Mammology Class and a New Sense of Wonder

This week's class on mammals in Master Naturalist class was very interesting! Gene and I have really been enjoying all the classes! The instructor handed out animal skins to all of us at the beginning of class to identify. Some of them were very easy (skunk - duh) and some not so much.

Classmates had a lot of fun putting the fur skins around their necks or a few even decided the skins made good puppets! Luckily the skins were prepared for heavy handling by students!

 

The entire lecture was very informative.I was surprised to learn of some of the animals that are in our county that I would never have guessed were here; the mink for example. 

Towards the end of the class we were given different sized skulls and a descriptive key to use, and between observing the animal skulls and comparing to the key, we were to figure out what kind of animal skull we had. We had the skull of a ringtail cat (which though called that is actually in the raccoon family).

One thing I can say over all about the Texas Master Naturalist class is that when I go outdoors now I have a keener sense of observation and also a greater sense of wonder and appreciation for everything I see!

Ring-tailed cat

 

Master Naturalist Class - Lots to Learn!

I am excited about finally achieving a long held goal of mine to take the Texas Master Naturalist course. This is something I thought I would probably never get to do since I work and all the classes are held on weekday afternoons. Recently though, I was looking at the program again for about the umpteenth time and decided to check into it for my county. I then wondered if it might be possible to use vacation hours to take the class. "Hmm, can't hurt to ask, the worst thing they can do is say no..."

Well after getting an affirmative answer, I discussed it with hubby, because he had said he would like to take the class too and so we both registered.

Our first class was this past Tuesday, Mar. 5th and though it was more of a "get to know you, this is what to expect", kind of session, I still found it interesting and still learned some things. Such as our state gemstone, the Blue Topaz is only found in Mason County and there was also a good presentation on wild edible and useful/medicinal plants.

As part of the course requirements after our fourteen weeks of training, we commit to 40 hours of volunteer service each year and 8 hours of advanced training each year.

Topics in this class include Forest Ecology, Climate, Geology, Herpetology, Soils, Ecological Regions of Texas, Rangeland Management, Ornithology, Ichythology, Entomology, Rainwater Harvesting, Archeology, Botony, Mammalogy, Wildscape, Riparian Ecology, Native Plants, and Bats.

I was pleased to learn that our Master Naturalist chapter also has a Junior Master Naturalist group and I am hoping to volunteer some of my time working with the kids.

Next week's session is Forest Ecology and since we will be meeting once a week, I am sure I will have more to say in the days ahead about this exciting class and goal finally realized!