By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Famed outdoorsman Fred Ramsay is interested in just how much of northwest Missouri makes it on the latest “Our Planet” documentary series on Netflix.
Ramsay, from Oregon, Missouri, spent much of two weeks with a BBC film crew at Loess Bluff National Wildlife Refuge, formerly Squaw Creek, near Mound City two years ago as the crew filmed the Snow Geese and Bald Eagles that make the refuge home in the winter.
Ramsay urges residents not just to watch the documentary on Netflix, but go see it themselves.
“People don’t understand, there’s a million, 200 thousand snow geese stop at Squaw Creek about February 28th,” Ramsay tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “It’s an unbelievable thing to see. It’s 30 miles away from St. Joe, Missouri. Why wouldn’t you want to look at one of the seven wonders of the world, I call it? It’s something to see.”
Ramsay, who also is a radio personality who started his radio show on KFEQ, says it appears the BBC crew was interested in Snow Geese in general, but especially interested in the impact bird flu has had on the geese population.
The crew returned to Loess Bluff to shoot some more footage. Ramsay says he has no idea how much might be included in “Our Planet II,” now showing on Netflix. But Ramsay has handled a lot of phone calls and interest since a news release went out about the series.
“So, it’s been an eye-opening experience for me. I just can’t believe the response,” Ramsay says. “I don’t know how good it’s going to be. Although they did say to me some of the footage, they said from a 1 to a 10, some of the footage is an 11.”
Ramsay says the crew was very professional and very funny. He enjoyed working with them.
Ramsay says the crew fixated on the Snow Geese and, then, watched them fall prey to Bald Eagles.
“Our national bird. They’re cool. They’re good hunters. That’s why I appreciate them. They don’t miss,” Ramsay says with a laugh. “They’re really, really cool. I’ve seen them get Blackbirds out of the air. I’ve seen them get Mallards out of the air. I’ve seen them take Snow Geese out of the air. They are an amazing creature.”
Ramsay points out Loess Bluff is only about 30 miles from St. Joseph and he urges residents to get out to the wildlife refuge as well as just enjoy the great outdoors in general.
