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Volume 18 Issue 6

JUNE 2017

Look closely. Can you see me now?

— from Dorothy Thetford —

Naturalist News, Texas Master Naturalist, Elm Fork Chapter—Page 2

Find us on Facebook

Read about us right here

We’re on the web: http://txmn.org/elmfork/

—Spread the News—

Buzzfeed.com

NATURALIST NEWS

P U B L I C A T I O N F R O M T E X A S M A S T E R N A T U R A L I S T ,

E L M F O R K C H A P T E R

NATURALIST NEWS

May meeting recap 3

What’s Next? 4

Projects on Target and in Community

5

Sit a Spell and Enjoy the View

9

Features 10

Field Notes in Focus

11

Pages of This & That

12

Reading Nook 13

Hold that Pose 14

NN Contributors 15

Last Word 16

Who We Are 17

In This Issue

Needed:

Share your

book recom-

mendations

—p. 13

Volume 18 Issue 6

JUNE 2017

Toad in “camo” at Clear Creek—

from Jonathan Reynolds

Toad, any squat, rough-skinned, tailless amphibian of the order Anura, and especial-

ly a member of the family Bufonidae. The true toads (Bufo), with more than

300 species, are found worldwide except in Australia, Madagascar, polar regions, and

Polynesia, though Bufo marinus has been introduced into Australia and some South Pa-

cific islands. Besides Bufo, the family includes 30 genera, one of which (Nectophrynoides)

contains one of the few anuran genera to bear live young.

www.britannica.com/animal/toad

Naturalist News, Texas Master Naturalist, Elm Fork Chapter—Page 3

Highlights From May Meeting

AWARDS:

Initial certification: Kathy Lancaster (class 2016)

Re-certification: Val Beardsley (class 2011); Adelaide Bodnar (class 2007);

John Bodnar (class 2007); Sherrill Campbell (class 2005); Sharon Clark (class

2014); Bill Coleman (class 2013); Jeanne Erickson (class 1998); Kevin Fre-

rich (class 2012); Sarah Goodrich (class 2016); Judy Guthrie (class 2005);

Jonathan Reynolds (class 2014); Dave Rowley (class 2000); cj Solberg (class

2005); Nancy Waldo (class 2014); Brenda Wellenreiter (class 2014); Betty

Zajac (class 2003).

Milestones: 2000 hours Marilyn Blanton (class 1999), Betty Mullenweg (class

2005)

A couple of visitors at the meeting in which Leah Patton present-

ed the program “Tarantulas in Texas”.

Photos by Larry Brennan

Naturalist News, Texas Master Naturalist, Elm Fork Chapter—Page 4

What ’s Next?

Speaker for June meeting From Rita Lokie

Native Cat Species of Texas: A Need for Education and Conservation

Monica Morrison is the founder of Texas Native Cats, an organization that provides educational presentations to groups in Texas about the five species of exotic cats that have called Texas home. Many people are una-ware of the great diversity of our felines, their habitat, physical characteris-tics, threats they face, and the importance they play in maintaining Nature’s health and diversity. In a state that has seen explosive human population growth, this native Texan presents the cats’ struggle to cope with human influence and gives a voice to these amazing animals.

She’s a Texas master naturalist and has been working with big cats as a vol-unteer for more than 15 years. She got her start with wildlife at the Dallas Zoo in the 1990s as a volunteer and tiger docent. Monica has volunteered in various capacities at two Dallas-area big cat sanctuaries, International Exotic Feline Sanctuary (IEFS), and is currently at In-Sync Exotics. She participated in the Dallas Zoo’s ocelot Wildlife Research Expedition in Mexico as well as in an Earthwatch trip to Kenya in 2014 to study African li-ons. She has also worked with NGOs in South America on jaguar and other big cat projects and recently re-turned from a trip to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge to investigate the ocelots’ last stronghold in the US.

Jaguar

Mountain lion (puma, cougar)

Bobcat

Jaguarundi Ocelot

w odum—Good source CATS OF TEXAS: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_w7000_0150.pdf

Margay

Photos: Bing.com