Although most people do not realize it, the American black bear is found throughout North America, including the state of Texas. Black bear use habitats ranging from swamps to desert scrub, which is exactly where the bear recently spotted in West Texas lives. Black bear are seen quite often between Del Rio, Comstock, even as far east as Junction, and all the way west to Alpine and the city of El Paso.
Most black bears are found in forests, but they are omnivores and can make it anywhere. At least two subspecies of black bear are thought to occur in Texas: the Mexican Black Bear (Ursus americanus eremicus) and the New Mexico Black Bear (subspecies U. a. amblyceps). Both are found in West Texas in desert scrub or woodland habitats within scattered mountain ranges, predominantly the Chisos and Guadalupe Mountains. In addition, both subspecies of black bear are state-listed as endangered in Texas. Read More…
Fire has long been an ecologically important factor in Texas, and more recently landowners and wildlife managers have been using prescribed burns as an effective wildlife and habitat management technique. Currently, a prescribed burn workshop is accepting applications for participants interested in learning more about prescribed fire. The course teaches attendees how to use prescribed fire as a tool for land management. The participant will gain an understanding of fire effects and how to use fire in a safe manner to accomplish certain habitat management objectives.
In addition, the course combines lecture, group discussion, teamwork, individual projects and field work to increase each student’s knowledge of fire weather, fire behavior, physical properties and characteristics of fuels, and the effects of fire on habitat, wildlife and soils. Students will become aware of the risks associated with prescribed burning, including smoke risks and the risk of fire escape. Laws pertaining to the use of prescribed fire and their influence on a burn manager’s planning and decisions will be explained. Read More…
Texas Wildlife Association, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are hosting the South Texas Wildlife Conference. The event is scheduled for September 28-30, 2011 in Victoria, Texas, at the Spring Creek Place Event Center. The habitat management conference will focus on energy development and the future of wildlife habitat in South Texas. Much of the increase in the costs of Texas land for sale is because of landowner interest in recreation and wildlife habitat management, but there are also some other factors that many Texas landowners are finding out about, namely energy and mineral values from exploration companies.
The South Texas Wildlife Conference offers a rare opportunity to hear from a wide range of practitioners, land managers, policy makers, wildlife biologists, and wildlife researchers, about the future of energy development in the region and what it means for landowners. Habitat management sessions will inform landowners and other attendants about the latest studies concerning water, invasive grasses, habitat restoration strategies and general wildlife management techniques, as well as updates on issues that impact the precious natural resources found in this region. Wildlife conference topics include those with the greatest projected impacts: oil and gas, wind energy and uranium. Read More…
Black bears are native to Texas, but many residents have never seen one in the wild. That is all changing this year. It’s also causing quite a stir, becoming a wildlife management challenge for the state wildlife department. The increased number of black bear sightings in Texas this year is part of a larger story in West Texas, where black bears have made a comeback in the last couple of decades.
“We used to have thousands of bears in the state of Texas,” said professor Louis Harveson of Sul Ross State University. “They (hunters) used to hunt in the Davis Mountains and harvest eight a day.” But unregulated hunting, among other factors, drove black bears to near extinction in Texas, where they are still a protected species. But in nature, wildlife populations tend to cycle. Read More…
It’s a method of landscaping that is wildlife friendly, promotes native plants and it can save you money on your water bill. In Texas, it is best known as wildscaping, and at the heart of the practice is resource conservation. With drought impacting every corner of the state, native plant wildscaping could be just what the biologists ordered to help you conserve water while maintaining some greenery in your yard.
With temperatures rising and water low, it’s a bad time to be a water-dependent plant in Texas. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows Texas gasping for water under a dark red thermal blanket of severe to exceptional drought intensity, the third worst dearth of rainfall seen by the state in recorded history. But there is something we can all do. Studies have found lawn care accounts for over 50 percent of a household’s water usage! Enter wildscaping. Read More…
As the temperature rises and the soil gets drier, water conservation is front and center. In fact, the Texas House approved a plan would offer land owners across the state property tax reductions for habitat management related to water conservation. The plan offers property tax reductions for landowners who set aside open-space habitat for water conversation. And the plan is quite progressive with more-productive conservation efforts receiving greater tax breaks.
Supporters of the water management initiative said the tax reductions would encourage groundwater conservation without forcing Texas government to hand out even more money. It is estimated that 90 percent of Texas water flows either through or under privately owned land, so it will take private landowners to get the job done. One of the best ways to get people involved is conservation initiatives is to make if monetarily worth their while. Read More…
Interesting wildlife news this week includes a male mountain lion weighing 102 pounds was shot and killed in El Paso, Texas. The lion was spotted around the city and then entering the parking garage of a state office building at 401 E. Franklin, where Texas State Game Wardens have their offices, along with several other government agencies. Officials shot the mountain lion with a tranquilizer dart, but it jumped from the second floor of the garage back onto the street before the drugs took effect.
The mountain lion passed through a school yard and then ran to a car wash where officers evacuated several customers and lowered the business’s security gate to trap the mountain lion. The lion was darted a second time, but immediately began to run again. The mountain lion took off and hit a fence, and was about to escape the perimeter fence, so officers shot and killed the mountain lion. Read More…
