Bill Dunson, born in rural Georgia, skipped 12th grade and went directly to Yale. Bill subsequent-ly received a PhD in Zoology from the University of Michigan, studying softshell turtles. Bill is Professor Emeritus of Pennsylvania State University thanks to a career spent entirely at that institution, teaching and doing research on the physio-logical ecology and ecotoxiciology of reptiles, amphibians and fish. Always curious about nature, Bill has dedicated his life to learning and sharing his knowledge with others. He has served on many advisory boards here in Southwest Florida to preserve the water that gives life to our region.

Be sure to visit the
DUNSON ARCHIVES
for many more facinating and educational notes and photographs from Bill.

Wildflower Walk a Huge Success -- New Record Attendance

A nature walk was held Jan. 15 at the newly purchased 78 acre Wildflower Preserve owned by the Lemon Bay Conservancy. Approximately 159 people attended the walk which was advertised in local outlets such as the Sun-Herald and Waterline. This astonishing number of participants illustrates the enormous degree of interest in this new environmental preserve which is being managed differently from both state and county parks. Due to the large number of visitors, guests were split into three groups which were lead by Bill Dunson, Phil Dakin and Lucia Schatteleyn. The next scheduled walk is Feb. 5, but LBC is planning to offer additional walks to accomodate the obvious public interest in this new park. During my 16 years of experience in both attending and leading nature walks in both Sarasota and Charlotte Counties, this is by far the largest number I am aware of that has come for a single walk.

The featured "critter of the day" was a southeastern five-lined skink, a common lizard in local woodlands, and shown in the photos. This lizard has a bright blue tail when young which warns predators of its toxicity, and also directs the attack of predators to the tail rather than the head. If attacked, the tail breaks off and continues to wiggle to attract the attention of predators. This is an adult female which "incubates"/guards its eggs like a bird, but without the warmth of a bird's body.

Bill Dunson
Englewood, FL & Galax, VA
wdunson@comcast.net

http://www.galaxgazette.com/blogs

http://lemonbayconservancy.org/wildflower.htm

Each month this page will feature one of Bill's facinating and educational nature notes.
Be sure to visit the DUNSON ARCHIVES for the ever growing collection of articles and photographs.