Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Unmanned aerial systems – or drones – in the hands of a trained biologist can improve the future a species…as it did with…

01— Guadalupe bass.

Tim Birdsong is chief of habitat conservation for Inland fisheries. Guadalupe bass – the state fish –once thrived in the Blanco River. In the 1970s TPW stocked smallmouth bass in it, but over time, the species bred creating a hybrid that outcompeted the Guadalupe.

12—That led to complete loss of Guadalupe Bass in that system. And we really didn’t see an opportunity to restore the Guadalupe bass populations in the Blanco River.

The 2011 drought caused the river’s flow to cease, leaving some enduring pools that concentrated the fish. Birdsong said they used a drone to map the location of the pools.

18—We used electro-fishing and nets to remove the remaining small mouth bass. Then flows improved in the Blanco in the spring of 2012 and we stocked roughly 150-thousand Guadalupe bass fingerlings; followed by a similar number in the spring of 2013.

Provided flows in the Blanco continue, Birdsong says he expects in 4 or 5 years we’ll have fishable populations of Guadalupe Bass in the river.

10—That’s a major success story, and it wouldn’t have been possible without this unmanned aerial system, or it would have required our staff to hike up and down miles and miles of riverbed to identify these pools.

The WSFR program supports our series and funds conservation projects in Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This is Passport to Texas

Biologists survey and collect data on species and habitat, which they use to manage both. For three years, TPW fisheries and wildlife biologists have used an unmanned aerial system, UAS, to assist with these tasks.

18—This is a low-cost platform that flies a predetermined flight path and collects digital still –red, blue, green (visual imagery) –and near infrared imagery. And then we splice those images together to form high resolution geo reference mosaics that are valuable in habitat mapping and wildlife assessments.

Tim Birdsong is chief of habitat conservation for Inland fisheries. The agency’s used this small aircraft as a science tool to inform conservation ractices on WMAs and in State Parks.

25—We’ve also used these platforms to map stream beds to support river restoration projects. We’ve attempted to use the platform on seagrass habitats on the coast to better understand how some of our education and outreach programs have worked –for example – prop scarring of seagrasses; how do we direct boaters away from some of those sensitive areas. And then also, in mapping nesting bird rookeries.

Before the UAS, Birdsong said some survey areas took extensive man power and a month or more to complete. With the UAS, they can accomplish the same work with fewer people in a single morning.

05—Now we’re working toward the next step of developing automated processing techniques.

More on unmanned aerial systems tomorrow.

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

[SFX—western Diamondback Rattling] Hear that? That’s the sound of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, the deadliest venomous snake in North America. You hear that sound when you’re out hiking, and you better rethink your next step.

06—The rattle serves the snake well in warning us that, ‘Hey, there’s snake over here; please mind your business and leave me alone.’

Of course, sometimes that’s hard to do when they’re hiding from you. Nevertheless, Andy Gluesenkamp, a Parks and Wildlife herpetologist, says rattlesnakes would rather leave you alone.

01—Unless you’re a mouse.

Right…well…assuming you’re not a mouse, you’re safe. Now here’s something you might not know—snakes other than rattlers…rattle.

14—A rattlesnake rattles its tail with a rattle on the end that makes a very distinctive buzzing noise that once you’ve heard it you’ll never forget it. However, a lot of snakes will rattle their tail in the same way, and will even back their tail up against some dried leaves or something to give it more effect.

So, we’ll call those: dishonest, lying snakes.

13—Snakes that do that a lot include the Texas Rat Snake; Bull Snakes which are another large non-venomous snake; King Snakes. A lot of other snakes that are otherwise harmless use this tail rattling to try to scare away would-be predators.

Find information on Texas snakes at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

Support provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This is Passport to Texas

Now that triple digit heat has given way to mild fall weather, you may decide to spend more time outdoors. If you do—my advice—watch your step.

:07—Probably most people who spend any amount of time hiking in Texas have been within arm’s reach of a diamondback and never knew it.

Andy Gluesenkamp is a herpetologist with TPW. Don’t let what he just said about the big, scary venomous Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (the deadliest snake in North America) keep you locked up indoors.

:07—Diamondbacks would by and large much prefer to avoid contact than get in some sort of fisticuffs with a large animal like a human.

These snakes play defense. They usually hang out in the vicinity of fallen logs, brush piles, rocks. If they think you don’t see them, they’ll lie perfectly still and let you walk on by.

:14—If they feel threatened by you, the first thing that they’ll do is buzz that rattle. [SFX—western Diamondback Rattling]. On rare occasions when somebody reaches their hands into a crevice, or is picking up firewood and grabs a snake or steps on a snake—then they’re going to react violently. And that’s when people tend to get bitten.

Yeah, so don’t do that. We’ll have more fun with snakes tomorrow.

We receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore native habitat in Texas…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This is Passport to Texas

If you spot a huge number of yellowish brown ants about an eighth of an inch long, moving erratically when disturbed, they may be non-native tawny crazy ants. TPW entomologist, Michael Warriner, says they can turn up almost anywhere.

10— Crazy Ants do not form noticeable mounds like fire ants do. They are pretty much opportunistic nesters, which means they’ll take advantage of existing structures.

Such as bags of soil and mulch, wood piles, electrical boxes, attics, and potted plants. While predators and pathogens keep native crazy ant populations in check, its tawny cousin has no such equalizers…and controlling them is no easy task.

10— Right now there’s not chemical treatments for these. But once a colony is really well established, it’s proven almost impossible to eradicate them.

The best we can do is prevention, which includes not transporting plants or bags of mulch or soil with ants in them, and by removing their nesting places.

14— You want to get rid of any kind of debris that’s on the ground. Fallen logs, thick leaf litter – any place you think might harbor moisture that ants could move into. You want to clear that out.

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