Saturday morning the rain held off for a few hours so Bob and I took a drive out to the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery and Conservation Center in Branson. I had never been to a fish hatchery before, so it was an eye opener. This hatchery raises rainbow trout, which do not reproduce well in the area but are a big draw for fisherman all over the country.
This facility is run by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and it provides community education in the form of a film, hands-on displays, and of course, the fish hatchery. A volunteer also talked about local snakes and had some live snakes for people to see, including some of the poisonous ones that populate the area. A short film explained how trout are caught, their eggs and sperm harvested, and the young fish are raised to about 11" at which time they are released into local waters. There are many pools, or "raceways" at the hatchery, and are all filled with young fish of varying sizes.
There are adult fish as well, large rainbow and brown trout, easily seen in the large viewing tanks.
It was all very interesting! We stopped for calzone at Hook and Ladder Pizza, not far from the RV park--yum!
Mother's Day was quiet. The rain was intermittent and we just hung out and relaxed. It's nice to just take a day and read sometimes!
Hopefully you all had a lovely Mother's Day, doing exactly what you wanted to do. :)
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