butchlambert
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Recently came across an oldie that deserves a salute. WOW...had forgotten I had it, even as lousy the quality, it brings back old memories.
This was shot in the spring of 1971, with an 8 dollar Sears and Roebuck 127 camera. I was gathering info on coyote denning behavior prior to obtaining a research grant, and was spending hours on horseback locating coyote dens. Once a den was located, I would return in my 1966 U13 Bronco with shovel and tagging gear, which included scales, tattoo pliers and "black smear."
Digging into the den, the coyote pups were each weighed and then tattooed in the right ear, with a respective number. All were then released. Later in the fall season I would check each coyote captured or collected with my rifle to see if it was one of my spring tattoo clients.
The ones collected proved that they would gain about 20.5 lbs from May until November and venture approximately one mile from the den.
It was all very interesting work, but labor intensive. However, I was a 20 year old with energy and lots of country to work in, and I loved it. The info collected in this manner, and the data collected on stomach analysis would eventually be the basis for a scientific grant to study the food habits of coyotes on the rolling plains of Texas. Professors in the Range and Wildlife Dept. at Texas Tech asked me to present the research results to a student conclave at the International Meeting for the Society of Range Management in Tucson, Arizona, February 1974. The paper was selected as one of the best student papers presented. The results were also published in 1975 in the Journal of Range Management, to the delight of a scientific community world wide.
All of this was made possible because of a young, inquisitive mind and the help of some key people, like Dr. Darrell Ueckert and Dr. Jerran Flinders. Without them the info would not have gone anywhere, but stuffed away in my journals.
Wow, wish I still had such energy!!
BTW, the den in this photo produced 7 young coyote whelps, all tattooed and returned to their parents. One was collected 6 months later a mile from this exact site.
Good memories from another time...
This was shot in the spring of 1971, with an 8 dollar Sears and Roebuck 127 camera. I was gathering info on coyote denning behavior prior to obtaining a research grant, and was spending hours on horseback locating coyote dens. Once a den was located, I would return in my 1966 U13 Bronco with shovel and tagging gear, which included scales, tattoo pliers and "black smear."
Digging into the den, the coyote pups were each weighed and then tattooed in the right ear, with a respective number. All were then released. Later in the fall season I would check each coyote captured or collected with my rifle to see if it was one of my spring tattoo clients.
The ones collected proved that they would gain about 20.5 lbs from May until November and venture approximately one mile from the den.
It was all very interesting work, but labor intensive. However, I was a 20 year old with energy and lots of country to work in, and I loved it. The info collected in this manner, and the data collected on stomach analysis would eventually be the basis for a scientific grant to study the food habits of coyotes on the rolling plains of Texas. Professors in the Range and Wildlife Dept. at Texas Tech asked me to present the research results to a student conclave at the International Meeting for the Society of Range Management in Tucson, Arizona, February 1974. The paper was selected as one of the best student papers presented. The results were also published in 1975 in the Journal of Range Management, to the delight of a scientific community world wide.
All of this was made possible because of a young, inquisitive mind and the help of some key people, like Dr. Darrell Ueckert and Dr. Jerran Flinders. Without them the info would not have gone anywhere, but stuffed away in my journals.
Wow, wish I still had such energy!!
BTW, the den in this photo produced 7 young coyote whelps, all tattooed and returned to their parents. One was collected 6 months later a mile from this exact site.
Good memories from another time...
