Field trip
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Dylan and I went on a small mammal ecology field trip Saturday. It was a
program offered through the university in a town about forty miles from
us. We're on their mailing list for special classes and programs.
This field trip was to show what biologists in the field do when they are
studying a particular critter. Dylan has actually done field work before
for the geology department at this same university, monitoring seismic
sites and writing down what he observed, and once, for a month,
monitoring cut worm populations.
The biologist on this trip is studying huanta(sp) virus in deer mice
populations in western Montana. The night before the trip she had set
out live traps in two locations in a high mountain meadow. One of the
sites was the cabin of a friend of hers, as she was hoping to show how
common deer mice are in our living spaces. ( seven mice out of eight
traps )
We had to be there at the crack of early because these little critters
may have been stuck in the traps all night and she didn't want to inflict
more stress than necessary on them. At the first place we stopped her
first trap had a pack rat in it, so now we're in love with pack rats
around here and there are at least six drawings of the little guy stuck
to the kitchen walls.
The whole trip was amazing, but the most amazing thing was how different
the kids on the trip were. There were three other kids there, older than
Dylan, who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. Dylan asked
questions, wanted to know how she took blood samples, weighed the mice,
asked about huanta virus, asked about West Nile virus in small mammals,
asked about protected species, how long do deer mice live, how do you
tell the sex, and on and on. I didn't ask the other kids but wondered
if they had any say about being there that day.
At the end of the trip the biologist gave Dylan the deer mice ear tags
she had and said he could pierce his ears with them if he wanted.
She finally asked what school he went to and was science his favorite
subject and when he told her he'd never been to school she said " Well,
that explains it! "
She said last year one of her students at the university was a fourteen
year old girl who's "hippy" parents had never sent her to school, just
let her play, and that she was the smartest kid she'd ever seen.
Dylan has asked for a good, basic book on biology. He's been on the
Internet and discovered that the first ever southern bog lemming was
discovered in Montana, greatly expanding their previously known range.
There are drawings of bog lemmings here too, one's wearing a hat, like a
big, floppy sun hat (is that the southern belle bog lemming, I wonder?)
My mom cut an article out of the paper about black footed ferrets and now
he's asking questions about plague.
The cool thing is, on the weekend we're going picnicking and to a
concert, and then he'll be digging his dad's guitar out and strumming and
life will be bringing him something new.
Deb L
program offered through the university in a town about forty miles from
us. We're on their mailing list for special classes and programs.
This field trip was to show what biologists in the field do when they are
studying a particular critter. Dylan has actually done field work before
for the geology department at this same university, monitoring seismic
sites and writing down what he observed, and once, for a month,
monitoring cut worm populations.
The biologist on this trip is studying huanta(sp) virus in deer mice
populations in western Montana. The night before the trip she had set
out live traps in two locations in a high mountain meadow. One of the
sites was the cabin of a friend of hers, as she was hoping to show how
common deer mice are in our living spaces. ( seven mice out of eight
traps )
We had to be there at the crack of early because these little critters
may have been stuck in the traps all night and she didn't want to inflict
more stress than necessary on them. At the first place we stopped her
first trap had a pack rat in it, so now we're in love with pack rats
around here and there are at least six drawings of the little guy stuck
to the kitchen walls.
The whole trip was amazing, but the most amazing thing was how different
the kids on the trip were. There were three other kids there, older than
Dylan, who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. Dylan asked
questions, wanted to know how she took blood samples, weighed the mice,
asked about huanta virus, asked about West Nile virus in small mammals,
asked about protected species, how long do deer mice live, how do you
tell the sex, and on and on. I didn't ask the other kids but wondered
if they had any say about being there that day.
At the end of the trip the biologist gave Dylan the deer mice ear tags
she had and said he could pierce his ears with them if he wanted.
She finally asked what school he went to and was science his favorite
subject and when he told her he'd never been to school she said " Well,
that explains it! "
She said last year one of her students at the university was a fourteen
year old girl who's "hippy" parents had never sent her to school, just
let her play, and that she was the smartest kid she'd ever seen.
Dylan has asked for a good, basic book on biology. He's been on the
Internet and discovered that the first ever southern bog lemming was
discovered in Montana, greatly expanding their previously known range.
There are drawings of bog lemmings here too, one's wearing a hat, like a
big, floppy sun hat (is that the southern belle bog lemming, I wonder?)
My mom cut an article out of the paper about black footed ferrets and now
he's asking questions about plague.
The cool thing is, on the weekend we're going picnicking and to a
concert, and then he'll be digging his dad's guitar out and strumming and
life will be bringing him something new.
Deb L