Passport to Texas

Fire ant image from http://fireant.tamu.edu/.

Invasives: Do Home Remedies Manage Fire Ants? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The impact of red imported fire ants in Texas is $1.2 billion annually. These insects wreak havoc in urban, agricultural and wildlife areas and pose threats to plants and animals. Because of that—they must die.

12—Generally what we recommend is a broadcast bait over the whole entire yard in the spring and in the fall, and that dramatically cuts down on the amount of fire ants that you see popping up in-between those times.

Entomologist, Elizabeth “Wizzie” Brown is with AgriLife Extension. She says broadcast baits take time, but are effective. Impatient and desperate homeowners have tried homemade treatments for what they hope will be quicker kills.

28—Club soda was a big one. People were asking me about this, so that’s when I did my testing and it didn’t work. Used coffee grounds are another one—a lot of people were using that to treat fire ant mounds; Again, I didn’t find that that one worked. Ground cinnamon….. This year I’m hoping to test cayenne pepper and oak ash. I had somebody bring oak ash to me; he says that he uses it all the time and that he doesn’t have any fire ants and so we’re going to test that one out and see what happens.

We have links to information about managing this biting pest at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Resources:

http://fireant.tamu.edu/
http://fireant.tamu.edu/controlmethods/

Fire ant swarm on the attack; image from http://fireant.tamu.edu/.

Invasives: Dealing with Fire Ants Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[NS: fire ant stridulations]

That’s the sound of the imported red fire ant. A sad truth: they’re most active outdoors during nice weather.

08—We typically see most activity in the spring and in the fall. It’s nice, and that’s generally when we like being outside, too, unfortunately.

Elizabeth “Wizzie” Brown, an entomologist with AgriLife Extension, says the insect—native to South America—found its way into the U.S. in the 1930s through the port of Mobile, Alabama; perhaps in soil used for ships’ ballasts. We discovered them in Texas in the 1950s.

Brown says researchers continue to work on ways to manage this invasive exotic pest.

29—We have had things that we’re working on…things like fungus, and there’s organisms that live in the fire ant body that reduce the reproductive capabilities of the fire ants. They have brought in parasitizing flies, that are called phorid flies that they use that attack the fire ants and pretty much eat them from the inside out. So we are working on it, but the fire ants are here—they’re always going to be here; these are just tools in our tool belts to help up manage those populations.

Tomorrow Wizzie Brown tests a home remedy to control fire ants. Find out if it works.

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

Redfish on the half shell on the grill.

Angling/Cooking: Red Fish on the Half Shell Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Through December, adult red drum, called bull redfish, congregate near shore in spawning aggregations, making them easily accessible, but not easy to reel in.

05—They’re very powerful; and if you ever catch one it would be like trying to hold a bull in place.

Bill Balboa is a fisheries biologist for the Galveston Bay system. These fish get pretty big – some as long at 48 inches. They’re good looking fish, but are they good eating at that size?

13— It’s just a matter of how you prepare it. It’s going to be a large fillet, so you may want to cut it perpendicular to the long axis of the fish, so you that you get long, narrow strips of meat – sort of like steaks – because, you’re not running along muscle fibers.

I know Bill is a home cook and griller, so I asked him how he might prepare one of these big fish.

21— One of the most popular ways, especially for some of these big ones, is what they call redfish on the half shell. You fillet the fish, you leave the skin and the scales on – you can even leave the ribcage intact on the fillet – and you throw it on the barbecue pit. You can season the flesh with whatever you like. The beauty is, the scales and the skin is so tough, it’s almost impossible to burn the meat of the fish.

Bill says he partially covers the fish with foil and if it is a large fillet, cooks it over direct heat for about 8-10 minutes.

That’s our show…The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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

Catching Redfish

Angling: Bull Redfish Run Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Red drum, also called redfish, is a favorite among coastal anglers. And now is the time of year when this species make a big splash.

08— From about August to November or December, adult red drum congregate near the beach in these spawning aggregations.

Bill Balboa is a fisheries biologist for the Galveston Bay system. This concentration of red drum near the beaches is the annual red bull run.

06— So, they’re very big fish; they can run anywhere from 30-inches to upwards of 46 to 48-inches long.

Balboa says the name Bull redfish is a coastal colloquialism for any big fish in the gulf or estuaries.

11—But [they’re] also [called bulls] because they’re very powerful; and if you ever catch one it would be like trying to hold a bull in place. They’re very strong fish.

Medium to heavy fishing tackle with 12 to 30 pound test line, using crab, finger mullet or cut bait could help you real in these big boys.

21— If you catch a red drum between 20 and 28 inches long, you can keep three per day per person. If you catch one that’s over 30-inches long, with a Texas saltwater fishing license, we have a bonus red drum tag. So, if you catch a red drum that’s over 28-inches long, the fish has to be tagged after you catch it, and the tag has to be filled out. So, you can keep one fish over 28 inches.

We have more coastal fishing information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Native Texas Bumblebee, Image from Native Plant Society of Texas, www.npsot.org

Nature/Wildlife: Benefits of Native Bees Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bumblebees and solitary bees are the native bees of Texas.

09— Compared to honeybees, native bees have far less interest in term of research and money and organized conservation.

That’s too bad because native bee populations are declining from loss of habitat and plant diversity, says TPW invertebrate biologist Michael Warriner. Should they decline significantly, that could further affect what you see on the landscape.

13— If decline happens, you may see over decades, fewer of certain plants. Maybe you don’t see that wildflowers as frequently as you did or that flowering shrub as much as you did. And they slowly just disappear off the landscape.

We can all help the native bee populations.

19—The landscape of Texas has changed so much that we’ve lost a lot of plant diversity – particularly of those plants that bees need for nectar and pollen. Even if you live in the heart of a city, if you planted just a few more good native plants that produce good nectar and pollen – you can help to support the native bees in those areas.

Find resources for supporting native bees at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Native Texas Bee Resources:

http://www.txnativebees.com/
http://www.beewatchers.com/bee-watchers.html
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/food-drink/06-09-13-north-texas-farmer-garden-native-solitary-bees/
https://www.facebook.com/texasnativebees
https://www.facebook.com/texasnativebees#!/texasbumblebees