Carolina Wildlands
September 16, 2022
The first trapping session at Southern 8ths was a great experience. The learning center is comfortable and is full of walls made of repurposed and just really interesting wood slabs that are from the property. We set out our first set of traps in the woods behind the learning center, just so we can get familiar with the area and also just get feel for what this project will be like. On the Friday afternoon just after we arrived we set out into the hardwoods forest and placed twenty traps along fallen trees and the stream that runs into Thompsons Creek. Then we went into the learning center for the night for supper and to get ready for the morning check. Once the sun started to rise on a crisp Saturday morning, we set out back into the woods to see what we have caught. Unfortunately, we did not catch any small mammals in the traps but that was not too much of a surprise for Profesor Knowles. Once we got the traps picked up we headed back into the learning center for a presentation that was given by Mr. Turley. During this presentation, Mr. Turley shared his story about Southern 8ths and what kind of impact he wants to have on interns like us and just the overall environment. We also went on a tour of parts of Southern 8th and saw many different plants, trees, and insects. This tour showed me just how many different ecosystems are on the property and the opportunity to survey all these different environments for small mammals. I can not wait to get back to Southern 8ths and get back to trapping, I believe we are going to find some really interesting small mammals, and hopefully, teach me something that I can use for the rest of my career in field biology.
