Just days prior to the September 1st dove season opener in most of Texas, a research team was out two days prior to the season collecting bird specimens for a research study on the effectiveness of various shotshells, including non-lead shot. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologists are in the first year of a multi-year study to determine the effectiveness of different load types on wild mourning doves using trained observers and volunteer shooters. This study is the first of its kind for doves and is based on a similar lethality research project in Missouri and Louisiana on waterfowl in the 1980s.

“The main premise of this research is to clarify if there is a difference between perception and reality in wounding rates and killing efficiency of lead shot and non lead shot on mourning dove,” said Jay Roberson, TPWD dove program leader and the study organizer. “TPWD does not have a position for or against non lead shot for doves, but we recognize the importance of this issue. Our objective is to replace perceptions with facts.”

The study design calls for three consecutive sessions using the same shooters paired with the same observers to ensure consistency across three types of shotshell loads. The research objective is to obtain under a controlled study environment 500 mourning dove specimens killed with one shot in each of the next 2-3 years. Collections are being conducted by permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This year, 22 volunteer shooters participated in each of two collection sessions on August 30 and produced about 400 specimens. (more…)

Livestock and wildlife producers, land managers and others interested in learning more about managing and optimizing their grazing lands will have an opportunity at one of five workshops being held throughout Texas from Sept. 3 to Oct. 1, 2008. “My Piece of Texas” grazing schools will teach attendees how to estimate forage production, determine grazeable acres and set proper stocking rates as well as learn valuable grazing management principles.

The $25 registration fee will include lunch and a copy of the soon-to-be published handbook, “Managing My Piece of Texas.” The how-to guide was peer reviewed by ranchers throughout Texas after being developed by grazing specialists from the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (more…)

Texas’ pronghorn numbers are on the decline. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) wildlife biologists recently recorded a considerable drop in the pronghorn antelope population in portions of Jeff Davis and Presidio Counties, although they said overall pronghorn populations in the Trans-Pecos remain only slightly below the 30-year average.

Department biologists annually conduct aerial surveys in June and July throughout West Texas to count pronghorn herds. The resulting data is used to monitor populations and generate harvest quotas for hunting permits issued to private landowners. While conducting surveys this year, biologists noticed significantly fewer animals in certain areas than in previous years.

Subsequent ground-based efforts, including rancher interviews, indicated that there had been a fairly extensive loss of adult pronghorn in the affected counties. Though it is difficult to determine exactly how many individuals might have perished, mortality estimates approach 50 percent of adult pronghorn in the two counties, or in excess of 1,000 animals from more than 500,000 acres of desert grassland habitat. (more…)

What a sport shooting can be! Steve Hall fondly remembers the look on the faces of visitors to the clay shooting activities and the annual Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo in Austin.

“You see smiles on the faces of both kids and adults,” said Hall, Texas Parks and Wildlife education director. “It’s just fun breaking clay birds.”

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is helping to organize various shooting-sports associations, industries and ranges to bring more opportunities for youth to be introduced to the various shooting sports.

The result of the organizational effort is called the Texas Youth Shooting Sports Committee, an association formed in early 2008 with a mission to increase awareness of shooting sports and to encourage youth to participate in them. Starting with the shotgun sports, the committee is offering a series of “Youth Super Shoots” to give young Texans a chance to compete and show-off their skills or simply to shoot for the first time. (more…)

Texas waterfowl hunters will once again have the Hunter’s Choice bag limit during the 2008-09 seasons. The Central Flyway, of which Texas is a member, will be allowed to complete the three-year experimental Hunter’s Choice bag limit pilot this season despite a decline in canvasback breeding population numbers that mandate a conservative harvest federal framework.

“The other flyways came out in strong support of the Hunter’s Choice experiment in the Central Flyway,” said Dave Morrison, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department waterfowl program leader. “We gave up some things the last couple of years in order to get the Hunter’s Choice and I think they recognized the sacrifices our Flyway has made.”

The Hunter’s Choice allows hunters to shoot five ducks daily, but only one in the aggregate of certain species. In the aggregate category, that one bird could be either a pintail, or a canvasback, or a “dusky duck” (mottled, black duck or Mexican-like duck) or a hen mallard. (more…)

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) first lake-based trail for the Texas Paddling Trails programs is set to open on August 14 at Richard Simpson Park on Lake Arlington. The 10.9-mile Lake Arlington Paddling Trail is also TPWD’s first in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and is intended to allow paddlers to travel along the lake shore to enjoy a taste of nature in the middle of an urban center.

The trail was made possible through a partnership between TPWD and local parks and recreation departments with the cities of Arlington and Fort Worth. The Texas Paddling Trails program develops public inland and coastal paddling trails throughout the state with maps, signage and other information. The trails provide well-mapped accessible day trips in a variety of settings for people at all levels of paddling experience. (more…)

The Panhandle Wind and Wildlife Conference will be held this weekend, August 8 and 9 in Amarillo, Texas, and is designed to provide landowners with an impartial view of wind energy development. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), AgriLife Extension, and the Texas Wildlife Association are working together to offer the two-day conference.

Some topics will include the history and current state of wind energy, its future and viability, what is known about impact on wildlife, power transmission issues, land appraisals, and the impact on real estate values by wind energy development. Discussion panels will include landowners, several state senators and representatives, universities, agricultural organizations, conservation groups, the wind energy industry and state and federal agencies. (more…)

Hot weather and stagnant water can be ideal conditions in which mosquitoes flourish. And while most mosquitoes are simply an annoyance, some may carry West Nile infections. Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) officials say that the best way to protect yourself from mosquito-borne illnesses is to use an insect repellent every time you are outdoors. Look for insect repellents that contain DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Read and follow the label instructions.

West Nile and other mosquito-borne infections can cause potentially serious illnesses. West Nile infection is caused by the bite of an infected mosquito that gets the virus when feeding on infected birds and other wild animals. It is not spread from person to person through casual contact such as touching or kissing.

DSHS offers the following additional recommendations:

• Drain standing water from around your home. Empty cans, buckets, tires, rain gutters, tree holes and saucers under potted plants regularly. Change the water in pet bowls, bird baths and wading pools several times a week. It only takes a thimble of water for mosquitoes to breed.
• Limit the amount of time outdoors between dusk and dawn when those mosquitoes likely to carry infections are most active.
• Dress appropriately when outside in mosquito-infested areas. Cover as much skin as possible to reduce exposure to mosquito bites and use a recommended repellent on exposed skin. Mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing, so spray clothes with repellent containing either DEET or permethrin for extra protection. Be sure to follow label directions. Do not spray permethrin onto skin.
• Mosquito-proof your house. Make sure door seals are secure and door and window screens are intact.

Symptoms of the milder forms of West Nile illness include fever, severe headache, muscle and bone aches, nausea and drowsiness. Symptoms of more serious neuroinvasive West Nile include a stiff neck, visual problems, altered taste, body tremors, mental confusion, memory loss and seizures. Symptoms usually appear from 3 to 14 days after a person is bitten.

People most at risk of developing symptoms include those older than 50 and those with compromised immune systems. Contact your local health care provider if you suspect West Nile illness. There is no specific treatment for West Nile infections. Other mosquito-born illnesses in the Panhandle and South Plains include St. Louis encephalitis and western equine encephalitis.