By April Garon

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Being in the outdoors is nothing new to Crystal Stroud.

The Raymond native is interning at Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge near Ferriday.

“When I was a kid, I loved to play in the woods,” Stroud said. “That’s what I want to do — just keep playing in the woods.”

She is a forestry technician intern at the refuge, but she is learning about wildlife as well.

Stroud records and analyzes audio of local birds then records the sounds by the distance and time they were made.

“I used to only be able to identify one species, the eastern wood pewee, but I have been able to identify around 30 now,” Stroud said.

One of Stroud’s duties is to help contain an evasive species that grows rampant on the refuge, the Chinese tallow tree, by finding and spraying the plants with chemicals.

Stroud said she’s learned more about how plants and animals are connected.

“I learned that if the (canopy) of the trees is really thick, sunlight can’t get down, so plants can’t grow underneath,” Stroud said. “That’s not good for the animals because they need understory growth for their habitat.”

The outdoors lover has quite an adventure under her belt already. Stroud hiked the Appalachian Trail with a furry friend after graduating from Mississippi State University in 2011.

“I took my miniature Dachshund,” Stroud said. “She outdid me every single day.”

Stroud’s set her sights on South America and New Zealand as places she would like to work in the wildlife and forestry fields next.

“I want to see as much and do as much as I can — I don’t want to be tied down yet,” Stroud said.