ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 8, 1996 TAG: 9607080114
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES TOLLIVER JR. STAFF WRITER
BOB GILES was led to Havens by a collection of arrowheads found in the area. He says they are at least 10,000 years old.
If you're ever driving on Virginia 311 in Roanoke County on the weekend, turn onto Bradshaw Road. Continue about eight miles and look for a brown-and-white log cabin on your right.
Up the grassy hill, chances are you'll find a professor snooping around his 13-acre estate, looking for arrowheads or land snails or tasting leaves from a sweet birch tree that can be used to make root beer. If he's not there, look across Bradshaw.
He'll probably be there with his son-in-law, designing and building another bridge across one of the small creeks on another 7-acre tract that borders the Havens Wildlife Management Area.
Many people dig in the sand at the beach for relaxation. This man - Bob Giles, a wildlife professor at Virginia Tech - digs in the dirt, for fun and work.
Giles, 63, has been a professor at Tech for 24 years. He's worked as a biologist in the George Washington National Forest, and he was the 1976 recipient of the Virginia Governor's Conservationist of the Year award. He has lectured at colleges and universities across the country, as well as at institutions in India and the Republic of China.
He also has consulted with businesses and state agencies on how to find and protect rare plants and how to safely plot routes for power lines.
Ten years ago, Giles wanted to find a place where he could do his own wildlife research - someplace that was close to his home in Blacksburg yet accessible to a city. He chose Havens.
Havens' 7,160 acres are managed by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The forested land is the home of about 350 types of plants and 200 animals, including bear, deer, turkey and grouse.
It's public land, but the public doesn't use it very much because it's hard to get to and its steep terrain makes for tough conditions for recreation.
"This area does not have great waterfalls or fancy attractions," Giles said. "But it's a beautiful area, and it is typical of wildlife areas."
Giles fell in love with Havens. He liked it so much that he bought a cabin on the property's edge.
The cabin's name is Peculiar Manor. Giles said he gave it that name because he considers it his manor and people thought he did peculiar things there. "It is a direct reflection of him," said Scott Klopfer, a graduate student studying under Giles.
Peculiar Manor is filled with collectibles. In one room, there is a wooden hand-carved sign that reads "Wildlife Graduate Room." The sign came from an old study room at Tech.
Two snakeskins drape the wall of his study area.
He displays specialty books on animals found in the area - such as the book he has on grouse.
Maps of Havens are posted on the wall.
An occasional creature such as a small fence lizard adds to the cabin's ambiance.
His chairs in the living room are placed around the fireplace. With a diet root beer in hand, Giles can relax here after a tough day of teaching.
But he usually doesn't have much time for rest. When he's at the cabin - mainly on weekends - he is the home-improvement specialist.
When he bought the cabin 10 years ago, there was not a "leaf on the ground" because the previous owner's 35 goats ate all the vegetation. Today, his yard is blooming with flowers, plenty of grass and vegetation, and features a small man-made pond with fish.
Giles adds to his collectibles just by stumbling across artifacts in his yard.
He was led to Havens by a collection of arrowheads that someone found in the area. Giles made molds of the arrowheads, which, he said, are at least 10,000 years old. Giles believes they prove that American Indians traveled through the area.
A metal piece that appears to be from a wagon wheel also was found in his yard.
He also found a shaped piece of iron that had a hole in the center. Only half of the metal piece was there - it had been broken. Giles says it came from a sledgehammer.
"Years ago, a wealthy family used to live here," he said, his voice somber. "I think there were slaves here."
Finding artifacts consumes only part of his time. Giles' passion is finding new species of plants and animals in Havens that are not registered with the state.
"We've added seven plants to the state list," Giles said. "I also found nine types of land snails. ... it's ripe for the pickin'.''
Across Bradshaw Road lies more of Giles' property. Giles and his son-in-law built wooden bridges across the mainly dry streams. He sweeps debris and tree limbs off his self-made trails, and he uses red-flagged markers throughout his land to help him find his way when it snows.
Giles may have found his niche, but he doesn't mind sharing his neck of the woods. Giles brings his college classes to his cabin to study wildlife. Giles said his students need a "real-life" experience.
Giles' students also have helped make improvements to his land. The students built box culverts in his driveway, which stop erosion by diverting rainwater.
"It helps improve the quality of water for the fish and keeps mud out of people's basements are some things it can do," Giles said. "It's so inexpensive that everyone could do it and save us a lot of problems."
Giles doesn't bring students to his cabin only for cheap labor; he uses the cabin and its surroundings as a teaching tool.
"Most of my students are interested in wildlife because they hike or like the outdoors. It's not like 20 years ago when people [in this field] grew up on farms and knew terms like 'meadowing' - where the grass is not cut, so that birds can eat the insects off the plants and increase vegetation - but here, they can see all that," Giles said.
"I feel very privileged to work with him," Klopfer said. "He's so devoted to wildlife."
Giles' devotion could extend a step further. He may help develop recreational sites at Havens, but only if the property is properly managed and preserved. If this occurs, he has some ideas or "tricks" that could help Havens be a popular site.
"In doing past projects, I've tricked the computer," Giles said. "I'll ask it to show me the best place to put a powerline and instead, I'll put a trail there." I've done the same with small airports, I'll put a campsite there."
Giles' talent for duping computers may no longer be necessary. According to Jay Jeffries, the Southwest Piedmont District Director for the game commission, plans are in the works for Havens.
"We're looking for a Scout group or similar group to help build trails," Jeffries said. "We hope to start next year."(TOOK THIS OUT BECAUSE THERE'S NO DISCUSSION OF WHAT ALL THIS COMPUTER JAZZ IS ABOUT-mfk-.)
Giles continues to spread his passion for wildlife.
In the past, he has opened his home to prospective Tech students as well as to students in his classes.
The prospects sign a guest register in the living room. Then they are given a tour. Giles may even give them some plants or flowers from his garden to begin their own.
The students get a glimpse of how studying under Giles could be. But they won't get a glimpse of the phone.
"One day I looked at my phone bill, and there was a call to Egypt," Giles laughed. "My wife and I tried to figure out where it came from."
As he tried to figure out whom he knew in Egypt, it occurred to him to check the guest register. One of the prospective students was from Egypt.
Giles didn't let the incident keep him from showing other students his home. Now, though, he hides the phone.
LENGTH: Long : 150 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON Staff 1. Professor Bob Giles' cabin,by CNBwhich he calls "Peculiar Manor," is on Bradshaw Road. Peculiar Manor
borders the Havens State Wildlife Management Area. 2. Flowers adorn
Bob Giles' yard at Peculiar Manor. color.
3. Bob Giles built this bridge over Mason Creek on his property
that borders the Havens State Wildlife Management Area in Roanoke
County. 4. A sledgehammer and an arrowhead from a series that are
10,000 years old are among the artifacts that have been found on Bob
Giles' 13 acres. The plaster cast was made from an arrowhead
previously found on the property.|