Passport to Texas

Alligator Gar in the Trinity River

Fishing: Big Fish with Big Fight -- Alligator Gar Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Alligator gar, virtually unchanged from prehistoric times, is attracting an enthusiastic 21st Century following.

04—The species in recent years has become very popular amongst anglers and bow fishers.

David Buckmeier is a fisheries scientist for parks and wildlife. To fish for gar, you have to know where to find them.

21—Most alligator gar are found in coastal rivers along the eastern part of the state; rivers like the Trinity are very, very well-known for their alligator gar populations. They’re also found in our coastal bays. They’re an interesting species in that they can go back and forth—maybe not into full salt water like in the gulf—but definitely in the bay systems. And they can go back and forth into the river and into those upper parts of those bays.

The alligator gar is the largest freshwater fish in Texas and gives anglers a good fight.

16—Yes, they actually fight quite well. As you can imagine, any fish that weighs 150 or 200 pounds has a lot of power. So, they do fight; they actually jump quite a bit. They’ll completely clear the water. There’s some variations; some of them are more sluggish than others. But, they’re very entertaining and that’s the reason, I guess, for the popularity.

Anglers may keep one of these big fish per day. Learn more about freshwater fishing at the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

Bobwhite quail in Texas

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There’s new hope for bobwhite quail.

13—Four million dollars of the upland game bird stamp fund was authorized by the legislature this past session to specifically go towards further developing this concept of focus areas for bobwhite quail and grassland birds.

The “focus area” concept is one TPW upland game bird program leader, Robert Perez, has worked on for years.

08—Well, a focus area is an intensive effort within a small area to demonstrate that quail restoration can be successful.

Most focus areas are east of the I-35: places where quail are gone, said Perez, but they haven’t been gone long.

23— One of our focus areas in the Columbus-Seely area, southeast Texas. Another is the Navarro-Ellis area, along the I-35 corridor where Waxahachie is. Another is West of Dallas a good ways over towards Wichita Falls, around Clay County and south. So these are the front lines of bobwhite decline; birds are still around, but they’re noticeably rarer.

The agency awarded 15 grants, with two more in process, to nonprofits, universities and others for grassland restoration. Grantees will use the $4 million dollars over a two year grant period.

19—But that doesn’t mean that the project is over at the end of two years. Because the impacts – when you start to turn the dirt or manipulate habitat – those effects go on for years. And so what’s most important is to continue to monitor – think of the future beyond those two years – to really understand and paint a good picture of what the impacts are of these types of manipulations.

Find quail information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Bird Friendly Coffee Seal

Birding/Conservation: Bird-Friendly Coffee Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coffee is an agricultural crop that thrives in the tropics.

14—These areas oftentimes are coincident with biodiversity hot spots; that is, areas of really high biodiversity, whether in birds, or insects, amphibians—what have you.

Dr. Robert Rice works with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, which certifies coffees “Bird Friendly” when growers meet certain stringent criteria. Studies suggest shade grown coffee offers the greatest benefit as habitat.

15—Where coffee still is managed with a shade cover of the kind that we like to see and have defined with “bird friendly” criteria, then coffee oftentimes is some of the last remaining canopy cover—even though it’s not forest—it’s acting very much like a forest.

With habitat loss from deforestation, shade grown coffee estates serve as refuge for neo-tropical migratory bird species that travel through Texas, including the Black and White Warbler, the Baltimore Oriole, the Cerulean Warbler and others.

15—So, they just hang out there. They might be running around with mixed species flocks, and trying to stay alive and ultimately fatten up before they make the trip back north again. So this quality habitat becomes quite important for them in terms of making the trip back.

So next time you order a cup of coffee, you might ask your server if it’s for the birds.

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.

Donated Venison via Hunters for the Hungry program, Image courtesy of http://www.newschannel10.com/

UPDATE: Since producing this program, The Texas Association of Community Action Agencies, Inc., entered into an agreement with the Texas Food Bank Network, now Feeding Texas, to take over the Texas Hunters for the Hungry program. You can find more information about making a donation or becoming a processor at the Hunters for the Hungry website: http://hfth.tfbn.org/

Hunt/Food/Charity: Hunters for the Hungry Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Venison is quality protein; and hunters help get it onto the tables of deserving families when they donate deer to Hunters for the Hungry.

09—Once it’s [the deer] donated, the meat is used by food pantries, food banks, and other food assistance providers, which serve their local communities.

Anitra Hendricks oversees the program. Hunters may donate their legally tagged, field-dressed deer by bringing it to participating meat processors. Find a list of processors on the Hunters for the Hungry website.

24—Once they locate a processor, then basically it’s just a matter of harvesting the deer, making sure that they get it cleaned out. The processor will handle everything else. There is a reduced processing fee for those who donate to the program. They pay the fee, they do receive a receipt for a possible tax deduction. The meat processor will grind the meat, package it, and then from there it goes to the food assistance provider.

The Panhandle, far west Texas and the Rio Grande Valley have the fewest donations due to low processor participation. Without nearby participating processors, hunters don’t have an easy way to donate. Anitra is always on the lookout for more processors.

08— The have to be willing to keep some minimal book-keeping as far as tracking donations and reporting that to us at the end of the season.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series and works to increase fishing, hunting and the shooting sports in Texas.

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

Big antlers on a fine buck.

TPW Magazine: The Allure of Antlers Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Deer provided sustenance to ancient people who hunted them. Today, deer hunters seek more than a meal.

05— You never see anyone take a picture with a nice backstrap. It’s always the antlers.

What is the allure of antlers? Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine editor, Louie Bond, says they tackle the question in November’s cover story; just in time for deer season.

05—We always like to look at deer hunting stories in different ways than other publications might.

While nourishment was their main reason for hunting deer, like modern hunters, ancient peoples also valued the antlers…but for different reasons.

16—Medicine men from back then believed that you could grind up the antlers and use them to cure all sorts of ailments. As writer Mike Cox says, they were sort of the Home Depot raw materials selection of the day as you made knife handles, and scrapers and all sorts of implements and tools out of them.

Louie Bond says she originally intended the story, The Allure of Antlers, as a photo-essay in Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

15—But, then when we began digging into all of the cultural stuff, and Mike Cox is our great historian here at Texas Parks and Wildlife; it was right up his ally. So, he started looking into the cultural references and medicinal aspects, and then we decided there was just too much story here to ignore.

Discover how antlers transitioned from tools to trophies in the November issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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