Frostbite describes the condition that occurs when skin and underlying body tissues freeze as a result of exposure to cold. When skin and body tissues freeze, the water contained in each cell expands. Healthy warm cells are very elastic, but freezing cells are rigid. The result? As body tissue fluid freezes and expands, the cells split open, much like an over-filled container placed in the freezer. The cellular damage that results from frostbite can lead to severe disfiguration and even death.

  Frostbite can occur anytime the environmental temperature or the wind chill drops below freezing, 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Uncovered areas of the body are most likely to suffer, with the nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers and toes most often affected. Frostbite can set in very slowly or very quickly depending on how long the skin is exposed to the cold and how cold and windy it is. It cannot be emphasized strongly enough that frostbite need not happen even at extremes of altitude, temperature and fatigue: frequently a degree of carelessness is the chief cause.

  Frostbite occurs in three stages; frostnip, superficial frostbite, and deep frostbite. The initial stage is called frostnip. The skin turns unusually white and soft and will have a pins and needles feeling. This can easily be treated by blowing warm breath on the frost-nipped area or soaking the area in warm water.

  Superficial frostbite occurs when the skin freezes and ice crystals form inside the skin cells, but the tissue underneath remains flexible. The skin turns yellow-grey, painless, numb and leathery or waxy to the touch. Upon warming, the area will turn red and painful as blood flow to the area returns to normal. A few hours after thawing, the tissue swells and during the first two days giant blisters form. Try not to break them. These blisters settle during the first week leaving tissue hideously discolored, and if gangrenous, shrunken and black. This carapace, or shell separates in several weeks. If the frostbite is superficial, pink new skin will appear beneath the carapace: if deep, the end of a toe or finger will gradually separate off - an unsightly but usually painless process.

  In deep frostbite the tissue is hard, white and obviously frozen, like a piece of chicken from a freezer. This is the most serious type of frostbite because it affects the blood vessels, muscles, nerves, tendons and even bone. It can lead to permanent damage, blood clots and sometimes gangrene, which is the death and decay of body tissues. In deep frostbite, the affected areas become completely numb to all feeling and remain cool and splotchy or blue after warming. The frost-bitten area will turn black and hard. The skin surrounding the area may swell up and stay swollen for a month or longer. If gangrene develops, amputation of the finger or limb may be necessary.

  If you suspect frostbite, seek shelter. Remove wet, constrictive clothing and place the frostbitten area in direct skin-to-skin contact with a warm area on the victim or a buddy. Seek immediate medical attention to prevent infection and possible loss of a limb. Even with deep frostbite, if medical treatment is prompt, most frozen limbs may be saved.

  NOTE: Do not re-warm a frostbite injury if it could refreeze during evacuation.
  Do not re-warm frostbitten feet if victim must walk for medical treatment.

  Frostbite can usually be prevented by using caution in extreme cold weather. Layer your clothing. Many layers of thin clothing are warmer than one bulky layer. Air spaces trap body warmth close to the skin, insulating the body against the cold. Wear two or three pairs of socks instead of one heavy pair, for example, and wear roomy shoes.

  Cover all possible body surfaces. Wear a hat, ear muffs, a scarf and mittens. Don't drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, causing the body to lose heat quickly. Smoking slows down blood circulation to the extremities. Keep dry. Wet clothing is 20 times less warm than dry clothing. If you know that you are going to be out in the cold for any length of time, it is always wise to carry extra clothing with you.

  Pay attention to the warning signs of frostbite so you can prevent or treat it promptly. Remember the lower the temperature, the greater the risk of injury. Even if it is not very cold outside, high winds can reduce temperatures to dangerously low levels, making frostbite more of a danger. Also, people who have experienced frostbite need to be even more careful because they are more likely to suffer from it again. Other factors that may make a person more likely to get frostbite include being wet, exhausted, intoxicated by alcohol, taking certain medicines or drugs, smoking, diabetes and poor circulation.

  Much like your Monday through Friday life, Backwoods Adventures carry risks. By learning about these risks and taking preventive measures, you can minimize your chance for trouble and get maximum pleasure out of your outdoor adventures. Until next time...Maggie B.

  IDNR Announces New Online Trapper Education Course

  SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is offering a new online course for those interested in learning to trap. Those required to complete a course before purchasing a trapping license now have two choices: a traditional full-day course, or completion of half of the requirement online and half in the classroom, where participants learn hands-on skills such as setting traps and preparing pelts for sale. The courses are free.

  IDNR encourages all trappers, regardless of age, to take a course. First-time trappers under 18 must complete a course and pass a written exam before they are allowed to purchase a trapping license. Those under 16 must also have written permission from a parent or guardian before purchasing a license.

  The Illinois Trapper Education Online at www.trappered.com covers topics such as trapping equipment, laws and ethics through online film clips, reading materials, quizzes, photos, and illustrations. At the end of the online course, students must successfully complete the final exam online and download a printable document of completion.

  Students must present the document when attending the four-hour training session with instructors. To locate an instructor-taught course, visit http://dnr.state.il.us/safety or call 1-800-832-2599.

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  Little Change In Big Game Survival Rate

  The survival rate for radio-collared female elk and mule deer in an ongoing Idaho Fish and Game research project remained essentially the same in 2006.

  As of June 2007, the most recent results available, the overall survival rate of radio-collared adult female elk in the research areas was 88 percent; up from January 2006 when the survival rate was 86 percent.

  Female elk survival over 85 percent is generally considered normal and sustainable.

  The overall survival rate of radio-collared adult female mule deer was 86 percent; up from 83 percent the year before. Female mule deer survival over 80 percent is generally considered normal and sustainable.

  This year, Fish and Game plans to capture and collar additional elk in the Garden Valley area as part of one of the largest big game research project ever undertaken in Idaho and possibly the West.

  The ongoing project began in January 2005, when Fish and Game biologists captured and put radio collars on more than 400 elk and more than 450 deer to learn how they live and how they die.

  Fish and Game biologist have been monitoring several hundred deer, elk and moose in game management units across the state. The goal is to learn how changing habitats and predators affect big game populations.

  For information on the great hunting, fishing and outdoor opportunities that abound in Idaho visit their site at: www.state.id.us/fishgame/.

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  Do Not Feed the Deer

  CODY - Winter officially began December 21, and with the winter solstice comes a winter message from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department - please do not feed the deer.

  "Supplemental feeding of big game, especially during periods of winter stress, is at times an appropriate response most notably when and where ancestral winter habitat has been lost or severely degraded," said Gary Brown, Cody Region wildlife supervisor. "However, feeding deer in urban settings can be counterproductive to the overall well-being of the herd."

  In many towns throughout Wyoming, urban deer numbers have increased, due in part to rural subdivisions encroaching upon winter ranges. "As our communities expand and grow, so do our urban deer problems", Brown said. These problems range from property damage such as destroyed vegetable gardens, flowerbeds, and new shrub plantings, to pet injuries and deer-vehicle collisions.

  "Supplemental feeding of urban deer in the winter exacerbates these problems," Brown said. He noted that by providing opportunities for deer to obtain birdseed, field corn, or other supplemental food items, deer could become accustomed to humans and transportation corridors, which change their natural behavior. "Feeding urban deer may also have the effect of increasing the deer population in a community, which can often create conflict between neighbors, those who like to feed and those who do not want deer around at all", Brown added.

  Brown cited another very important reason not to feed urban deer, mountain lions. "Mountain lions feed primarily on deer and they are active year-round. Houses, garages, shrubbery, and even parked vehicles make great stalking cover for mountain lions. If you intentionally feed deer to purposefully keep them around your home, the chances of attracting mountain lions into your neighborhood increases," said Brown.

  "I truly believe that many people have nothing but good intentions when they feed deer and probably never consider the unintended consequences of their actions", Brown said.

  For more information about this article, contact Gary Brown at (307) 527-7125 or visit the Wyoming Game And Fish Department’s web site at http://gf.state.wy.us/.

  I reckon I was wanting a hunting dog for some time, but when we got Tippy she didn’t look like much more than the house dog she was supposed to be. She was a puppy, barely weaned and unlike her older sibling Dale, we were not going to keep her in the house. My grandma and grandpa always believed animals belonged outside. Dale belonged to my great-aunt and uncle and he was a playful light brown dog that my brother and I loved. So when Dale’s momma had puppies again we ended up with one.

  We named her Tippy because she had a white belly, but the rest of her was light brown all the way out to the tips of her paws and these were white. Grandpa named her and since she was going to be a yard dog, I didn’t really care.

  I was excited because we got a slightly older German Short-hair pup named Fraulein and I was looking forward to taking her hunting and shooting over her. At the age of 12, I was ready to shoot or hunt over just about anything.

  My grandpa and grandma Falconer lived out in the country and I had free roam of several hundred acres owned by them, my uncle and C.A. Overstreet. Mr. Overstreet’s land was posted, but Grandpa would make me call him every fall and get permission to hunt.

  Grandpa would tell me, "Son, don’t ever assume you have permission just because you did last year. No one ever gets mad about being asked permission again if they let you go hunting the first time." So I kept up good neighborly relations and I kept Mr. Overstreet’s property from being overcrowded by squirrels, rabbits, quail, ducks and the occasional bullfrog along the sloughs.

  Before Tippy was a year old she was hunting the meadow and the fence rows for rabbits and rats. She would sit in the yard for an hour watching a mole-hill and when that mole popped his head up, she would kill him. Sometimes she would miss and have to dig, but if that mole wasn’t into marathon digging, he lost the race.

  Tippy was scared to death of guns. We would shoot clay pigeons on the meadow and she hated the guns, heading to the back of the house. If I walked out of the house with a gun, away she went.

  I knew Tippy was a good dog and hunter and I was determined to teach her to hunt with me. Now I’m not claiming any secret to training a dog, but I know what happened and how it happened. Jerry Richardson and I took Tippy hunting with us near his place over in Cartersville. Well, she was scared to death and at the first shot of the shotguns she was gone. I mean GONE! We couldn’t find her.

  I was mad and a little ashamed of myself for not putting her on a leash. I remember telling grandma and grandpa that she wasn’t worth anything anyway because she was gun shy. Grandpa suggested I did not take her anywhere strange again if we got her back. Some of grandpa’s suggestions were more ominous than others and I filed this one in the pay attention file that is really small in a 13 year old’s mind.

  One of my grandpa’s friends from Cartersville called us and Tippy had showed up at their house. We went and got her. She was happy to see us and I was pretty happy to see her too. We sat on the porch and I done some hugging on her and she would tuck her tail between her legs and run this little circle that was her way of saying, "Man, I am glad to see you!!"

  Well, I sat there and petted her and told her, "Tippy there has to be a way for me to show you that a gun isn’t something you have to be scared of."

  A few Saturdays later, I figured out what I was going to do. I got out Grandpa’s Browning 16 gauge and a few purple hulled # 6’s for it. I loaded two in the gun and set it inside the door. Calling Tippy she came to me and I got one of grandpa’s long training leashes and a thin chain hooked together.

  Connecting the catch to her collar, I got Grandpa’s shotgun and she started cowering. Well she sat on the porch with me petting her and talking to her until she forgot about that shotgun. We heading across the back yard and crossed the gate into C.A.’s property.

  Tippy and I made a big circle around the strip pit and then along Cache Creek. We went up the little branch into Grandpa’s land and she was bouncing along at the end of the chain. We hadn’t seen a single rabbit or squirrel, but I knew where we would jump some rabbits. I also knew I wanted her to be bounced out before we got there.

  We crossed the old crossing on the creek that was still paved with rock from when it was the main road from Ft. Smith to Webbers Falls back in horse and wagon days. We hunted down the meandering creek among the post and red oaks, crossing back and heading toward a thicket of honeysuckle covered elms, oaks and ash. As we got close I saw Mr. Cottontail standing on his back haunches, sniffing the air as we approached.

  Tippy saw him too.

  The rabbit took off at an amble. I knelt beside Tippy and petted her, telling her that that was what we were looking for. I took off the leash and dropped it right there. I knew I could find it again.

  We both walked up to where the rabbit had been and she put that sniffer of hers to work. That whip-cord tail went into overdrive and I knew she was trailing the rabbit. I was moving pretty quickly to keep up when she gave a yelp and the rabbit was off and running. Little brown dog was hot on its trail. I saw the rabbit heading for the honeysuckle and I knew he would lose us both in it.

  I saw the rabbit blur through one opening, raising my shotgun toward the second and final opening and when the blur appeared, I shot once. The 16 gauge roared and I raced around to the other side of the thicket, but the rabbit hadn’t emerged. I walked back to where I’d shot at him and there he lay on the far side. Tippy was sitting beside him panting.

  She looked at me and looked at the gun and I swear I could see her saying to herself. "So THAT’S what those things are good for!"

  Tippy was a smart dog and she knew what a gun was, but she was no longer scared of them. That day started a friendship that became as close as any two humans could have. We hunted and fished and snake hunted together, going into mortal combat more than once with big thick-headed cottonmouths. We were always victorious!

  After the first time I made her stay when I crawled up on a pond to shoot ducks, she would walk beside my shoulders. She didn’t crawl, but she was short enough that she never spooked anything.

  She wanted to be there when the shooting took place, even though she would look at me like I was crazy when I tried to get her to retrieve ducks in ice cold water.

  You could touch a tree and say squirrel and she knew we were squirrel hunting. You could kick your feet in the grass and say rabbit and she knew we were rabbit hunting and she would start hitting the brush. You can call me a liar and I don’t really give a damn cause I seen her do it. A good friend of mine, Gerald Lovell, was at my grandparents one day and grandpa looked at Tippy and said, "Hey, there’s a squirrel in the corn!" Tippy immediately ran to the garden and ran the rogue corn-eating squirrel up a tree. Grandpa killed it for her and Gerald had witnessed my four-legged friend in action.

  I have lots of stories I am going to write about Tippy and this one is just the first. She was one of my best friends and anyone that tells you dogs ain’t got a soul don’t know what they are talking about. She died when I was 28 years old at the age of 15. I cried pretty much all evening. Hell, I have a few tears in my eyes now.