June 02, 2025
Shaw Local
NewsSportsBearsNewslettereNewspaperObituariesWeekend PlansEvent Calendar

Good Natured in St. Charles: Hopes for ivory-billed woodpecker’s return face extinction

By PAM OTTO
Although the last undisputed sighting dates to 1944, some experts still question whether the ivory-billed woodpecker, shown here as a taxidermy mount, should be declared extinct.

Although the last undisputed sighting dates to 1944, some experts still question whether the ivory-billed woodpecker, shown here as a taxidermy mount, should be declared extinct. (Photo provided)

This week marks 14 years since I began writing Good Natured. Fourteen years! While the number itself isn’t really worthy of landmark status, it is a milestone of sorts, and something I thought we might like to celebrate with a special sort of nature topic. But what?

As I began to consider just which aspect of our local nature scene might merit the honor of a 14-year prelude, my mind naturally drifted to the rare and unusual. River otters were my first choice, but we covered them in 2014 – the same year we wrote about wolves, which are another riveting topic. Badgers? They’re awfully cool, but they were profiled in 2009 and again in 2016. Bobcats? Neato for sure, but we wrote about them in 2017.

NatureSt. CharlesPam Ottowoodpeckersbirds