for $300), and Greenworks mowers are at Lowes, Walmart, and Home Depot. Westlake Ace Hardware has a STIHL electric push-mower for $400.

I’ve learned there are differences in how my electric and gas mowers perform. I have a patch of grass in a low area that turns into a mat of green wire after a rain. If I don’t keep it mowed short enough, my electric mower will choke on it. But I’ve worked through these kinks and now mow mostly trouble-free.

So, now my old gas mower sits in the shed, stinking of fetid grass stuck to its underbelly. What do I do with it? I could probably give it away. There are places that would take it to resell. But I want to get the old ICE (internal combustion engine, greenhouse gas spewer) off the planet — one more dinosaur relegated to the iron fossil bed.

I found that I could take it to Commercial Metals, CMC Recycling (862-0548), to be recycled. They will pay me a little bit for the scrap metal. But first, I must drain the gas and oil. Or, I could take it the Computer Recycling Center (866-2588). They pay nothing for it, and I have to drain the oil and gas.

This begs the question — what do I do with the old gas or oil? Luckily, there are two ways to get rid of it. You can take it in a container with a lid to O’Reilly’s or Auto Zone to be recycled, or call the Household Chemical Collection Center, at 864-2000.

Backyard Burger

Summer is the season for cookouts. There is nothing like a medium-rare burger hot off the grill, stacked with pickles, ketchup, mustard, grilled onion, and right-off-the-vine garden tomato. I fell a little guilty knowing that eating beef is not terribly responsible, environmentally speaking, but at least we look for grass-fed beef. It’s partially to ease our conscience, but also because we have found that we really enjoy the flavor and texture of pasture-produced beef. But is it really better for the environment than eating CAFO meat?

Much of the beef consumed in the U.S. today has been produced, or at least “finished,” in a feed lot, a confined feeding operation. The high consumption of meat products in this country supports Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), or “industrialized” meat production. In our state, industrial agriculture and the organizations and industries allied with it have tremendous political power. For this reason, rules to prevent environmental and health problems from CAFOs are purposely kept weak, or are weakly enforced.

One alternative to CAFO-produced beef is grass-fed beef. Proponents of the grass-fed beef industry point out that there are environmental benefits, including:

Herds of cattle on the nation’s grasslands simulate the herds of buffalo that once roamed here, which supported the grassland ecosystem that existed before plowing and row crop production.
Managed (not overly intense) grazing can help restore soil health by boosting its nutrient content and increasing its microbial diversity.
Grasslands absorb high amounts of carbon dioxide, reducing greenhouse gases and fighting climate change
Cattle manure provides natural fertilizer for vegetation and soils
Proper grazing helps to develop grasses with deep root systems, reducing erosion

There is a rising demand for grass-fed beef in the U.S., but today 75-80% of the grass-fed beef is from abroad, primarily Australia and New Zealand, so some of the environmental benefits of grazing are being realized elsewhere.

Further, the popularity of grass-fed beef is pulling multi-national corporations into the market. Some people argue that feedlot-raised beef has lower greenhouse emissions, since grass-fed cows gain weight more slowly and therefore contribute to methane production for a longer period. However, most experts agree that on the whole, grass-fed beef is better for the environment.

There are also arguments that animal welfare is improved by raising animals on open pastures rather than in crowded, stressful conditions:
Local suppliers of grass-fed beef include High Springs Farm, Buffalo, Mo., (highspringsfarm.com) and Millsap Farms, Springfield, Mo. (millsapfarms.com).

We’ve all learned that eating “high on the food chain” is not sustainable. Many of our food crops, such as corn and soybeans, go to produce meat, with its much higher demands of land, nutrients, energy, and water. A commonly cited fact is that it takes about 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. Further, consumption of red meat has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and cancer.

Today, there is a growing trend to include more plant-based products in our diets. The “veggie burger” replaces the meat patty in our beloved hamburger. High-tech processes are being used with plant-based ingredients to mimic the color, texture and even the taste of beef.

Two product lines (Impossible Burgers and Beyond Burgers) led the way, but there are now many brands and product types to choose from.

Eating veggie burgers is definitely better for the planet, but how do they compare nutritionally and taste-wise? Nutrition magazine provides some comparisons:

Proteins and calories: Veggie burgers are similar to beef burgers in these categories
Total and saturated fats: Beef patties have about 18-20 grams of total fat and 8 grams of saturated fat. Veggie burgers have 14-19 grams of total fat, 6-8 grams of saturated fat. So, fat contents are similar, but most of the fat in veggie-burgers comes from coconut oil, which doesn’t include nearly as much of the harmful LDL cholesterol
Sodium: Somewhat surprisingly, the veggie burger has significantly more sodium, which could concern someone on a sodium-restricted diet.
Soy: The Impossible Burger uses genetically modified (GM) soybeans. Beyond Burgers are soy-free and use non-GM crops.
Taste: Beth and I have been buying Beyond Burgers at MaMa Jean's and are very impressed with them. They do a good job of simulating real meat, include a hot pink center that really looks like a medium-rare hamburger patty. The taste is good, too, especially when we add our traditional palette of cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles and lettuce.

So, there is not that much difference nutritionally between the veggie and beef alternatives. But the veggie burger is obviously a more environmentally sound and sustainable choice than conventional meat. If you want to lighten your footprint on the planet, consider switching to veggie burgers at least part of the time.

A Legacy of Ozark Floating

The clear, swift streams of the Ozarks have magnetic personalities, drawing thousands of people every year to fish, camp, swim or simply relax on a gravel bar. A great way to experience Ozark rivers is on a float trip. Many fun-seekers canoe popular rivers on summer weekends, seemingly oblivious to crowded conditions. Others float throughout the year, seeking solitude and a chance to glimpse reclusive wildlife. Whatever the style of adventure, these outings are built upon a long legacy of floating in the Ozarks. While the motivations and rewards of floating have remained largely the same, today’s floaters enjoy vastly improved gear.

Consider, for example, the equipment used by Leonard Hall 50 years ago, described in his book Stars Upstream. By the 1950s, Hall had invested in the newest generation of float boats, the Grumman Canoe. William Hoffman, vice-president of Grumman Engineering, hit upon the idea of an aluminum canoe while on a float trip in upper New York State in 1944. After laboriously portaging his heavy canvas-covered wooden boat, he figured there had to be a better way. Why not build canoes from the same lightweight material used in Grumman’s famous fighter planes? The next year, the world’s first aluminum canoe rolled off the plant’s assembly line on Long Island.

Before aluminum canoes arrived on the scene, john-boats formed the mainstay of Ozark floating. Traditional john boats--later simplified to jon boats--were fashioned from tightly butted wood planks sealed with glue or pitch. After a time in the water the wood expanded, making the boat watertight—but heavy. John-boats weighing 300 pounds dry could become a back-wrenching 800 pounds when waterlogged. These boats were usually narrow, eighteen to twenty-four inches wide, and long, sometimes exceeding thirty feet, but were surprisingly stable, accommodating several fishermen and allowing a person to stand up while paddling or poling from the stern.

By the 1880s, john-boats provided basic transportation for many Ozark hill folk, since roads remained rough to non-existent in the rugged interior. Travelers would sometimes pole their boats twenty miles upriver just to visit neighbors. Canoes of the wood and canvas variety became commercially available in the early 1900s, but were slow to catch on in the Ozarks. The geographer Carl Sauer, writing in 1915, noted that canoes, while apparently well suited to Ozark streams, were at the time “almost unknown.”

By the 1920s, many Missourians, especially business people from St. Louis and Kansas City, had discovered the Ozarks as a fishing and recreation paradise. Guided float trips came into vogue. A famous example, the Galena to Branson trip, featured a 125-mile float lasting six days or more. Customers drifted beneath magnificent bluffs on the James River and then down the mighty White River (in a section now covered by Table Rock Lake), sampling choice fishing holes along the way. These lengthy excursions were made possible by that Ozark workhorse, the john-boat, which could carry the extensive commissary and mountains of camping gear as well as paying customers.

Jim Owen perfected guided float trips on the James and White Rivers. A transplant from Jefferson City, Owen at first knew little about john-boats or floating, but his background in advertising gave him an edge in marketing and promotion. He started a Branson-based float service in 1935 with six boats. Potential customers learned of his trips in Outdoor Life, Sports Afield and Life magazines. During his thirty-three year tenure as float guide, Owen shepherded over 10,000 fishermen down bass-filled Ozark streams.

Aluminum and wood-canvas canoes and john-boats still ply the rivers of the Ozarks, but for concessionaires and many recreational floaters, the boat material of choice today is plastic. With their one-piece molded bodies, plastic canoes have no rivets or rigid plates to crack, buckle and leak. Being very flexible, they bend on impact and spring back into shape. They slide over rocks without the “grabbiness” of aluminum canoes, and are much quieter, making it easier to sneak up on fish and wildlife and contributing to a more peaceful floating experience. More recently, plastic kayaks have come into vogue, opening up floating experiences for a wide range of recreationalists.

Camping gear has also been improved. Leonard Hall, upon reaching his gravel bar campsite, set up his spacious “umbrella” style canvas tent, with internal aluminum poles and an awning over the front door where he and a few companions could drink coffee while waiting out the rain. Hall’s heavy, folded canvas tent took up a considerable portion of his canoe. Today, tents are primarily made of nylon and are lightweight and compactly rolled, with aluminum or composite poles supporting the structure through sleeves or clips sewn onto the outside, all covered by a rain repellent fly. In his tent, Hall slept in a Dacron sleeping bag on a bulky, rubberized air mattress. Today’s floaters enjoy more lightweight and functional designs for both bags and pads.

For a grub box, Hall used a wooden orange crate with rope handles and an internal divider. One side held the food, the other a cook kit. In the canoe, he kept the box covered with a canvas tarp to keep out the splash. Today’s floaters still need to keep critical items dry in rapids or in the event of a spill, especially on winter floats—necessitating water-tight bags and boxes, perhaps the most essential gear of all. Innovations like these have greatly elevated the safety and comfort levels of floaters since Hall’s time.

But for Leonard Hall, and for the generations of floaters that followed him, it wasn’t really about the gear—any more than canoeing is simply another form of transportation. Rather, it is about getting along in the outdoors—about tuning ourselves to the natural rhythms and movements of wild rivers—and about allowing our minds and spirits to become immersed in their timeless flow. That, in large measure, is what Ozark floating is really about. The gear simply helps us to get there.

The button below will take you to the Ozark Book Series at Ozark Studies Institute, where you can buy the excellent book, "On the River: A History of the Ozarks Float Trip" by Tom Koob and Curtis Copeland.

On the River Book

A Legacy of Ozark Floating

Photos from a 1940 Movie of Jim Owen Float Trips

Promotional Movie Title

Unloading the John Boats

Commissary Boat

Satisfied Customer

Jim Owen

Famous Guide Charlie Barnes

The Jim Owen Crew

The Modesty Screen