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Yes, there are eels in Missouri – And they're all female

Yes, there are eels in Missouri – And they're all female

Yahoo05-06-2025
FESTUS, Mo. – A slippery, rarely seen creature may make a surprise appearance in Missouri waters this summer. Believe it or not, American eels live in the Show Me State.
Earlier this week, Steve Hite of Environmental Restoration, LLC, caught and released an American eel while working on the Mississippi River, just south of Plattin Creek near Festus.
The Missouri Department of Conservation recently shared about the sighting, reminding the public that – while rare – American eels indeed live here among us.
According to MDC, the only eels you will find in Missouri are female. While both males and females are commonly found in coastal estuaries, only females make the long journey inland to rivers and streams like those in Missouri. Freshwater environments provide critical feeding and growth habitat for females before some return to ocean to spawn.
Though considered uncommon, eels can occasionally be found in Missouri's large rivers and major streams. The distribution and abundance of eels can still be difficult to track, but they tend to be especially rare in southwest Missouri.
That said, American eels play a quiet, yet important role in local ecosystems. Young eels feed on aquatic insects, while adults consume crayfish and fish. The adults also serve as prey for larger predators.
Conservations believe Missouri's eel population have declined over time, largely due to dams that restrict their long migratory routes. That's part of what makes encounters like the one on Festus ever so more special.
If you happen to come across an eel in Missouri waters, be sure to handle it with care. Use wet hands or a wet cloth to protect its slippery, delicate skin. If it's been hooked, gently remove it and release it back into the water as soon as possible.
MDC also encouraged anglers and outdoor enthusiasts to take a quick photo or video of any eel sightings. Each encounter could be valuable information for researchers and conservationists.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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time3 hours ago

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From Benjamin Franklin to Pony Express to anthrax: How the US Postal Service shaped a nation
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Hamilton Spectator

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The one government agency that still reaches nearly every American daily — undeterred by rain, sleet, snow or even gloom of night — turns 250 on Saturday. Established in 1775, when the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as postmaster general, the postal service predates the United States itself. It was launched nearly a year before the colonies declared their break from British rule. 'The country may not even have come into existence but for the Postal Service,' said Stephen Allen Kochersperger, the postal service historian and a former local postmaster. Now grappling with concerns over its financial viability, the independent agency has had a long and colorful history. It has grown from serving the 13 colonies to delivering more mail than any other postal system in the world, reaching nearly 169 million addresses and employing more than 635,000 people. 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Postal officials in Cleveland decided to take mail to people's homes out of compassion, he said. The idea spread quickly. City home delivery proved popular, but nearly two-thirds of Americans still lived in rural areas by the end of the 19th century. Demand was so great that rural free delivery, or RFD, began expanding rapidly around 1900. Postal innovations: Using Army planes and pilots While authorized air mail flights began in 1911, the nation's first regularly scheduled air mail service began on May 15, 1918. The initial routes were between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York, using Army pilots and planes. The post office soon took over air mail, running operations for nine years until turning to fledgling private airline companies, some of which remain major airlines. In the early days, flights were so dangerous that some pilots dubbed themselves the Suicide Club. 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During World War II, the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, or the Six Triple Eight , an all-Black and all-female unit of the Women's Army Corps, went overseas to tackle a massive backlog of undelivered mail for troops in Europe, many of whom had been reassigned. The unit's motto was, 'No mail, low morale.' It cleared the backlog in three months. A population boom and five digits transform mail service After World War II, the economy boomed — and so did the population. The post office needed a faster way to sort massive amounts of mail. It could no longer do so by hand. On July 1, 1963, each post office was given a five-digit ZIP code. 'Previously, clerks had to memorize thousands of points of address information so they could sort the mail,' Kochersperger said. 'With the ZIP code, you didn't have to memorize anything.' The public was skeptical at first, balking at more numbers. So, the post office came up with a friendly cartoon character named Mr. ZIP, who helped convince people their mail would arrive faster. It took some getting used to, but it worked. 'Today, can you imagine life without a ZIP code?' Kochersperger asked. A mail workers' strike led to restructuring and bargaining rights In 1970, a strike was called over low wages by leaders of the National Association of Letter Carriers union in New York and quickly broadened in scope. After about 200,000 workers joined the first U.S. postal strike, President Richard Nixon called up the National Guard to help sort mail. But it was a 'disaster' after two days, Kochersperger said. The strike led to the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which authorized collective bargaining rights for postal workers. It also transformed the taxpayer-supported Post Office Department into the United States Postal Service, a financially self-sustaining and independent agency within the executive branch. The postmaster general would work for a board of governors instead of reporting to the president. The U.S. Postal Service would set its own rates, control its finances and decide post office locations. How anthrax attacks reshaped the postal service Weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, four threatening letters contaminated with anthrax were sent through the mail, including to two U.S. senators. Two workers at a mail distribution center in Washington, D.C., died after breathing in the spores. Three other people were killed, and more than a dozen were sickened. Following a nine-year investigation , authorities concluded the person who mailed the anthrax had taken his own life in 2008 and the case was closed, but new precautions were added to protect workers. 'It changed the whole way that we sorted mail at that time,' Kochersperger said. Years later, postal workers would be designated essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and don protective gear again. What's next for the USPS? The advent of the internet and private companies like Amazon has taken a bite out of mail volume, threatening the postal service's financial viability . A 10-year modernization effort was launched to keep up with the times. Reaction has been mixed, but David Steiner , the agency's newly appointed postmaster general, says some improvements have been made. Steiner, a former FedEx board member, wants to help keep the service self-sustaining. He has said he opposes privatization, an idea raised by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, and believes the agency has a bright future as an independent entity. 'There is much to build upon in the years ahead,' he said. ___ Haigh reported from Hartford, Conn.

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