Enjoying the nice weather

My partner and I were once again out at Schmeekle, however we had much nicer weather this week so we got a lot more done. Most of the trails are now dry so we began cleaning the trails. We cleared any debris away, as well as any litter. The guy in charge of the center told us also to look out for a type of weed. This weed is an invasive species that they try to get rid of. We did not see any; it is probably still a little early.
I think that the work Sarah and I are doing provides a great service to the community because we are allowing the public to observe the natural surroundings without any distractions. With clear and clean trails visitors are allowed to see a wide variety of habitats as well as animals. It is only the beginning of spring and so far we have observed many kinds of birds, rabbits and other small rodents. It would be nice for the public to be able to enjoy these animals to.

Praire Chicken #2

I went out last week with some people from the TWS to watch and count the praire chickens. I had to be up at 4am and leave from the parking lot here at 445am so we could be in the blind before it started getting light out. That was the first day that the DNR was also there to try and trap the praire chicken to tag them and get a blood sample from them for the records. Well they had a big net set up in the middle of this big praire, and the chickens did not want nothing to do with it, they said it takes some getting use to. I did see maybe 7 total, a couple of them were all bloomed up, but they really were not close enough to get a real good look at them, I am going to try and get out again this week to watch if there is room, and for sure next week. I took my camera out, but they were too far away for a good picture. It was a long morning, and I hope the next tie I go it goes a little better. April 14, 2008 12:31 PM

Praire Chicken #1

For this week with my project I went to a meeting in the TNR to learn how to keep records on the Praire Chickens. Starting next Tuesday, it sounded like everyday in the month of April they will leave here between 530am and 500am to drive about 15 minutes to Buena Vista to watch these Praire Chickens. I have now only got two days that I am signed up for, next Tuesday and the Tuesday after. I am also going to try and get in on a deer capturing effort before they are done with it for the year, this should all be very interesting.
March 26, 2008 11:03 PM

Oh Deer!!

The work that I am doing with the deer project is significant to many in the Stevens Point area. The deer herd on and around campus has grown to significant size and it is important that we understand how this herd works and monitor the deer for disease and overpopulation. I think with what I have learned working with the deer project it just further solidifies my desire to work in the wildlife management field. It is becoming increasingly important, especially in urban areas, that we learn to better manage the wildlife that are a integral part of our environment. Getting to work hands on with the deer on campus excited me for my future career and gave me some insight into what my future job may hold. I also got to know the types of skills and knowledge needed to work on a project like this one. It is important to understand the species you are working with and be able to understand how they make react or respond in certain situations. Trapping even the seemingly tame deer in Schmeekle is no easy task and requires knowledge of deer behavior. You can’t simply expect them to walk into the most obvious traps. You must account for their instinctive behaviors and plan accordingly. One of the biggest surprises to me was the amount of planning and behind the scenes work that goes into a project like this. Adam, the deer project leader, works nearly year round to keep the project working. He has to write a budget and lobby to college financial boards to receive funding for all his work. Him and his dad also spent much of Christmas break building the drop net that the project uses.