WILD TIMES

HUNTER SAFETY July 30 and Aug. 1: Bonfield, (815) 635-3198. ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

July 20: Deadline, second lottery for free dove permits.

DALE’S MAILBAG

“We really had our share of cicadas last month. What was really unique were the ‘squadrons’ of gulls that appeared to be doing maneuvers overhead. They appeared every couple of hours and apparently were feasting on the locusts.

. . . I decided it would be a good idea to review the Book of Revelation!!!”

— Ken Nieminski

A: Overall, 2020 makes Revelation look like chump change.

BIG NUMBER

1,000 years:

Estimated age of the Illinois state-record water tupelo, measuring 23 feet in circumference; that “toppled in a storm” earlier this summer at the Section 8 Woods on the Cache River, according to WSIL-TV.

THE LAST WORD

“Lake Erie offers some of the best fishing opportunities in the nation. The outlook has never been brighter for Lake Erie walleye fishing, with a strong future that has been built by consistently successful hatches since 2014, and solid sciencebased management.” — Kendra Wecker,

Ohio’s Division of Wildlife chief, in a D’Arcy Egan article on thebeacon.net, “Ohio fishery experts deem Lake Erie #1 in world for walleye”