Passport to Texas

Tarantula, Photo by Cecilia Nasti

Wildlife: The Misunderstood Spider Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I think it’s safe to say most people are – if not scared of spiders – are at least wary of them.

02—It probably disturbs them a little bit.

Michael Warriner is an invertebrate biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

05—I actually like spiders, but most people don’t. It kind of comes down to their appearance.

Eight legs…a segmented body…and fangs… several pairs of eyes… spinnerets… what’s not to like? In Texas we have just over a thousand spider species.

18—People are concerned about spider bites and spider venom, but only about five to six of those one thousand plus species have venom that could be considered medically significant. Meaning you might need to go to the doctor or a hospital.

Michael says there’s a group of spiders called house spiders that are harmless—and like us – just trying to make a living. If you see spiders in your home, that means they have found a food source.

13—Spiders are predators. They feed on other insects – tings like roaches. They need a prey source. And so, maybe the best way, if you don’t like having spiders in your house, is to modify the habitat.

Even the tidiest of homes may have spiders in them.

Tomorrow, we tell you about what – besides food – brings them indoors. It may surprise you.

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

Women Waterfowler Workshop

TPW TV: New Season 2012-13 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

More of what you love about the Texas outdoors is coming to a television near you during the new season of the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s TV series. Series Producer, Don Cash.

64—On October 21st the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series begins its 27th season. It’s been airing on the PBS stations in Texas and now we’ve got about 35 city channels we’re on as well. Like every season, we’re going to cover everything there is to cover in the state of Texas. We start out the season with a story using lasers to remove graffiti at Hueco tanks, and we end the season fishing for alligator gar. And in between, we profile a group of women going goose hunting of the first time. We meet an artificial reef biologist who spends a good portion of his career underwater; we’ll take a look at the feral hog problem and what people are doing about it. New this year is our wild game cooking segment with Jesse Griffiths. We’re going to cook venison, teal, hog, redfish…it’s a great segment for people who want to know what to do with that animal once they’ve gone out there and harvested it. So, I hope people will watch the show, find out some new things to do and some new places to go, and get out here and take advantage of it.

Thanks Don.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Halloween at the Hatchery

State Parks: Fall Activities in Parks Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Time at state parks is made better with great programs. Our State park Guide Bryan Frasier says diverse opportunities await visitors to state parks this autumn.

59—Every fall we always do a series of events to embrace what’s happening with the changing of the seasons. We have everything from the spooky science fest at Estero Llano Grande SP down in the Rio Grande Valley. The superintendent down there does a great job with her staff doing crafts and things about wildlife and tying it into what’s happening with trick or treating. We have trick or treating events in our parks. We have fall festivals like the harvest festival at cedar hill state park, the night hikes – the nature walks at night — at Eisenhower State Park up on lake Texoma. We’ve got the haunted hike and fall festival at dinosaur valley state park. They have a national fossil day celebration in October…so, check the events calendar on state parks and see what’s happening for trick or treating; see what’s happening for fall festivals, and all the other things that happen this time of year. It’s a great time to see what’s happening in nature and a list of events we line up for fall is hard to beat.

Thanks Bryan

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Mike & Gloria Quinn, http://www.texasento.net

Outdoor Stories: Mike Quinn and his Bugs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mike Quinn is an invertebrate biologist who used to ply his trade with Parks and Wildlife He says his interest in bugs developed through an interest in birds.

60 –My parents were birdwatchers, and I had an interest in outdoors as a child. But it wasn’t until I was in my twenties… I was helping ornithologists at UT study painted buntings at McKinney Falls State Park, and walked around the bend, and we saw this large butterfly there sunning itself – absolutely gorgeous in the sun – and Anita Fauquier says, “I think that’s a giant swallowtail.” And it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was an epiphany for me that you could put a name on an insect. Why that was a revelation to me I still don’t quite don’t know, because I could identify birds by sight and sound, and plants and herps and etcetera. But putting a name on an insect was somehow a foreign concept. And I went home and I borrowed my mother’s butterfly field guide (which I haven’t quite returned yet), and just from that point on I started paying much closer attention to insects, and that led me to my degree now that I have in entomology.

Go to passporttotexas.org, and share your outdoor story with us…and we might share it with Texas.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Spanish Moss at Government Canyon State Natural Area

Camping: Government Canyon SNA Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

For the first time since it opened in 2005, Government Canyon State Natural Area will allow overnight camping in its front country, walk-in tent campground

03—October fifth and sixth will be our first opening weekend for camping.

Chris Holm is site superintendent, and says camping sites have been in the works for years.

12—Actually, before they even opened, it’s been master planned that they site has a basic primitive campground. We’re not talking about ones with the big RVs and the motor homes. We’re talking about a fairly rustic experience – tents only.

The campground will be open Friday and Saturday nights only.

13—And, we’ll have 25 walk-in tent sites. We’ll have water at central locations; we’ll have basic self-composting toilets, no showers. But, it is going to be more of the ‘get back to nature’ kind of campsites. And those are going to be hot ticket items.

Nature enthusiasts, scouting groups and families will be able to enjoy an evening of star-gazing and more.

21—We’ll have interpretive education programs available; coming pretty soon, the next step is to have two camp host sites at our campground. And so, they will be able to be available there to the campers there as well. If there are any kinds of issues, they’ll be able to educate our campers about what to do what not to do. Don’t collect that firewood kind of thing. Especially at a natural area. We’re pretty concerned about our resources disappearing and being picked away.

Make online reservations at texasstateparks.org.

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