Fewer turkeys might be available come 2022
Candles a favorite this winter for adding light, scent and mood
March and meteorological spring arrive Monday, imperfectly signaling endings and beginnings in the way calendars sometimes do.
Nonetheless, that the statewide rabbit season ends Sunday at sunset is a legal certainty. Also in its final day is the lawful trapping of river otters and beavers. Trapping for mink and muskrat, too, concludes in most of the state, except for a few northwest counties.
Next chapter on the books, and in its own kind of hunting no-man’s-land is spring wild turkey season. Early Baby Boomers grew up in a time when seeing — let alone calling — wild turkeys in spring or any other time was impossible.
Turkeys, as with many indigenous species including deer, beavers, bobcats and otters, had been eradicated by habitat loss largely connected to farming and in some areas to iron smelting.
In later decades, after a sufficient fraction of the land was allowed to revert to a more natural state, some creatures began to return while others needed help. Many years of restoration efforts by Ohio Division of Wildlife personnel culminated with the presence of wild turkeys in every county.
The zoning of the spring turkey season started a few years ago when division decision-makers adjusted the schedules after acknowledging not all wild turkeys in the state live and breed at the same time.
As a result, the upcoming season in most counties, including those in central Ohio, will begin April 24. The 30-day season starts May 1 in five northern “snow belt” counties — Cuyahoga, Lake, Ashtabula, Trumbull and Geauga.
Hunters may take only bearded birds during the spring. The notion is that the bearded birds, almost all of them males, become expendable once they do their procreative duty, making way for the next generation. The need to leave female turkeys undisturbed for nesting and nurturing of their young makes hens untouchable by hunters during spring.
Nature, though, plays its part in the success of turkey nesting. When young turkeys, known as poults, break out of the egg into a world of abundant food and warm, dry weather they generally survive nicely. When food is scarce or the weather is wet and chilly, poults die.
Wild turkeys haven’t been doing especially well of late. Wildlife managers have little control when the cause of slumping numbers is rooted in nature. Control of hunters, though, can be arranged.
In the hope of encouraging population growth where it’s needed, the wildlife division has proposed that in 2022 hunters may take only a single bearded bird instead of the current two from public hunting areas.
A two-bird limit would continue on private land. Thus, turkey hunters would be able to take two bearded turkeys as long as only one came from a public hunting area.
Proposed spring turkey hunts for 2022 would include the youth weekend hunt April 9-19, almost two weeks before the start of the South Zone season, scheduled April 23 through May 22.
Hunting hours during the first nine days of the South Zone season would be 30 minutes before sunrise until noon. Hunting hours from May 2 through season’s end would be 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.
The North Zone season would run from April 30 through May 29.
The proposals were presented this month to the Ohio Wildlife Council, an eight-member citizens’ panel entrusted to accept or reject proposals after considering their merit with the help of public comments. A statewide hearing is scheduled virtually at 9 a.m. March 18.
outdoors@dispatch.com
If a candle is burning in a dark room, we don’t see the darkness, we see the light. Perhaps that’s why candles have become such a popular decor element over the course of the pandemic. h Little lights you can place anywhere, candles can make a room feel cozy and welcoming.
Q: I have a question about what happens to your real estate taxes when you pay off your mortgage. When you have a mortgage, the payment to the lender includes real estate taxes and insurance. Once you pay off your loan, how do taxes get paid? Is it better to pay off your loan or keep a loan so that the taxes keep getting paid? Do property taxes rise when you pay off your loan?
A: You've asked some important questions, although we think you might be a bit confused about how your real estate tax and mortgage escrow accounts work.
Let's start with a basic fact: Whether you carry a mortgage on your property has no impact on what you pay in real estate taxes. Your real estate taxes should be based on the actual value of the home or what your local taxing authority believes your home is worth.
Let's say you purchased your home for $300,000. The taxing authority might base your real estate taxes on your purchase price or may have some other formula for determining the value of your home. Once it has determined that value, the taxing authority sets the amount of taxes you must pay based on a complicated formula. For example, if the local taxing body says that your taxes are $3,000 per year, that's the amount you are legally obligated to pay, regardless of whether you are currently paying off a mortgage or not.
For most homeowners with a mortgage, the lender requires the homeowner to pay monthly into escrow a sum equal to (or a little higher) than the expected amount of real estate taxes and the current homeowner insurance premium. If your real estate property tax bill is $3,000 per year, the lender will set the monthly amount you pay into the escrow account at $250. If your homeowners insurance policy is $1,200 per year, the lender will want you to pay an additional $100 per month to cover future insurance premiums. In addition, the lender may require you to put in an additional amount, typically limited to two months' worth of insurance premiums and your total real estate tax bill, in case the bills come in higher than expected.
Whatever the sums are, they're added to your monthly mortgage payment. When the lender's servicer receives the payments, the amount due to the tax and insurance escrow are separated out and when those bills come due, the lender will pay them. The primary reason your lender holds these funds is to make sure these two bills are paid on time so the insurance policy doesn't lapse and your home isn't sold for back taxes.
Having said that, when you pay off your mortgage your lender no longer has the obligation to pay your real estate taxes and homeowners insurance premium. From the day you pay off your loan, you must take on the obligation to pay these bills yourself -- on time and in full.
If it's too much to write those checks once or twice a year, when they come due, you can set up your own escrow account, and deposit one-twelfth of the amount due each month into the account. Since your mortgage will be paid off, it will hopefully be easier to come up with the funds, and then remember to pay the bill. (Check with your tax assessor's office to make sure your home address is on the tax bill, so you are sure to receive it.)
The way real estate usually works, as you pay down your mortgage, your real estate tax bill will continue to rise. Recently, we found a tax bill from around 25 years ago that was about one-fifth of our current tax bill. Hopefully, your income over the decades will continue to increase so that paying a heftier tax bill won't be too much of a burden.