Boy Scout Troop 932 explores Texas this summer

Courtesy photo RANGER WILL WATKINS presented 'skins and skulls' to boy scouts to help them identify animals.

Boy Scout Troop 932 has been busy this summer, according to troop committee chair Lloyd Persons.

They still hope to make a trip to the Texas State Railroad in August, if the rails damaged from recent flooding are repaired in time.

September will be a trip to the San Jacinto Battle Grounds near La Porte. The scouts are trying to raise enough money to spend the night on the Battleship Texas.

"The boys will learn what it was like to be in the Navy, including sleeping in the ship's bunks and responding to bugle calls," Persons said.

Earlier in the summer, the boys completed Wilderness Survival Skills at a series of troop meetings.

"Scouts went on their first five-mile hike... in perfect conditions for identifying animal tracks," Persons reported. "After raining the day before, the animals left very clear tracks and the boys were able to identify a dozen different kinds of animals."

The troop also visited the Texas Forestry Museum in Lufkin to work on their Forestry Merit Badge.

Courtesy photo BOY SCOUTS (from left to right) Coley Persons, Joseph Tvrz and Dillon Smith identify animals and animal tracks on their five-mile hike.

In July, they visited the Big Thicket National Forest Preserve where rangers taught compass reading, survival skills, and "skins and skulls" to identify animals.

The scouts meet on Mondays (except the day after field trips) from 6:30 - 8 p.m. at the Scout Hut across from Jasper Junior High School. For more information, call 384-8296.