LITTLE ROCK, Ark.(KTHV)- If you see a brown lawn in your neighborhood, don't jump to blame the weather or a lazy homeowner. The culprit could be the armyworm.

They look exactly like caterpillars. The insects can turn lawns from green to brown in a matter of days by eating the healthy blades of grass.

At the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, golf course superintendent Don Armbrust keeps a close eye on the course's grass.

"Noticed a discoloration or what appeared to be drought-stress within the turf grass area."

A strange occurrence considering the amount of rain the state received during the month of July. At the beginning of August, Armbrust discovered fall armyworms eating away at the grass.

"With the cool, wet spring that we had it was definitely something we had to look out for and we ended up having to treat almost all the rough areas around the golf course."

   LITTLE ROCK – A record 44 elk were harvested during the 2012 hunting seasons, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologist Wes Wright told Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Commission.

   In 2012, 20 bull elk and 24 antlerless elk were harvested during hunting seasons in September and October in territory near the Buffalo River. The previous record was 38.

   Since 1998, when elk hunting began in Arkansas, 376 have been harvested (195 bulls, 181 antlerless). Harvested elk are weighed, ages are estimated and blood samples are taken for disease tests. Elk also are tested for chronic wasting disease.

   Wright said a recent survey found at least 620 elk on public and private land, up from 453 counted during the previous survey.

   The Commission elected Commissioner Ron Duncan of Springdale vice chairman to fill the previously vacant position.

   In other business, the Commission:

LITTLE ROCK –Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Loren Hitchcock has authorized opening the state’s private land flood prone zones in advance of the upcoming modern gun, muzzleloader and youth deer hunts. Last week, commissioners gave the director of the AGFC the authority to open any closed flood prone region based on the recommendation of the chief of the wildlife management division.

Several areas around the state have been closed to deer hunting due to high water. Reopening the zones will give hunters more opportunity to help control Arkansas's growing deer herd.