By: Gracie Triplett, Gaven Sanders
The Tarleton State University Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society has had a very eventful and educational September. On September 10th members participated in one of the society’s trash pickup days. Participants picked up trash along a 1-mile stretch of road on the edge of Stephenville. This time served as a good opportunity for any new members to get to know officers and returning members as well as engage in volunteer work that helps out the community as a whole. The Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society does trash pickups twice a semester as a way to give back to the community and to help the ecosystem in and around Stephenville.
On September 17th, the society hosted its second general meeting. State Park Police Officer Armando Aguilar came out to speak to the students about the experiences and duties he has on the job. He went over the training required to attain his
position, some of the things he has dealt with on the job, and opportunities for students to participate in if they are interested in a career with the State Park Police.
During September 16th-18th and 23th-25th, both officers and members participated in deer spotlight surveys at a local, private ranch and allowed members to get first hand experience in learning how to conduct a population survey for white-tailed deer. Participants from a vehicle used spotlights to scan the property for deer while the driver drove around the survey trail. Spotlight surveys are an important part of wildlife management and early experience with them will help
set a student up for success in their careers after school.
Lastly, on September 27th the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources hosted its annual Greenhand Discovery Camp Day, where our members will volunteer to help with activities for different high schools FFA programs. Our third meeting of the semester is on October 1st, at 6PM at the Tarleton Ag Farm Woods Lab, members will get to hear from Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch about their quail conservation efforts. At this meeting there will be a telemetry workshop, and students will learn about how to use telemetry for wildlife observation. One of the education and outreach events we also participate in during this time of year is on October 5th, we will have a booth at Nature Fest, where the community of Stephenville can come and learn about wildlife, plants, and many other learning opportunities pertaining to the outdoors. This event is being hosted by Texas Master Naturalist, at the Bosque River from 10-2PM!
Contact Information Tarleton State University Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society:
● Social Media:
○ Instagram: @tsuwildlife
○ Facebook: @Tarleton State University Student Chapter of The Wildlife
SocietyAdvisor: Dr. Heather Mathewson – mathewson@tarleton.edu