Zen Mocarski

Zen Mocarski was the New Mexico Wildlife Magazine Editor for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

August, 2016

  • 15 August

    Awards handed out at banquet ceremony

    In recognition of contributions made in the field of wildlife conservation, three New Mexico Department of Game and Fish awards were handed out to deserving recipients at the Governor’s Special Hunt Auction and Banquet in February. Director’s Wildlife Conservation Professional of the Year Heavily involved in a number of high-profile …

March, 2016

  • 1 March

    Top 10 kayak fishing

    Kayak fishing provides an opportunity for anglers looking for some tranquility to reach more remote locations where they can enjoy some time alone. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Fishing is fishing, but kayak fishing is a whole different experience. Shoreline anglers often are limited by the access points and the distance an individual is willing to hike for solitude. With a kayak, finding the ‘road’ less traveled becomes a more realistic prospect. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish personnel …

  • 1 March

    Stewart Lake cutthroat

    A conservation officer’s mule proved invaluable in getting the fish to the final destination at Stewart Lake. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Katherine’s loss was Stewart’s gain. No, that’s not the plot for a movie to appear in theaters soon, it’s the story of a wilderness adventure to stock Rio Grande cutthroat trout into highcountry lakes. Lake Katherine was the original Pecos Wilderness destination in October, but weather called for a change …

  • 1 March

    Feeding and the food chain

    Food on the ground is the biggest culprit in human-wildlife conflicts. Feed one animal and a person is potentially feeding many. Deer are the favorite food of cougars, and black bears become quickly habituated to people when provided an easy food source. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    It really doesn’t matter if it’s Yogi the Bear, Wile E., Bugs, or Alvin the Chipmunk, feeding wildlife can have dire consequences. The majority of wildlife conflicts involve a feeding issue, whether it be intentional or not. “When the Department of Game and Fish needs to respond to a call …

  • 1 March

    Newborn wildlife alert

    Well-intentioned people seeking to help occasionally remove baby animals from the wild. Newborn wildlife is rarely abandoned and should be left alone. The more likely scenario is that the mother is foraging for food or has been frightened away by the presence of a human. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    The sirens are sounding because a mother’s child has gone missing. The wildlife Amber Alert has been activated and word is spreading throughout social media as mom searches in vain for her missing offspring. “Every year, around this time, well-intentioned individuals try to save wildlife newborns that appear to have …

  • 1 March

    Warm weather fears

    While smaller centipedes generally can’t penetrate human skin, the bite from a large centipede can be dangerous to small children and cause pain, swelling and fever for an adult. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Everyone’s heard of the famed “lions and tigers and bears, oh my” line in the movie The Wizard of Oz as they walked gingerly down the Yellow Brick Road. But what about “spiders and scorpions and snakes?” Could the movie have had it all wrong? Well, not to diminish the …

  • 1 March

    Rattlesnakes: did you know…?

    Prairie rattlesnake. So, your basic working knowledge of a rattlesnake is: They bite, they’re venomous, and poking them with a finger is a really, really bad idea. But there’s a lot more to these fascinating reptiles. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    So, your basic working knowledge of a rattlesnake is: They bite, they’re venomous, and poking them with a finger is a really, really bad idea. But there’s a lot more to these fascinating reptiles. There are two different genera of rattlesnakes: Crotalus and Sistrurus, of the subfamily Crotalinae, which includes …

  • 1 March

    Biologists are branding fish in a quest for answers

    Following the old adage, “there’s always a bigger fish,” New Mexico Department of Game and Fish biologists are collecting information to determine the size at which catfish have the best chance to survive. Simply stocking thousands of catfish might draw anglers to a water, but it doesn’t always translate into …

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