It's HOT in Oklahoma

             Being from western New York I am not used to the heat of south central Oklahoma, especially this year as the temperatures have insisted in remaining 5-10˚ above average. However there was no way that I was going to let the heat stop me from enjoying my new SCA internship at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge.

 I jumped right in by helping do water quality monitoring for Pennington Creek on my first day. The monitoring protocol includes air/water temperatures, water clarity, pH, and checks the levels of dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, orthophosphate phosphorus, and chloride. The refuge also tests the level of coliforms in the water. This is a program that I will get to participate each month as my internship progresses.

I also get to assist in many different activities including deer, bird and herpetological surveys. During recent bird surveys I have been able to add many new species to my ‘life list.’ Some of the more interesting birds that I have seen here in Oklahoma include the Neotropic Cormorant and the endangered Least Tern. I also have seen a pond with 200+ Snowy and Great Egrets in the water and in the trees, it is not every day when you get to see that many large white birds in the trees. The opportunity to do Whitetail Deer surveys has also been a lot of fun. The surveys are done by spotlighting the deer at night on the refuge. The deer survey happens once a week for around 6 to 7 weeks, however long it takes to see 1,000 deer; this is done to ensure accurate buck/doe/fawn ratios. It was a great opportunity to get to spotlight deer since that is not something that the general public can do. The herpetological survey was a great chance for me to get to see some cool creatures up close and personal. During the herp survey we set up 6 arrays meant to force creatures into funnel or pitfall traps. We caught a Pickerel Frogs (a rarity as its normal range is further east), some Leopard Frogs, an Eastern Narrow Mouth Toad, Prairie Lined Race Runners, and a Fence Lizard along with a few small mammals such as a Least Shrew and a Hispid Cotton Rat.

Prairie Lined Race Runners

 Today while out attempting and sometimes successfully removing Mimosa trees, I got a chance to see an Orange-stripped Ribbon Snake. The Ribbon Snake is a part of the garter snake family, meaning it was a small, cute, non-venomous snake. This was a highlight of my semi-successful excursion at removing Mimosa trees using newly acquired weed wrenches. The Mimosa trees have strong root systems and I was having difficulty pulling up the roots because they kept snapping off. I was successful with a few smaller trees, but in certain soil types I couldn’t even get the little ones. I have decided to try again after we get some rain since it has not rained in a month and the ground is hard and dry.

Successfully pulled Mimosa tree

             In mid-September I got a chance to go to Oklahoma City where I became a certified Service Technician, allowing me to apply pesticides to invasive species. Throughout my internship I will use ATV/UTV’s, farm tractors and a skid steer to remove many different invasive plants from the refuge. I traveled to Hagerman NWR in TX to do my ATV/UTV training.

This past week was the Chickasaw Festival in Tishomingo. Tishomingo is the capitol of the Chickasaw Nation. There were activities in town and all over the Chickasaw Nation area all week long. During the week I went to the ‘White House of the Chickasaw’ which was a very elegant and modern home that was built in the 1800’s. Saturday was the big day of the festival where Governor Anoatubby (of the Chickasaws) gave his State of the Nation speech. After the speech is the biggest parade in the state, however this year it was cancelled shortly after it started due to a thunder storm. I visited the Chickasaw Bank Museum on Main Street. I also visited the Capitol building.

I have already gotten to do many activities that I had never had an opportunity to do before and look forward to many more great opportunities. This internship is allowing me to travel and live in Oklahoma; I look forward to exploring the state in my free time. Plus Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert have live near the Refuge!

Miranda Lambert's store in downtown Tishomingo