Arkansas duck hunters could see more ducks this fall and winter, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's annual survey of breeding ducks on the prairies of the United States and Canada.
Based on a survey conducted in May, overall duck numbers have increased 14 percent since last year, with an estimated 36.2 million ducks on the prairies, according to a synopsis of the survey recently released by Ducks Unlimited.
The population increase also coincides with better nesting conditions across much of the prairie pothole country due to a warm winter and plentiful rain. The wetter weather saw total pond counts on the prairies climb to 6.1 million ponds, a 13 percent increase over the previous year and 26 percent higher than the long-term average, according to the Ducks Unlimited report.
With the pond numbers favorable for nesting success, Arkansas waterfowlers should be encouraged about prospects for seeing more mallards in the fall flight.
Overall, the mallard population increased by 8 percent, with an estimated 7.3 million mallards on the prairies this spring compared with last year's estimate of 6.8 million.
The increase put the mallard population near the long-term average, but Ducks Unlimited is not taking the improvement for granted. As part of its new Wetlands for Tomorrow Campaign, Ducks Unlimited recently created an initiative designed to conserve mallards' most vital breeding, migration and wintering habitats on prairies, as well as along the East and West coasts.
Ducks Unlimited already had a similar program for the long-dwindling pintail population, and it looks like the effort is helping.
"Perhaps the best news coming out of the survey is that pintail numbers are up 32 percent," the Ducks Unlimited report stated.
Many other species of ducks, including several important to Arkansas hunters, also saw increases in the spring survey.
Gadwalls, for example, increased 30 percent from the previous spring, with an estimated 2.8 million breeding gadwalls counted on the prairies to bring the population to 67 percent above the long-term avenge.
Blue-winged and greenwinged teal also had big increases over the previous year. Blue-winged teal jumped 28 percent to an estimated 5.9 million birds, while green-winged teal increased by 20 percent to 2.6 million birds.
Although the lowly shovelers are not highly prized by Arkansas waterfowlers, they should certainly be more common in the skies this fall. The 3.7 million spoonbills counted on the prairies put the population at 69 percent above the long-term average.
Among the diving ducks, redheads increased 55 percent over the previous year and canvasbacks were up 33 percent.
One of the few species that didn't show an increase this spring was the widgeon. The estimated 2.2 million widgeons counted represented a decline of 2 percent, and the population lags a substantial 17 percent below the long-term average.
STRANGE FISH CAUGHT
A strange and toothy fish caught from the White River near Beaver recently caused quite a bit of excitement at Beaver RV Park.
When two fishermen from Wheeler caught a strong-fighting fish about 20 inches long and nearly as wide, they took one look at the teeth in its mouth and headed for the campground to show off the catch.
At first, the fish was thought to be a piranha, the fearsome flesh-eater from the Amazon, where it has been portrayed as capable of tearing chunks out of any warm-blooded creature venturing into the water.
The attempt to identify the fish eventually involved Carroll County wildlife officer Les Gustavus of Berryville and fisheries biologists Ron Moore and Stephen Brown with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission office in Rogers.
In shape, the fish resembled a giant-size version of the gizzard shad common to area lakes.
The telltale teeth, however, were blunt and square and no way close to the sharp-pointed, razor-edged teeth of a piranha.
"They looked kind of like baby teeth," Gustavus said Monday.
When the fish was described to Moore and Brown, it was judged to be a pacu, a nonaggressive, vegetarian cousin to the piranha.
The biologists came to that conclusion because they had seen another pacu pulled from local waters.
"I've gone down and identified one caught from Lake Sequoyah in Fayetteville," Brown said.
It turns out that pacu, along with piranha, are popular aquarium fish. Pacu are capable of reaching lengths of 18 to 36 inches and can quickly become too large for a small aquarium.
Apparently, at least two aquarium owners have released their oversize pacu instead of burying them.
Brown said the tropical fish pose no threat to our native fish and are not capable of surviving the cold water temperatures of our winter season.
Nevertheless, Gustavus cautioned that it is illegal to release any non-native fish into public waters.