Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Bridget Lynch photographed this praying mantis Aug. 18 on nodding onions in Orland Park, a good example of their camouflage abilities. I’m still waiting on my first of the year.

WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

DALE’S MAILBAG

“Can [albino deer] be harvested?” Bill Bonney on Facebook

A: He was referencing the Wild of the Week last Saturday of an albino buck by Vince Oppedisano in Boulder Junction, Wis. In both Illinois and Wisconsin, it is illegal to kill an albino or all-white deer.

BIG NUMBER

105: Pounds of smallmouth bass—heaviest 20-fish total of smallmouth in Bassmaster history—weighed in by Patrick Walters to win the Bassmaster Elite Series event at the St. Lawrence River.

LAST WORD

“Chinook are active in water temperatures from 45º to 60ºF, with a peak feeding temperature at 54ºF.”

Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ “Fishing Lake Michigan,” revised in 1998, by Tom Trudeau and Rich Hess, page 3.

WILD TIMES

FISH GATHERINGS

Thursday, Sept. 7: Dale Bowman on sundry topics, Trollers Unlimited, The Great Escape, Schiller Park, 8 p.m.

ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

Saturday, Sept. 9-Sept. 24: Teal season

Saturday, Sept. 9-Nov. 17: Rail (sora and Virginia only) season

Saturday, Sept. 9-Dec. 24: Snipe season

Through Sept. 30: Applications, bobcat permits

HUNTER SAFETY

Sept. 30-Oct. 1:Ringwood, search “hunter safety” at anc.apm.activecommunities.com/mccdistrict/activity/search

Sept.23-24: Momence, (815) 472-4900

WINGSHOOTING

Sept. 16 or 17: Des Plaines Conservation Area, Wilmington, (815) 423-5326

HUNTER CAMP

Sept. 23:For adult hunters of all levels, Deacon’s Bar, Wauconda, publish.illinois.edu/huntcampil/