Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

If you live in East Texas, and have noticed strange holes in the wood siding of your home… don’t call the police; call an ornithologist.

08—There are fifteen species of woodpeckers in Texas, eight of which are in the eastern third of Texas. And that’s where we get most of our calls of woodpecker damage.

Non-game ornithologist, Cliff Shackelford, says the pileated and red bellied woodpeckers are among the culprits inflicting the damage to these homes.

15—What happens a lot of time is that they see these houses that might be painted brown, they might have cedar siding, and this is very attractive to the birds to try to excavate a cavity. So, they’re not looking for food when they’re doing this; they’re looking to make a cavity to call home.

The pileated woodpecker, about the size of a crow, can excavate holes as big as a man’s fist — and not just in the outside walls of your home, either.

11—That’s right. We’ve documented pileateds going through into the sheet rock and into the room of the house. Of course, they’re very lost when they do that, they quickly go out. They’re not looking to make a mess of the house.

Keeping woodpeckers from damaging your home… [Woodpeckers pecking]…that’s tomorrow.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

It’s a hog! It’s a dog! No! It’s a black bear?

[Bear calling]

Black bears are slowly coming back to East Texas from Louisiana, but Texas Parks and Wildlife Regional Director Nathan Garner says they might not be as easy to spot as you think.

We have so many things in East Texas that look exactly like black bears. For example black feral hogs at a distance can be easily misidentified as a black bear. We have black angus cattle, we have black dogs…

Well, you get the point. People may be so excited about the bears that they think they see them everywhere. In reality, there are only a handful of bears in East Texas forests at any given time. But Texas wildlife biologists investigate every sighting.

We go through a very rigorous process of following up those investigations with interviews and sight inspections.

Biologists can then collect physical evidence such as bear tracks, a piece of fur, or a picture taken by a motion-sensitive camera.

So even if you aren’t 100 percent certain you saw a bear, call Texas Parks and Wildlife, because, your call gives biologists a better idea of where the bears might exist. And, after all, you might just be right.

You can find more information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… we had research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan…the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

People have been eating freshwater turtles for years.

Now, research suggests turtle populations have declined in Texas and the legal practice of harvesting turtles as food is the likely culprit.

In one of the regions which had the highest harvest in the state, there are far fewer turtles than in adjacent counties.

Texas State University professor Dr. Michael Forstner leads the research that is tracking the change in turtle populations over the past thirty years.

He says researchers can’t tell if current harvesting is contributing to the decline, but many people put the blame on the high number of turtle exports ten years ago.

If the data they are relying on for how much is harvested is correct, then the differences we are seeing in the turtle populations is still present ten years after the harvest. So it’s not a short term effect on the populations, but one that has changed those populations fundamentally.

Forstner was also surprised that even common species like the red-eared slider have been affected.

We have demonstrated that in a really short time, thirty years, we can significantly decrease the number of red-eared sliders. I wouldn’t have predicted that to be possible.

He says turtle harvesting isn’t bad as long as healthy populations can be maintained.

That’s our show… we had research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan…the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

If you’re at Big Bend Ranch State Park and someone tells you to “hit the trail,” you’ll probably have to ask for directions.

Our SP guide, Bryan Frazier explains.

Big Bend Ranch is known for lots of things: the beauty, the wide open spaces and the Chihuahuan desert. And it’s just kind of this Big Bend frame of mind—the people who’ve been there know exactly what you’re talking about. What people may not know is the intricate network of trails that we have. There’s more than 200 miles of old jeep trails and multi-use trails, equestrian trails, and a lot of these have been improved with great signage and great markers. Some of the loops are even available on Google Earth. There’s a Big Bend Ranch State Park hiking guide just for that, that you can find online. So, BBR is really catering to people who not only like the back country, and everything that Big Bend area is, but who want an organized set of trails so that they can know where they’re going, can plan their trip, and it’s really something that’s enhanced the usage of Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Thanks Bryan.

That’s our show… Remember: Life’s Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

What are big and plentiful and ready to give anglers a good fight?

07—Large schools of mature red drum – male and female – aggregating near gulf passes to spawn.

Bill Balboa is ecosystem leader for Galveston Bay. Late summer through fall, bull redfish—called bulls because of their size, not gender—between 28 and 50 inches long, swarm near shore during a Texas style running of the bulls.

20—They call them bulls for a reason, and it’s because they’re very strong fish; they don’t give up easily. So generally most anglers are going to fish for bull reds in the surf using what I would consider typical surf tackle — which is a little bit heavier rod and reel, because what they can expect is a lot of long runs from this fish. They pull very hard. Much like a bull would pull if you had it on a rope.

You can reel in these bull redfish all along the coast, but if you really want to get a workout, head north of Matagorda Bay.

08—A lot of bull red fishing occurs in Sergeant up off of Freeport; Crystal Beach and Bolivar, in that area, and off of Sabine Pass.

That’s our show…made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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