Marion pharmacist earns wildlife award
Gives credit to
tenant Brad Matz
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Marlin Buchholz, pharmacist at Marion Health Mart Pharmacy, has been an avid hunter for many years.
More recently he has found great pleasure in providing habitat for and observing birds and animals on his own land.
In 2001, he and his wife Debbie purchased 160 acres in extreme eastern Marion County to develop the property into a paradise for wildlife.
"The quarter only has about 90 acres of cultivated land on it and the rest is nothing but waste, which is really perfect for me," he said.
By the looks of things, Buchholz is well on his way to fulfilling his dream. For his efforts, he is recipient of the 2003 Wildlife Award from Marion County Conservation District, to be presented Saturday at the district's annual banquet. The award is sponsored by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Kansas Bankers Association.
The first thing Buchholz did after purchasing the property was to establish two ponds.
"This ground is located along the Marion-Chase county line," he said, "and it's close to acres and acres of grass, but there's not much water around."
He was interested in attracting geese. He left two big islands in the middle of the ponds for nesting areas. To his delight, a pair of geese found the ponds last year.
Recently, he created an elevated nest using a clothes basket mounted on a pole. He said the elevated nest will keep critters from getting the eggs.
One pond was stocked with bass, the other with eight-inch baby catfish.
Buchholz' next project was to provide good habitat for game birds. With the help of Marion County Conservation District, several 30-foot wide strips of native grass were established through the middle of the property.
Then, food plots were established using seed provided by Quails Unlimited and Pheasants Forever, organizations to which he belongs, as well as Ducks Unlimited.
Buchholz attributes much of his success to his tenant Brad Matz. Matz farms 70 acres of the cropland. He has planted food plots and done other "extra" things for Buchholz.
In addition to ground plots, Buchholz also has hanging feeders scattered throughout the property. They hold about 300 pounds of corn as food for pheasants, quail, and deer.
Buchholz has planted numerous trees to offer sanctuary from the cold in winter and to provide supplemental food. His favorites are American plum because they provide good cover for quail and deer.
Although Buchholz is a lifelong hunter, he has discovered just as much or more pleasure in simply going out to and walking around the wildlife oasis he has created. He always is looking for new ideas.
One 30-acre section of the property is totally overrun with cedar trees. The overgrowth provides an intimate, exciting atmosphere that Buchholz enjoys. He has planted several plots of white clover among the trees for the deer.
Using a brush cutter, Buchholz has created pathways through another area of dense brush and vegetation. He said deer were quick to find the paths.
Two weeks ago, he shot a bobcat which was preying on the quail. He plans to have it mounted.
"My personal reward for doing all this work is to be able to go out there and see all the wildlife," he said. "My golf game has suffered quite a bit since I started going out there."
He likes to visit the property three or four times a week.
He likes to sneak up to the ponds and watch the geese. He also has installed several motion-sensitive cameras to capture wildlife in action.
"It's fun to see what sort of game will come onto the property both day and night," he said. "I've gotten pictures of deer, skunks, raccoons, and lots of birds."
He plans to build an observation deck for direct viewing of birds and animals.
He also gets a lot of pleasure out of feeding the catfish. He buys 50-pound bags of floating catfish food and stores it in a large garbage can.
"It's so much fun to throw the food out there and watch the water boil as the catfish come to get it," he said. He figures they have grown to about one pound by now.
He hopes to someday share his paradise with grandchildren. The couple's three children, Chad, Lisa, and Joe, are single and in college.
Buchholz encourages others to get involved in similar projects. He suggested joining the various wildlife organizations to get information and ideas and to work with the local conservation office.
"I can see what a difference the improvements made on that farm," he said. "I'm proud I bought the land and didn't let it go to waste."
