When you are a biology professor at Arizona Western College, you get to take your students out on field trips to the surrounding desert. You can also take your wife and children along too, because you're in charge. You wax eloquent, teaching them all about desert critters and the tracks they make in the sand, but focusing on your favorite lizard, the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard. Because, unknown to the students, you are testing them to see who might make a good field crew member for the U of AZ team who needs to hire more personnel.
Your children draw pictures in the sand, because they've already heard all you have to say about FTHLs numerous times. Even though they would make excellent crew members, alas, they are too young to be hired.
You then send the students out with pin flags, to set up mini survey plots.
Your youngest child suggests you take a look over in this direction.
One student finds a shrike-killed juvenile Desert Iguana--an impressive find, nonetheless.
Extra points for that student.
Your wife finds a FTHL, in its typical sand-diving cryptic pose.
You call over your students to see if they can see the lizard too.
Your six-year-old highly observant daughter sees the lizard right off,
while others are still looking in various directions.
She eventually points it out to some of them.
After ooing and aahing over the cute lizard, and letting the students take photos, you let it go.
You find a couple more lizards, note the 3-4 students who seem to have field crew potential, and bring the field trip to a close. Besides, it's starting to get a little hot by 10:00 a.m.
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