June 5, 2023 (Monday)
We were up bright and early and headed for the George W. Mead State Wildlife Area. We traveled over rural Wisconsin roads and passed one dairy farm after another. We did pass through some wooded areas and enjoyed the cool green countryside.
The Wildlife Area is made up of several tracts of land set aside for conservation and hunting. Much of the land includes wetlands, rivers, and ponds and is rich with wildlife.
We first stopped at a wetland area a few miles west of the main tract. We found Sandhill Cranes feeding in a harvested field. When we see them in winter they are gray, but these all had a distinct rusty color.
In a small pond we found a pair of Trumpeter Swans. They are among the largest North American birds and they are huge!
We then headed over to the main area of the refuge, which includes the Visitor Center.
They have some nice trails which include ponds, boardwalks over marshes, and forested areas. By this time it was getting warm and the bird activity was slowing down. But we still found some birds and dragonflies to observe.
We finished up at the refuge, had lunch, and then headed off to the first of the factory tours that Teri had found in Wisconsin.
Mepps Lures (Sheldon's Inc.) is located in Antigo, Wisconsin and employs around 25 folks.
Todd Sheldon owned a small fishing tackle store in Antigo, and in 1951 tried a Mepps spinner that had been given to him by a GI returning from Europe. Mepps was a French company, and their spinners were well known in Europe, but not in the US. Long story short Todd had so much luck selling the Mepps lures that he partnered with them and eventually bought the company.
Fun fact, they buy squirrel tails from local hunters for 25 cents per tail, and use the fur in some of their lures! I don't think anyone is getting rich selling squirrel tails!
Taking all of the combinations of lures sizes, hook types and colors into account, Sheldon's Inc. (Mepps) manufactures over 4000 different lures in their 50,000 sf facility. It seems that most of the raw materials (hooks, brass and plastic beads, spinner blades, etc.) still come from France and are imported in huge batches, to be assembled into the various combinations of lures in Antigo. Customers range from the big box stores to individuals who order a single lure on line or over the phone.
They offered a tour of the factory, but like so many businesses, no photos inside the production area!!
The tour was very interesting, and was lead by one of the workers. She demonstrated many of the processes with in-production lures. There were batch after batch of different lures being worked on in various stages, with invoices and shipping boxes everywhere. The twenty five or so workers rotate between the various stations and work on lures in batches. Everything from bending wire to a shape, threading on beads of various colors and materials, adding hooks, spinner blades, decals, etc. One lady was tying squirrel hair to a batch of treble hooks, much like tying fishing flies.
To describe the work as tedious-looking would be an understatement. We noticed that the vast majority of workers were women and many had been with the company for a decade or more.
On our way out we viewed a few different displays in the lobby. Cameras allowed out there!
It was a fun tour and a great way to end our day. We returned to our "Cabin in the North Woods" and spent a relaxing evening reading and watching television.
Next - Council Grounds State Park and Hillestad Pharmaceuticals
We have seen Sandhill Cranes Arizona and Idaho. They were also in farmer fields.
ReplyDeleteFactory tours are something I wish we would do more of.
More factory tours to come!
DeleteI love Teri's factory tour finds! I just watched a show last night about the irreparable damage to bird species because of women's hat fashions. Hopefully squirrels will be okay!
ReplyDeleteFrom the squirrel count in our back yard, they are not in any danger of becoming extinct.
Delete