April, 2008 - Wildlife Management Pro

Feral Hogs Go Suburban

Feral Hogs in the city

I was locking a pipe-rail gate behind R.L. Loving’s pickup truck, when the woman walked through her patio door, into her backyard, shielded her eyes with a hand and stared intently across the bayou at us. “This could go either way,” R.L. said.

In the back of his truck squatted a large cage made of heavy-gauge wire. Inside the cage were three live feral hogs — a big sow and a couple of shoats. We were on the edge of a large tract of as-yet-undeveloped property barely outside Houston’s city limits and hard against a patch of suburbia filled with half-million-dollar homes.

R.L., an accountant and financial adviser by profession but an outdoorsperson at heart, had permission — the blessing, really — of the folks who control the tract to live-trap and remove feral hogs there. He is good at it. Continue reading Feral Hogs Go Suburban

Elk Released at Royal Blue WMA

An estimated 500 people braved the elements on the morning of Saturday, March 8th, to witness thirty-four elk being released at the Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area in Campbell County. The elk were transported from the Land-Between-The-Lakes area in Kentucky after all test results reflected a clean bill of health for the entire herd.

The elk began the trip to their new home on Friday morning in four specially designed trailers. They arrived after dark that evening and were held overnight at Royal Blue WMA. Saturday morning the trailer doors were opened and the elk surveyed their new home as a beautiful blanket of snow fell on the already snow covered Massengale Mountain. Continue reading Elk Released at Royal Blue WMA

Fannin County Game Warden Honored

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Warden Eddie Hines of Bonham was honored for his work with the National Wild Turkey Federation in a ceremony before the TPW Commission here March 27.

Hines was named the NWTF Enforcement Officer of the Year for Texas. Paul Ferrell, East Texas regional director for the NWTF, cited Hines’ ongoing community involvement, his work in youth education and his work with other law enforcement agencies in northeast Texas.

Hines also was instrumental in forming a Fannin County chapter of the NWTF and helped raise more than $16,000, some $3,000 of which will be used for Texas projects such as wild turkey habitat enhancement and restoration and education. Continue reading Fannin County Game Warden Honored

CCC Vets Bring State Park History to Bastrop

Late last week, Bastrop State Park hosted close to 70 former Civilian Conservation Corps members who helped build the foundation of the Texas State Park system back in the 1930s and 1940s. The March 28-29 event commemorated the 75th anniversary of the CCC, started by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to address joblessness during the Great Depression. Most of the men whose skilled hands helped build state parks such as Caddo Lake, Garner and Indian Lodge have passed on. Continue reading CCC Vets Bring State Park History to Bastrop

New Reference Manual for Warm-Season Grasses

Native warm-season grasses provide critical cover for many wildlife species, and successful establishment and management of these grasses are essential to their use and acceptance by landowners. In continuing efforts to help restore declining populations of bobwhite quail and other wildlife species through restoration of native grassland habitats, and to better help agricultural producers establish and manage stands of native grass for hay, pasture, and biofuels, a new full-length color native grasses manual has been produced. Continue reading New Reference Manual for Warm-Season Grasses