butchlambert
Site $$ Sponsor
During the hot days of summer I go into my field notes that I’ve maintained for 55 years. With a calculator, field notes and some fine 60’s music on my TurtleBox speaker, I work for hours on updating previous years field notes on calling predators. Don’t ask me why because I cannot say but it is something I started sporadically in 1965 at the age of 14.
As a student at Tech in 1971 I decided to launch a food habit study on my own for one year. Using techniques learned from my instructors, I began the odiferous job. Once completed, I showed my data to Dr. Jerran Flinders, one of my instructors. He was amazed and insisted on taking the info to my major professor and now great friend, Dr. Darrell Ueckert. Both men insisted we get a grant and do another year of study. Thus we did and the results were subsequently published in the 1975 edition of, “Journal of Range Management.” It was the first study on predators conducted at Texas Tech.
In later years I continued to involve myself in predator studies including one on tagging coyotes to determine the extent of their home range movements.
So today, as I was going through notes, I remembered this one particular animal I had tagged in November of 1980. In a twist of fate we both met again almost a year later but this time I had a camera and 500mm lens!
As my field notes indicate, she had moved about 3 miles in that duration.
About two months after our reuniting, a person harvested her and sent the tag to me. Thus the circle was complete. She had traveled about 5 linear miles since the day she was tagged.
Research is sometimes a bit taxing but when the results come to fruition, it is all so fascinating!
Wishing all a great weekend!
As a student at Tech in 1971 I decided to launch a food habit study on my own for one year. Using techniques learned from my instructors, I began the odiferous job. Once completed, I showed my data to Dr. Jerran Flinders, one of my instructors. He was amazed and insisted on taking the info to my major professor and now great friend, Dr. Darrell Ueckert. Both men insisted we get a grant and do another year of study. Thus we did and the results were subsequently published in the 1975 edition of, “Journal of Range Management.” It was the first study on predators conducted at Texas Tech.
In later years I continued to involve myself in predator studies including one on tagging coyotes to determine the extent of their home range movements.
So today, as I was going through notes, I remembered this one particular animal I had tagged in November of 1980. In a twist of fate we both met again almost a year later but this time I had a camera and 500mm lens!
As my field notes indicate, she had moved about 3 miles in that duration.
About two months after our reuniting, a person harvested her and sent the tag to me. Thus the circle was complete. She had traveled about 5 linear miles since the day she was tagged.
Research is sometimes a bit taxing but when the results come to fruition, it is all so fascinating!
Wishing all a great weekend!
