Butler Community College - Grizzly Growl Yearbook (El Dorado, KS)

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' Road kills ' Instructor liveslife in fast lane Awakening to the static of the clock radio, Dr. William Langley eases out of bed to the start of another long day in the field of research and work, while his wife casts aspersions on the whole race of scientists, and scientific study. As he steps into his slacks, he reflects on the ordeal of collecting road kills of all forms of wildlife on his way to a steady job that starts at 8:00 a.m. at Butler Coun- ty Community College. Dr. Langley has had an interest in wildlife from the age of thir- teen, when he first visited the American Museum of Natural History. From there he went on to get a degree in a biological scien- ce and physical science. He taught at Wichita State University for seven years before coming to Butler, where he has been teaching for approximately three years. Not wanting to waste his time driving to and from school, he decided to do some research on the number of wildlife that was killed on a twenty-mile stretch of Highway 254. Collecting road kills, including birds, snakes, rabbits, opossum and box turtles, or all forms of wildlife, is not just a pastime for Dr. Langley, but a research project. He is trying to establish the harmful effects of highway kills on wildlife currently, and compare this with the effects 20 years from now. Many of the road kills collected by Dr. Langley are identified and thrown off the road so they will not be counted again. A few of the road kills, still intact, may be kept by Langley for research by his students at Butler, or sent to a university. Eventually all of this data and research collected will be published in a scientific publication. But not before he has analyzed the effects of certain factors such as weather, traffic flow, etc. So don ' t be surprised if some day you are cruising home from school on Highway 254 from El Dorado to Wichita and you happen to see some crazy guy straddling the yellow line with a spatula. Just swerve and don ' t look back. Brett Perry Upper right: Traffic flow can sometimes be very harmful to most forms of wildlife as they are usually hit when trying to cross the roadway in their nightly journeys. Lower right: After scraping up the remains of a rabbit, Langley prepares to disperse the remaining into the ditch. 16 Langley

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UP - ■ I T.£ : Andre Southerland, running back, walks an easy touchdown into the end zone. ■Sfisi Brett Perry Football 15

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' Road kills ' Upper left: Keeping a watchful eye out for traffic while straddling the yellow line is Dr. William Langley. Finding the road kills is the easy part; attempting to free it from the road surface is achieved by the aid of a steel spatula which is carried under the car ' s front seat. Lower left: Many forms of wildlife are cut down on highways as shown by this Bobwhite quail who lost its life trying to cross Highway 254. Lower right: Dr. Langley peers through the side of the vehicle window while scraping up a road kill. Brett Perry ' ■ Langley 17