Volume 1 Issue 9

November 1, 2016

South Texas Master Naturalist

This Issue

South Texas Chapter

The members of Texas A&M AgriLife will provide equal opportuni-ties in programs, activities, education and employment to all persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and will strive to achieve full and equal employment oppor-tunities throughoutTexas A&M AgriLife.

Next meeting: November 15, 2016 at 6:30 South Texas Botani-cal Garden and Nature Center

Presidents Corner by Chad Huckabee

Critter of the month

The big news of the month is that Corpus Christi will be the site of the 18th Annual TMN Meeting. It will be held at Omni Bayfront from October 20-22, 2017. Along with this news is the recertification pin for 2017 is the Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle, which will be on display at our November meeting. Needless to say, anyone running short of Advanced Training or Volunteer Hours this time next year has the opportunity to earn the annual requirement rapidly. The Audit Committer has produced a slate of officers for next year (minus the VP position). They are Chad Hucka-bee, President; Heather Harris, Treasure; Carol Krepel, Secre-tary. We are in need of a Vice President. If some one will vol-unteer between now and the meeting we will have achieved a full slate of potential officers willing to serve the chapter. This will be the first time this has happened since our chapter began. Any member can have their name brought up at the meeting if you would like to run for an office. If not, and under the con-dition that a VP is named to the slate, then the slate will be pre-sented to the membership to vote to accept or reject for the 2017 year. Voter participation includes both certified and un-certified member. While interns cannot run for office, they are allowed to vote for officers and serve on committees. The year is wrapping down. All members need to have their hours reported to vms by December 31, 2016. This is im-portant since this is the 2016 deadline. You can still record hours for the 45 day limit, but State TMN will be downloading all hours soon after the 31st. Cindy and I do NOT do this any longer. Yea!!! I hope all of you are up to speed on entering your hours. The number of opportunities available become very limited as Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays ap-proach. As always, Mary Grace Lopez and I will keep you up-dated on available opportunities between now and then. Please check the “Upcoming Events/Opportunities” column to the right of this. Cindy will keep you posted if you are short either Advanced Training or Volunteer Hours. You can always check you hours by entering vms; go to “Log Book”; move to the right select Jan1, 2016-the current date; then scroll to the bot-tom of the spreadsheet in order to see your approved hours for the year. Included in this newsletter are summaries of various presentations given at the State TMN Annual Meeting. Availible late next week are digital presentations by presenter willing to share their work. You can access these by http://tmn.org/2016-annual-meeting/. Chapter members attending the conference include Sandra Carson, Cindy Frank, Chad Hucka-bee, Michael Lewis, Mary Grace Lopez, Carlos Valdez and Brenda Weathered. We had a great time and learned much. Chad Huckabee

Mary Grace Lopez Different Strokes for Different Folks: Presented by two wom-en archeologists. Focus was cultural archeology and how it drives behavior. Two Texas Native cultures, the Plateau Hill Country People and the Coastal People and how their unique environ-ments relate to their very different cultures. These were cultures that existed 1200-300 years ago.

Pollinators and Natives: An Ancient Marriage: Presented by Randy Johnson, an organic horticulturist. Program described and gave examples of coevolution of flowers and pollinators. Interest-ing to anyone that loves gardening without the use of chemicals to enhance, their gardens.

Interpretive Trail Guiding; Getting Children and Adults Out-side: Presented by a master naturalist. Described the attributes of a good trail guide, such as good-natured, enthusiastic, knowl-edgeable of the area, willing to share. Modeled the use of tools to enhance the outdoor experience. MN's interested in being do-cents, guides will benefit from this presentation.

Chronic Wasting Disease in Texas: What Folks Need to Know: Presented by John Tomecek (Tx AgriLife Extension). Explained the symptoms and cause of wasting disease on deer, whether it is safe to eat a sick animal, how to dispose of a sick animal and how to prevent transmission of disease from any sick animal (feral hogs) to people. Appropriate for anyone, but espe-cially hunters.

Wildflowers of the LLano Estacado: Presented by Daria McKlevey, a horticulturist. Proof that the LLano is not a waste-land, but harbors absolute beauty. Describes the harsh environ-ment and the wildflowers that inhabit it. Continue P.3

Carlos Valdez Oct. 21, 2016 Forum, Communities, Communication and Connection: pertained to getting forums on computer to communicate in-stead of emails Oct. 22, 2016 Wildlife Watching with Automated, Autonomous Camer-as: provided a var iety of ways to to use game cams to record wildlife activity Creating a Natural System: Presenters conveyed how they converted 100 acres of their property into an area for native plants and wildlife. Continue P.3

Sandra Carson Friday 4 hours: 1. Cook's Branch Conservancy Field Trip-- Private property and privately funded by the Mitchell fami-ly. The land consists of 5600 acres and is the home of the rare red cockaded woodpecker. The project exemplifies habitat management and wildlife preservation on private land. Using prescribed burns and invasive species eradication the once overgrazed land has transformed into a area where the rare red cockaded wood-pecker with it's peculiar nesting habits has grown from 3 to 20 known and banded birds in this area. Also returning are Eastern turkeys and Bobwhite quail. Unfortunately we did not see any of these but did see an area of the woodpecker nesting habitat. It was a wonderful experience. Saturday 8 hours: 2. Davis Hill Natural Area all day Field Trip--this is the site of a future State Park with work continuing to rid the property of invasive grasses and trees. There are no official trails. "Trails" (really a path) had been blazed and marked with orange ribbons through the thick forests spotted with few open fields. Unless we had been guided by TPWD staff who had blazed this narrow path, often unable to see the next orange ribbon, we would have been lost. There is an assortment of unusual vegetation including a rare orchid that is found in a boggy area of natural springs. The terrain and vegetation changed often. Red bay, magnolias, cypress and black walnuts were found. The rare orchid found the week before was no where to be seen on our trip. It is the unusual area of a salt dome. There were outcroppings of Continue P. 3

Bird at Nueces Delta, Training 2016

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Mary Grace Lopez receiving her 4000 Hours recogni-tion.

Chad Huckabee Oct. 21, 2016 Restoring the Tall Grass Prairie: histor ical documents of Texas grasslands from Spanish explores to Olmstead indicate steady demise of prairies from European colonialization to present that occurred throughout the US. Today Texas has 0.1 % of this remaining. Because of the type of soil/climate in Texas and mid-continent, grasslands were changed from climax communities to disturbed communities (farms and cattle), and currently urbanization Resource: Ecology of Central US Prairies. The ideas of pristine prairie restoration will never occur, but faxcimilies can me be constructed on the scale of home lots to large acreage. Teaching and Learning the Big Ecology: when presenting to audience in the field (or elsewhere), it is crucial to have stories or props depicting how the ecology changed over time. People know only the time they live. Urban citi-zens need to know that their neighborhood did not always look like it does today. The concept comes from the Big His-tory plan for teaching history. In our area, all aspects of ecology (including people) should go back 10000 years. What shapes our ecology are the obvious biological aspects, but also people, commerce, sports, culture, food and social events. Fit the changes into a global context. What are our regions big stories? Oct. 22, 2016 The Lichens: A brief introduction to one of nature’s intriguing symbioses; Lichens are represented by three Kingdoms: Cyanobacteria, Fungi and algae. The combinations of these vary with species. There may be two fungal matricies to several; likewise two algal to several for any one lichen with cyanobacteria enterspersed. Lichens named for the fungal matrix. A lichen may live 1000 years; and is found on all continents; mostly growing on hard objects, but not always; and may grow on animals. Subdivided into six groups: Squamulose, Foliose, Umbilicate, Fruticose, Cructose and Gelatinous. Spiders of Central Texas: presentation of spider groups, examples of spider behavior . Spiders produce 7 types of silk for different purposes. Silk is liquid polymerizing as it reacts to oxygen when ejected. Brown Reculose pro-duced necrotic venom (tissue )and Black Widow produces neurotoxic venom (nerve tissue). Big Chapter Forum: I served on a panel of 7 addressing problems and successes in big chapters (which we are not) 1. Once a year have a day to display the different chapter projects with coordinator present for explaination 2. Big Project Day: find a place that needs 3-4 hours of work and they pay for material 3. Membership survey both open and closed end questions annually 4. Strategic planning meeting annually projected 2-3 years 5. Provide scholarships (or partial scholarships) for interns and/or State TMN Meeting 6. Use mentors from previous classes to help new interns 7. Utilize the chapter webpage to list upcoming opportunities stating the function of the facility, goals of chap-

ter volunteers, what members will be doing and vms code 8. Have an annual regional retreat for adjacent chapters Red Wolf: last refuge was in Texas after being eradicated in most of the US. It was among the first animals placed on the endangered species list in the 70’s after innovative (and creative) work to ascertain the genetic purity of the hand full of survivers. Interesting research because this was pre genetic testing; the species was determined pure by work done by wildlife researchers and Houston’s Hermann Hospital where detailed xrays were made to identify the structural make of the skeleton. Curtis Carley was the researcher. Other innovations during this time were radio telem-etry, use of tranquilizers and electronic sirens to mimic red wolf howling. Building a Following: communicate with members, share information and educate members and public, provide notification for events and market to perspective members. There are many choices of media interaction however Fa-cebook has the highest participation at 71 %(76% among females and 66% among males), 82% between 18 and 29 years. Facebook needs to be tended at least daily if not more often, providing immediate response when necessary. For nominal fees FB can “push a site” to access 100s to 1000 more hits when a big event is to occur. Status and History of the Red Wolves: 11 Things You Need to Know About Poison Oak and Ivy: this presentation addressed how the active oil (urushiol) from Poison Ivy and Poison Oak work on the body. The presenter takes the participant step by step the body’s immunological response. She addresses the treatments and alerts along the two week adventure that one needs to follow in order to minimize the agony. Generally, her treatment is to keep it out of the body. Once it is in the body,

there isn’t much that can be done but react to the symptoms. She cautions, that almost no over the counter treatments have any positive effect, and some have adverse effects. Cautions such as use Ivy X (a skin barri-er), Dawn foam dish soap, Nitrile gloves (never Latex) are among simple items to keep in field kit in areas where these two plants occur. Good resource Itchy Business by Amy Martin is a step by step explain of what your body is doing at any given time and what your treatment options are. Oct. 23, 2016 Plant Identification by Family Association and use of Online Botanical Keys: botanical keys are diffi-cult to use because of the large number of plants and the detail of parts to recognize and define. However, keying is not hopeless. Knowing chacteristics of plant families is a bull dozer to penetrate the forest. Re-sources: Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas, Plant ID Terms and Illustrated Terminology by James and Mellinga Harris; Internet USDA Plants Database is very good but requires play and practice to work success-fully. BONAP is also a good resource. Local publications are always best place to begin. Field tools for collecting or documenting. Include the following: Portable flatbed scanner powered by laptop Camera with reasonably high resolution Taking home or to lab to scan or press: 1 gallon Ziplocs with wet paper towel incerted Clear garbage bags Ice chest with ice and newspaper (will keep plants fresh for several days) When scanning, clean plant (sometime pruning ); place two leaves indeptendent of plant (one facing up, the other facing down; 300dpi adequate for whole body scan; 600 dpi for seed scans.

Cindy Frank How to Observe a Weed: use INaturalist website as much or more than the INaturalist app on your phone. Much more information on the website. Can also use the website as your own personal journal. Conflict management: conflict is neither good nor bad. Use it as a management / consensus building tool. Bats: a female bat can eat her weight in mosquitoes in one night. Automated cameras: don’t have to spend a fortune. The two cameras demonstrated range from $50-$200 . Before purchasing, go online and make sure the specs are what you want, and read comments. Outdoor ethics: can never be “taught” - combination of upbringing, culture, experience, race, geography, family, teachers, generation. Being prepared: essentials for a first aid kit would be: pad/pencil, scissors, flashlight, magnifying glass plastic card (to remove bee sting), allergic reaction wipes”, cold pack, washcloth, bottle of water, safety pin, benedryl/ibuprofen/asprin, Ace bandage, alcohol wipes, Dawn dish soap, sterl pad, non-adhesive and regular bandages, gauze, skin tape, moleskin, candy, scarf. VMS: Very important and useful; will be shar ing at upcoming meetings

Mary Grace Lopez, continued from P. 1 Texas Ecosystem and Virtual Mapping: Studying the topography of a given area using new technology. Enables vegetative and ecological mapping of a given area. Of more interest to re-searchers, ranchers, developers. eBird Basics-How to Post Your Observations and Exploring Data on eBird: The title de-scribes the content of this presentation. Great tool for birders of all levels. Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas: Compared amphibians and reptiles, frogs and toads and turtles and tortoises with examples of each. Explained the Texas Conservation Action Plan (TCAP) and the Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) giving examples of species classified as endangered. Appropriate for all outdoor educators.

Carlos Valdez, continued from P.1 Nature Photography: Session addressed how to get best settings to get best photos. Ideas and methods , and opportunity to set cameras were provided. Oct. 23, 2016 Very basic Birding: Provided basic ways to identify birds: shape, most common, and binocu-lar parameters. The Ancient Llano Mountains of Reveille Peak Ranch: Geology lesson of this area. Don’t run out of Gas! How to fuel Your Content Sustainably: Presentation on how to include in-teresting content in presentations to keep audience engaged and informed.

Sandra Carson, continued from P. 1 soapstone with petroglyphs and markings barely readable due to soapstone's easily worn surface. The surface is also being covered by erosion effects of surrounding areas. Several geologists and knowledgeable plant people were on our trip. It was a great learning experience. Sunday 3 hours: 3. Processing and Cooking wild game--I learned how to field dress and skin and cut up a deer via a video. Plans for actually doing that in class had to be abandoned due to hotel re-strictions. We did have hands on experience with a wild hog. It was no big deal for me as I have

participated in deer processing years ago, so this was a good refresher. Safety and legality of needed licenses, etiquette, etc. was discussed. Really good course for how to have some truly organic meat on your table while helping to con-trol the population of several species including squirrels, dove, rabbits, and fish. Well presented with good audience participation.

Advanced Training: AT: Nov 8: Audubon Outdoor Club November Speaker is Dr . Elda Sanchez, Snakes (National Natural Tox-ins Research Center) 7 pm So. Tx. Botanical Garden. AT: December 13 Audubon Outdoor Club December Speaker is Sara Jose, Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve 7 pm So.Tx. Botanical Garden.

Volunteer Opportunities: Nov 4&5 Girl Scouts Welder WR Contact <mbatey@welderwildlife.org> Nov. 5 at UTMSI at Por t A from 9-11. Nature Challenge Closing Ceremonies, CBCiN booth, Activity: Sea Beans. Contact <SarahC@cctexas.com> November 10 at Flour Bluff Elementary Math and Sciernce Night from 6– 7 pm. Activity: Furs Contact Sarah Coles, SarahC@cctexas.com Nov 15&16 Sinton HS at Welder WR, Contact: <mbatey@welderwildlife.org> Nov 19 CBCin Annual Event from 9-12, Oso Bay Wetlands. CBCiN Booth, Contact <SarahC@cctexas.com>; STMN Booth, Contact chadhuckabee@outlook.com , Activity: Matching Game Nov 30&Dec 4 Sam Champion HS Welder WR, Contact <mbatey@welderwildlife.org> Dec 9&10 Pasadena Memorial HS at Welder WR, Contactf <mbatey@welderwildlife.org> Fall Calendar for Nueces Delta Preserve for school groups. Check the website or contact Leigh Perry <lperry@cbbep.org> Monthly Calendar for Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve. Check Website or contact Sara Jose <SaraJ@cctexas.com> Christmas Bird Counts coming up in December watch CBAudubon, Audubon Outdoor Club and STMN newsletters for further information Monday (every) Blucher Park 4-dark Nov. 13 &27 7 am-12 Contact Jo Creglow (361-241-2204 (Generally Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday)

Upcoming Events/ Opportunities

17th Annual TMN State meeting: Sandra Carson,Cindy Frank, Chad Huckabee, Mary Grace Lopez, Carlos Val-dez, Sr. and Brenda Weathered. Also present was Mi-chael Lewis (not in photo)