Lyle K. Sowls

Background

Lyle K. Sowls was born on February 28, 1916, in Darlington, Wisconsin, United States. He is the son of William and Rosella (Jeglum) Sowls.

Education

Lyle K. Sowls studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, and a Doctor of Philosophy degrees.

Career

Before becoming a keen specialist in biology, Lyle K. Sowls did his military service from 1941 till 1945 at the United States Naval Reserve and became lieutenant. In 1950 he became the leader of Arizona Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the position he held till 1986. During that time, he wrote Prairie Ducks: A Study of Their Behavior, Ecology, and Management (1955). It's a report of research of five species of dabbling ducks (mallards, shovellers, pintails, gadwalls, and blue-winged teal) on their breeding grounds in southern Manitoba. The study involves the time of migration, migrational homing, home range and territoriality, nesting terrain, nesting season and behavior, breeding season mortality, renesting, hen and brood behavior, autumn behavior, and the shooting season. In this book, Sowls combined careful fieldwork with good writing to give readers a concise picture of breeding biology in these ducks.

The Peccaries was published in 1984. Lyle K. Sowls studied these animals for nearly thirty years and presented his findings in this definitive volume. Sowls provides information on each species' size, distribution and habit, diet, reproduction, population dynamics, and behavior. He also includes here sonograms of peccary vocalizations that represent social communication among members of a herd between parents and young. In addition to biological data, Sowls furnishes firsthand observations of human hunting of peccaries, reports from early explorers, and information on Indians' use of the animal. The second edition of this book, Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Their Biology, Management, and Use, was published in 1997.

Later on, Sowls joined the University of Arizona as a wildlife consultant to the School of Renewable Natural Resources.

Achievements

• Lyle K. Sowls is known and recognized as an outstanding biologist and a prolific author. In 1956 he received Wildlife Publication Award from Wildlife Society for Prairie Ducks.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Prairie Ducks: A Study of Their Behavior, Ecology and Management

    (The book involves the time of migration, migrational homi...)

    1955
  • Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Their Biology, Management, and Use

    (Javelinas and Other Peccaries is certain to be regarded a...)

    1997
  • The Peccaries

    (The piglike desert creature known to most Southwesterners...)

    1984

Views

Quotations: "My writing style involves finding out everything that I can, first through library research, then through field research. My inspiration to write on peccaries comes from a belief that proper management of these animals may save part of the tropical rain forest from exploitation and destruction."

Membership

Lyle K. Sowls was a member of Wildlife Society.

Interests

• history

Connections

Lyle K. Sowls married Grace Martner. After her death, he married Mary Gooch on September 2, 1974. The marriage was blessed with children.

Father:

William Sowls

Mother:

Rosella Sowls

late wife:

Grace Martner

Wife:

Mary Gooch