Southwest Virginia Outdoor Classroom

Students had a rewarding experiecne with the state biologist and faculty from UVa Wise while electroshocking the guest river in the city of Norton. 

The school semester is over with and most of the students at the college have gone home for the summer. Despite many being away, there will still be surveying for wildlife going on throughout the summer months. Jennifer Fulton will be surveying throughout the summer looking specifically for reptiles and amphibians but will also be continuing mammal trapping, trail cameras, and some fish surveying. 

Jennifer will be doing a FINS research project looking at the health of the riparian buffer zone located at the Norton site in comparison to the riparian forest located at the Guest River Gorge.

So far, with the study, we have found a number of new species at Norton. Including the long tail salamander (Eurycea longicauda),

A group of students went to the Norton City Schools to present about the wildlife we are looking for in Norton.

David taught the students about frogs and toads in our area. In the picture he is showing a full skeleton of a Bullfrog to the students, that is part of the UVA-Wise Natural History Museum.

We have gone to the field at night to see what critters we could find prowling the night.  While looking at the water there were plenty of frogs that we could see and get some photos. There were mainly green frogs (Rana clamitans), with about 10 jumping into each pond as we approached the water.