Friends of Smith Mountain Lake State Park
Friday, March 29, 2024

Ben Shrader

Ben Shrader is a private practicing civil engineer/land surveyor/soil scientist, a life long outdoor enthusiast, a Virginia Master Naturalist, and board member of Cougar Rewilding Foundation.  Ben volunteered for Smithsonian Institution doing a trail camera predator survey along the Appalachian Trail and a project called “eMammal”.  Ben also volunteers as a hunter education instructor and is a life member of the Virginia Hunter Education Association.  He comes to share some of the joys of nine years of wildlife trail camera data and how it may be used; while inserting tidbits of interesting facts and trends in our local wildlife.  Which of our wildlife are enjoying success and which are under stress and why?

The Claytor Center is located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It encompasses freshwater streams, woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, rare plants, wildlife, and a portion of the Big Otter River.  It was given to Lynchburg College to serve as an education and research center for environmental study and to preserve the land for future generations.