Ecology trip —Alaska to A&M
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1978
By MARILYN BROWN
Ilf you think the winters are cold
(College Station,imagine spending
fcijie winter in a log cabin in Alaska,
alif you’re bored with the fare in
Jbisa, imagine eating two to three
Ounds of moose meat each day.
»|Steve Stringham, a Texas A&M
University graduate wildlife ecology
ent, did just that. With his wife
in, he lived in the Alaskan wilder-
iss and researched bears, moose
I fox in their natural habitats.
Stringham specializes in be-
ioral ecology: how an aminal’s
javior allows it to adapt to its
ivironment. He calls his work
LgtIBking minds within the skins of
• "Either kinds.” It involves finding out
, m much and in what manner ani-
^(fials learn.
Stringham said an animal’s adapt-
j^jlbility to a situation depends on
ijhat it can learn. His primary inter-
is in animals’ adaptability to
>■
[ince men are constantly expand-
into wild animal territories,
gham said he thinks men must
ider not only the impact their
fcence has on wildlife but also
men and wild animals can suc-
fiilly coexist.
(art of Stringham’s research has
Ived teaching bears to dislike
ian foods. Bears are a problem
ational parks when they raid
pers’ groceries and garbage
ps.
[tringham said an animal learns
islike a food which makes it sick.
Aggie
food Drive
April 3, 4, 5
■X Mu
He has experimented by putting a
chemical which makes the bear
nauseous into the foods it should not
eat. Lithium chloride, a salt, has
been used in honeybee hives in
Canada with moderate success.
Stringham said he is trying to find
out why it has not worked better.
Stringham said electric shock was
also used in some experiments.
Electric fences were put around
garbage dumps to keep the bears
out, but the fence only make them
mad.
“And you don’t want to make a
bear mad, especially a grizzly,” he
said.
Stringham said unless bears can
be taught to leave human foods
alone, there is little chance of con
tinuing to have wild bears in na
tional parks.
He said bears are “extraordinarily
good learners,” and found them fas
cinating to study. He said many
bears like music and many have a
sense of humor, even to the point of
being practical jokers.
Stringham said he became in
terested in bears when a friend of
his was attacked. Before that, he
earned his masters degree working
with moose. The moose were kept
in mile-square pens cut through the
natural brush.
He raised two of his own moose
calves and said he often woke with
ELECT
CHUCK WISE
OFF CAMPUS
UNDERGRADUATE
SENATOR
two cold noses in his face or with
eight hooves running over him.
Stringham met his wife in Alaska
and married her under an alter of
moose antlers. They spent their first
summer in a clear plastic tent, but
Stringham said they enjoyed the
continuous Alaskan summer sun.
Out of money, they spent the
next winter in a friend’s log cabin in
the wilderness, 20 or 30 miles from
their closest neighbor.
“We spent the winter as a matter
of survival,” Stringham said. They
depended on the meat they could
hunt and the berries they could
gather and preserve before the
winter set in.
Passing the time was no problem.
They cut a tree of wood a day and
had to hike a quarter of a mile for
drinkable water. Stringham said he
took up sculpture and woodcarving,
his wife played the guitar, and
they both took up gazing at the
moon and the magnificence of their
wilderness surroundings.
He said they found tremendous
satisfaction in producing for them
selves.
“When we were warm or drank
water, we knew we had provided it
ourselves,” he said. He is anxious to
CAREER SALES
Excellent future for responsible
sales-oriented Individual who enjoys
active contact with public. For per
manent resident only, no travel. Ex
penses paid at home office training
school plus training locally. Position
offers stable career with substantial
Income and managerial opportunity.
Call Frank Novak At
846-2426 or 693-8754
return to Alaska but first wants to
earn his doctorate degree here.
Stringham laughed when asked
how he found his way to Texas A&M
from Alaska. He said Texas A&M
has one of the finest wildlife schools
in the world and that Fritz Walther,
a Texas A&M professor of wildlife
and fisheries science is one of the
best ethologists in the world. Ethol
ogy is the study of animal behavior
in the wild.
Stringham has taught labs here in
ecology, mammalogy and ethology.
He said there are many Texans in
Alaska with the oil companies and
that Texas A&M does wildlife re-
search in areas where oil is being
developed. He said he hoped for
funds from oil companies to study
the industry’s impact on bears, but
has not been disappointed.
Funding for wildlife research is
hard to come by, and usually comes
from federal and state governments,
universities and other organizations.
The World Wildlife Fund once sent
Stringham to Austria to study the
impact of hunting on big game.
He also received a National Park
Service grant to study black bear in
the Great Smoky Mountains Na
tional Park this summer.
manor f<jsi ' Theatroi
I-
I-
I-
!►
I*
1^.
a-
a-
a-
SATMDAI RMnr a*
FEVER i— *’■
INMUYSTEMERiar
-JM ML
WALT BISNEn
CAMLESIHK
Jb2k
10MU9R i
run
Tl VT f
Vi vv v i* .» Uli//.
^UPER TEAMS
Applications:
March 20-29
in MSC,
COMMONS, SB ISA ■
$5 per teams
All proceeds donated
ATTENTION
COLLEGE STUDENTS
You may be eligible for a two-year Air Force ROTC
scholarship. The scholarship includes full tuition, lab
expenses, incidental fees, a reimbursement for text
books, and $100 a month tax free. How do you qual
ify? You must have at least two years of graduate or
undergraduate work remaining, and be willing to serve
your nation at least four years as an Air Force officer.
Scholarships are available to students who can qualify
for pilot, navigator, or missile training, and to those
who are majoring in selected technical and nontechni
cal academic disciplines, in certain scientific areas, in
undergraduate nursing, or selected premedical degree
areas. Non-scholarship students enrolled in the Air
Force ROTC two-year program also receive the $100
monthly tax-free allowance just like the scholarship
students. Find out today about a two-year Air Force
ROTC scholarship and about the Air Force way of life.
Your Air Force ROTC counselor has the details.
ROTC
Gateway to a great way of life.
BAD NEWS BUS
Km
BAB HEWS BURS
rnmmmmL
CiTIZERI BABB *
PUS *
BLACK SttNBIV *
r*
UNI ROYAL
Bargain
Hunters
THAU
:son
EY
AMIN
It
FIBERGLASS BELTED
WHITEWALL
Polyester Cord Plies • 78 Series Design
Steel/Glass Belts
SIZE
PRICE
F.E.T.
A78-13
$23.95
$1.73
“E75T3
$27.75
$1.80
D78-14
$2HAR
§5.09
E78 14
$29.12
§2.26
F78-14
$31.29
$2.42
G18-14
$32.94
i2.So
H78-14
$35.41
§2.80
"07513
$33.76
§2.65
H78-15
$36 Aft
12.88
J78 15
$38.07
L78-15
$39.42
fs.lt
All prices plusF.E.T. and tire "ft your car
A78-13 whitewall tubeless
plus $1.73 F.E.T. and tire
off your car.
ENGINE
TUNE-UP
Install new plugs, points, condenser.
Set dwell, timing. Adjust choke,
balance carburetor. Test starting,
charging, compression.
♦26*'
Any 6-pyl. U.S. car
Add $6.75 for 8-cyl. cars.
Some air-cond. cars extra.
ALIGNMENT
& front end safety check
Alignment can correct
improper tread wear.
• Set camber, caster
• Set toe-in, toe-out
• Check steering
• Road test the car
LAND TRAC
Raised White Letters for Campers,
Vans, Pick-ups and Small Trucks.
10-15 C tubelfiss olus 3 29 F E T
notrade-m needed
$4095
PRECISION
WHEEL
BALANCE
’ueS’
UNIROYAL STEEL-BELTED
STEELMASTER RADIAL
Raised White Letters for Campers, Vans,
Pick-ups and Small Trucks.
$7Q95
7 50R 16 Raised White Letters plus
$4 1.7 F E T No trade-m required
All four wheels,
weights included.
SI 400
SIZE
PRICE
I F.E.T.
750R 16
$79.95
1 5417
1 LR78-16
$93.95
| $4.37
1 LR78-15
$98.95
j $4.64 ]
1875R-15
$105.95
1 $5.97 I
PILGER'S
TIRE & AUTO CENTER
The Mileage People 400 E. University Dr. College Station - 846-1729
UNIROYAL
<®> RlIKKO COMES IN
LOUD AND CLEAR
available only from
CUSTOM
SOUNDS
NR-515 AM/FM
STEREO RECEIVER
18 watts per channel
0.5% total harmonic
distortion
Reg. $220
SALE $ 179 95
NA-550 INTEGRATED
STEREO AMPLIFIER
45 watts per channel
0.05% total harmonic
distortion
SALE $ 199 95
NT-550 AM/FM
STEREO TUNER
Reg. $180
SALE $ 149 95
5055 STEREO
AM/FM RECEIVER
25 watts per channel
0.8% total harmonic
distortion
Reg. $280
SALE $ 189 9S
6065 STEREO
AM/FM RECEIVER
33 watts per channel
0.5% total harmonic
distortion
Reg. $320
SALE $ 209 95
... - *. -
** **** J ‘ I
’’y-T--, J?.
f} • «* ft
M * *
We also have the ALPHA and BETA-II series
SALE PRICES THROUGH SATURDAY ONLY
CUSTOM
SOUNDS
3806-A OLD COLLEGE ROAD 846-5803
Next to Triangle Bowling Alley
Open Mon.-Sat. 10-6