Passport to Texas

Hiking in Franklin Mountains

Holidays: Hike Off Thanksgiving Calories in Parks Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The average American gains up to 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then spends the New Year trying to lose them. If only there was a way to negate those extra calories…

08—State parks offer a lot of opportunities for people to get out and burn off some of those calories from the extra piece of pumpkin pie.

Why didn’t I think of that? I was probably too distracted thinking about pie. Thomas Wilhelm is with state parks.

05—We’ve got some great Thanksgiving themed events across the state happening in the parks.

Including a few hikes to rev up your metabolism so you can enjoy a guilt-free holiday meal…and leftovers.

25—Enchanted Rock has a turkey trot that happens on Thanksgiving Day. A run with a park ranger on the loop trail – early Thanksgiving morning — it starts at 9 o’clock. There’s an excellent opportunity in El Paso at Franklin Mountains SP. There’s what they’re calling their trilogy hike; so there are three hikes that happen on Thanksgiving day. Each starting at different times and different levels –from very simple family friendly hikes to more advanced hikes.

Those are just two of many opportunities. Find others at texasstateparks.org/holidays.

08—I think some people may be tired of the annual parades or how they spent their Thanksgiving Day, so I think this is a great opportunity to do something different.

Now who wants pie? 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.

Coral Snake

Wildlife: Excluding Snakes Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Late summer and early fall newly hatched snakes are on the landscape. As fall progresses they slither off to find a place to hibernate until warmer days arrive. Sometimes, however, those days come early, says state herpetologist, Andy Gluesenkamp.

18—We have a lot of variation in our weather this time of year. So, we may have a really hot, sunny day in the middle of a long cool spell. Snakes that picked a poor place to hibernate can get warmed up and woken up on those warm days. And then, people will find a snake wandering around in November that should be long to bed.

Most snakes are non-venomous and beneficial overall, and we should learn to coexist with them. Yet, if you want to keep them from relocating in or under your home, consider the following:

19—I tell people if they’re concerned about snakes in and around and under their house that they need to get out now while the weather is comfortable and screen those access areas. So, screen around the porch; screen those crawl spaces underneath the house. Use whatever sort of mechanical approach you need to exclude wildlife.

Learn about the snakes of Texas when you visit the Texas parks and wildlife website.

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.

Timber rattlesnake

Wildlife: Good Snakes, Bad Choices Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Have you noticed fall seems to bring with it small snakes?

04— Snake encounters may increase, although those animals are usually juveniles.

Late summer and early fall snakes hatch and feed before finding a place to hibernate, says TPW herpetologist Andy Gluesenkamp. Young snakes can make bad choices when it comes to where they spend the winter.

14—They may confuse a concrete floored garage, or someone’s limestone front porch with a bluff or a crevice that they can hang out in. And that’s where we wind up with these unwanted snake encounters in neighborhoods.

I told Andy that a rat snake lives under my house.

08—Cecilia, I’ll point out – it’s one thing to have a rat snake under your house, it’s another thing to have a skunk. So, I’ll take the snake over the skunk any day.

I have skunks, too. Andy Gluesenkamp says snakes near the front door or in the garage will find a new place to live on their own. But what if they get into the house?

11—The best advice I can give is a broom and a bucket. There’s no need to hurt the snake. They’re generally not difficult to collect if you just scoop them into a bucket and put them outside. They don’t want to be in your house.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

Texas snapping turtle.

TPW TV: Turtle Crossing Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When driving, have you ever spied something ahead of you in the road and thought was a shadow, but once you got closer you realized it was a turtle? I have seen the outcome of turtle car collisions. The turtle never wins.

03— So, what do you do if you find a turtle in the road?

That’s exactly my question to you, herpetologist, Andy Gluesenkamp. What do you do?

10—My advice is, if conditions allow and it’s safe to do so, move the turtle in the direction it was going. But, don’t do anything that would put you and the turtle at risk.

If it’s dark or rainy outside, or if you’re on a busy road where drivers may not see you until it’s too late, as much as it might pain you, leave the turtle. Don’t risk it. But why are turtles crossing the road?

11— You may find female turtles crossing the road, either going to or coming from laying eggs. Or, later in the season, you may find hatchlings crossing the road, returning to water.

Andy Gluesenkamp demonstrates the safest way to move a turtle from the road during a segment on the TPW PBS TV series the week of November 16.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

Reefing the Kinta off the coast of Corpus Christi

Angling: Near Shore Reefing of the Kinta Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Gulf of Mexico bustles with marine life with no place to call home because the floor of the gulf is…

01—Mainly mud and sand.

Dale Shively, with the artificial reef program at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says using a variety of materials, the agency creates hard substrate, habitat, for these species.

10—By putting down concrete, or steel, or a ship – that gives these organisms a place to attach and to grow. And then from there, they create this reef environment…

The reef attracts fish, thus improving angling and diving opportunities. In Mid-September, Texas Parks and Wildlife sunk the freighter Kinta in 77 feet of water, 8 miles off the coast of Corpus Christi. Shively explains what makes a ship right for a location.

12—We want a ship that’s complex and that has a lot of interest to divers, and would be beneficial for marine life. [It needs to be] clean of environmental hazards, but of the right size to fit in particular reef sites.

The Kinta fit the bill, and has a new home on the gulf floor, where marine life has already discovered it.

20—Divers have gone down just a few hours after it was on the bottom and saw fish –so they found a home immediately. But as far as organisms actually growing and attaching to it, that will take a few months. But I would say in six months it will be pretty well covered, and within a year you have a pretty significant reef.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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