ROLLING PLAINS CHAPTER NEWSLETTER - txmn.orgtxmn.org/rollingplains/files/2012/03/June-Newsletter-2011.pdf · proposal. The Establishment and Develop- ...

NEWSLETTER

ROLLING PLAINS

CHAPTER

Vol. 3, No. 6 June 2011http://txmn.org/rollingplains

LOCALE V E N T S

ROLLING PLAINS CHAPTER — 1 — TEXAS MASTER NATURALIST

THE DALqUESTRESEARCH SITE

Recently, Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist, Bill Setzler had the privilege of visiting the Dalquest Research Site as a guest of Midwestern State University’s Dr. Rogers and Dr. Horner.

The Dalquest Research Site is located in Brewster and Presidio coun-ties just south of Marfa, Texas. The site consists of a total of 3000 acres and has been in constant use as a research

site for over 40 years. To a naturalist the DRS experience is a dream come true. The majority of the site has had little human influence; in fact, the property owner prior to Dr. Dalquest had fenced the canyon lands to keep cattle from getting into the area.

The Dalquest Research Site’s primary objective is to promote research and education about the Chihuahuan Desert for undergraduates and graduate students. It is the intent of Midwestern State University to utilize the site to contribute to a better understanding of the Chihuahuan Des-

June 7: Rolling Plains Chapter monthly meeting is at River Bend Nature Center. Location: 2200 3rd Street, Wichita Falls, Texas. Time: 7:00 p.m. Program: Chapter mem-bers will showcase their displays from the Nature At Noon event . June 4: “Free Kid Fishing Day” at Lake Arrowhead State Park. Location: Lake Arrowhead State Volunteers need to arrive by 7:30 a.m. at the education center by the fishing piers Time: 8:30 a.m.

June 18: “North American But-terfly Count” at Lake Arrowhead State Park. Location: Lake Arrow-head State Park. Meet at the park headquarters. Besure to bring your field guide, net, bug repelent and water. Time: 6:00 a.m.

June 24: “National Wildlife Fed-eration Great Backyard Campout” celebration at Lake Arrowhead State Park. Location: Lake Arrow-head State Park group picnic pa-vilion. Time: 7:00 p.m. until dark. Camping not required. This will be the fourth year we have held this event. Our chapter is sponsoring an evening of fun. Activities in-clude live music, nature scavenger hunt, owl-calling, and s’more mak-ing and eating. Free to the public. Bring your family and friends.

Photos by Bill Setzler

Above: View of the Dalquest Research Site looking east

toward the Chisos Moun-tains. Right: View of a major

fault that runs through the area. The buff coloed tuffs

on the left and gray volcanic on the right.

TPWDE V E N T S

June 4-26, 2011— Caprock Can-yon State Park— Clarity Tunnel Bat and Trailway Tours— Most Fridays and Saturdays. Clarity Tunnel, an abandoned railway tunnel on the Caprock Canyons Trailway, is home to up to half-a-million Mexican free-tailed bats each summer. During these Friday evening guided-vehicle tours along the Trailway, visitors will view the Clarity Tunnel bat emergence flight and enjoy spectacular views of the rugged and beautiful breaks of the Llano Estacado. Call (806) 455-1492 for exact times, as they will change through the month, or for more information. Allow five hours for the entire tour. Fees $10 adults, $7.50 senior citizens, $5 children 12 and under; reservations required, deadline noon day of tour. Weather permitting.

JuLy 16, 2011— Fort Richardson SP and HS/Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway— Paleo-Indian Program— Tony Lyle, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s own Cultural Resources Coordinator, will lead us on a walk through pre-historic times in the North Central Texas area. Mr. Lyle will have nu-merous Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. Event is free, but park entry fees still apply. Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Contact Phone (940) 567-3506

ROLLING PLAINS CHAPTER — 2 — TEXAS MASTER NATURALIST

Don’t Forget! Turn your hours into Jane McGough. A form for keeping up with your hours is available on the web site. Hours needed for recertification are: 40 hours of public service and 8 hours of advanced training. Advanced training MUST be approved in advance. Fill out the form and submit along with any other information about the class to the Executive Committee at least one week before the event.

InvadersofTexasInvasive Spotlight: Zebra Mussel(Dreissena polymorpha)

Zebra mussels are having a devastating effect on the state’s natural resources. They nega-tively impact native fish and mussels and foul beaches with their sharp shells. They wreak havoc for boaters by damag-ing boat hulls and reducing the performance of boating

equipment. Zebra mussels can clog water intakes (see below), costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Zebra mussels have already invaded Lake Texoma, and could take over all freshwater sources in Texas.

Do your part to save our lakes – clean, drain and dry your boat every time you leave a lake

Learn more about Zebra Mus-sel and other Texas Invasives at texasinvasives.org/inva-sives_database

ert through biological and geological research and education. The site is owned and operated by Midwestern State University, but it is open to scientists from other universities pending approval of their research proposal.

The Establishment and Develop-ment of the DRS will provide the first scientific, academic station devoted exclusively to research and training in research methods in the Big Bend region. It will also pro-

vide the most southeastern node of a network of permanent Chihuahuan Desert research stations ranging 750 km at 200 to 250 km intervals from Sevilleta LTER near Socorro, NM in the north, to Jornada Basin LTER north of Las Cruces, NM, and then to Indio Mountains Research Station, southwest of Van Horn, TX, which is about 200 km from DRS. The clos-est field station to DRS is the Indio Mountains Research Station, which is operated by the University of Texas at El Paso.

For more information about DRS see Dr. Honers article in Discovery Magazine published by the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute.

Right: Dr. Rogers and Dr. Horner. Below: The Dalquest Site research station located

in Presidio County, Texas.

ROLLING PLAINS CHAPTER — 3 — TEXAS MASTER NATURALIST

“Nature at Noon” was a Great Success

What a great group of volunteers we have in our chap-ter. The 2011 trainees jumped right in with both feet to help make the first Nature At Noon series a success. 17 volunteers manned the trail and the group pavilion to educate and entertain visitors to Lake Arrowhead State Park, Saturday, May 21. Thank you all for your help.

Randy Martin and Lynn Seman were parked under the pavilion with arts and crafts. Lynn even brought live spiders to share with guests. Park personnel found 2 baby Red-eared Sliders that the kids enjoyed looking at.

Kudos to everyone on the trail for the information they presented. Let’s start at the beginning: Evelyn Staten was our rock. She greeted everyone on the trail, passed out trail brochures and kept track of guests. Ben Ralston talked about mesquite and prod-ucts we use in everyday life that come from it. Holli Altobello made the lotebush entertaining by talking about how packrats use the lotebush to defend their

Text and Photos by Terry McKee

nest from predators. Susan and Henry Krusekopf had the withered and dried up field of flowers, but a few plants in pots brightened up their table and gave kids something to look at. Allen Brajer entertained the kids

with the virtues of the Soapberry as a cleansing agent. Most people would overlook a dead snag, but with a few magnifying glasses, Erma Mehew gave children an opportunity to get up close and personal with bugs. Larry Snyder talked about the many parts of prickly pear cactus and the red dye from the Cochinael bug. What to do with a Sugar Hackberry? Patsy Petcoff found a recipe for hackberry jam! Penny Miller and Trooper the Screech Owl, was a big draw. Warren and Sue King had an excellent display on what the Yucca was used for by native Americans. Jane McGough loves her Honey Locust tree and it shows! Sarah and John Ferguson talked about bluebirds and shared blue-bird nestbox plans with visitors. And special thanks to LASP park personnel for their assistance.

Nature at Noon was so well received, Nature At Night is in the planning stages.

Above: Allen Brajer shows members of the boys and Girls Club a soapberry tree. Left: A young girl uses a magni-fier to check out bugs on a dead snag. Below: Larry Synder talks about the parts of the prickly cactus to visitors on the trail.

Above: Lynn Seman and Randy Martin man the arts and

crafts station under the pavil-ion. Right: A girl holds a young

red-ear slider found in the park. Below: Students gather around Penny Miller for a closer look at

Trooper, the Eastern Screech Owl.

ROLLING PLAINS CHAPTER — 4 — TEXAS MASTER NATURALIST

Chapter Contacts:Terry McKee, President 766-4097; Jim Hensley, Vice President 569-4713; Penny Miller, Secretary 691-7273; Bill Setzler, Treasurer 692-4466 Committees Chairperson:Leslie Fernandez, RiverBend Liaison 767-0843; Paula Savage, Newsletter 691-0231; Unfilled, Social Com-mittee; Patsy Petcoff, Grants/Fundraising 940-923-4478; Dian Hoehne, Communication Chair 692-7234Advisor:Mark Howell, TPWD Advisor 766-2383

RESOURCECO

RN

ERThings That Biteby Tom AndersonPaperback: 184 pagesISBN-10: 9781591932444ISBN-13: 978-1591932444Cost: $12.95

The alligator snapping turtle is equipped with a remark-

able fishing lure. The motion-less turtle wiggles a bright red worm-shaped piece of

flesh attached to its tongue while sitting on the river bottom. Small fish are attracted to

the tempting “worm” and swim right into the turtle’s mouth.

FUN

FACT

OID

S

Scorpions have remained essentially unchanged since they first appeared in oceans over 400 million years ago. Those early marine scorpions had external lungs. One recently dis-covered scorpion fossil was eight and a half feet long.

“Be aware, not afraid,” is the sen-sible motto of this little book, which sets out to tell the reader all there is to know about the subject of the title, begin-ning with the smallest (chiggers) and ending with the largest (alliga-tors and sharks) creatures that bite humans.

Each segment has a short section of basic information, followed by advice on what to do to avoid being bitten by the critter in ques-tion, what to do if bitten, etc. There are informative asides on common myths about some of these pests (chiggers do NOT burrow under-neath human skin, mosquitoes bite much more than once, etc.) and separate sections on some serious consequences of insect and animal bites, such as anaphylactic shock and rabies. Lots of drawings and photographs are included along with a list of fascinating facts.

Plainly and clearly written, this is, believe it or not, a fun as well as informative guide (though a bit outdated already--bedbugs are not included, though they have made a roaring comeback recently in big cities, including Houston) for kids as well as adults.

Wild Bird Rescue DedicationOn May 22, Terry McKee presented Wild Bird Rescue new executive

director Lila Arnold with a framed photo in memory of Bob Lind-say. Also present was Phyllis Lindsay. Laurie Hall donated the pho-tograph of a golden eagle and Larry Snyder was in charge of fram-ing. The photo will be displayed in the foyer at Wild Bird Rescue. Phyllis Lindsay would like to express her

gratitude to the Rolling Plains Chapter for the beautiful memorial given in honor of her husband, Bob.

Coyotes occasionally mate with do-mestic dogs. Their young are referred to as “coydogs.” Coydogs do not make good pets because they are more nervous than dogs and there for more likely to bite. Coyotes can run faster than a roadrunner. They can run 40

miles per hour and leap an 8-foot fence.