Passport to Texas

Giving Back to the Land Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

One of Frank Gore’s earliest outdoor memories is of sleeping on the floor of a duck blind under his father’s coat when he was just 4 years old.

03- I come from a long family history of duck hunters.

The tradition continues with his kids and grand-kids on his Jackson County property, which he bought in 2007.

07- We wanted a place for the family to hunt. But, it became much more than that over time. It’s actually turned into a chance to give a bit back.

About 20 miles from Palacios, the Gore Family Farm is in the flyway; Mr. Gore converted it from rice and cattle production into wetlands and upland habitat; restoration work that earned him a Lone Star Land Steward Award.

16- In the cattle grazing days, they had planted Bermuda grass and it was pervasive; it was really detrimental to the native songbirds as well as the upland birds we were trying to foster on the place. So, we began the process of habitat restoration and rehabilitation.

In the end, landowners like Frank Gore preserve Texas– natural heritage for their descendants, and all Texans.

14- The main justification [of the restoration work] is so that my grand-kids will know what a covey of quail sound like calling each other in the morning. And, what it looks like to send up 300 ducks off of a pond, and watch ’em whirl around and come back in. And that’s something your money just can’t buy.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

A relaxing wildscape for wildlife and humans.

Wildscaping for Wildlife Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Putting out feeders is one way to attract wildlife to your yard. A better way is to create a wildscape.

04-What a wildscape is, is landscaping for wildlife.

Ornithologist, Cliff Shackelford, says this includes native plants that provide food and shelter; most urban yards, however, traded native habitat for lawns.

18- So, any little help you can [give] by putting in a wildscape really helps. And even if you don’t have a yard, you can do a wildscape on your patio with pots. I have seen hummingbirds go up to the 6th floor balcony of condos where someone has showy plants that say, “hummingbird come up here.”

A variety of berry and nectar producing plants will draw wildlife to your yard–or balcony.

17- You want to always stick to natives because they’re acclimated to the soil and the weather and the rainfall that you’re going to give them. And then, you want to make sure that they have some value to wildlife: that they’re going to give you the nectar to attract butterflies; they’re going to have
berries at the right time when the cedar waxwings come, and so forth.

Fall is the best time to plant native trees, woody shrubs and perennials. But you can start planning your wildscape now.

That’s our show– Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Herd of feral hogs.

Using Sodium Nitrite to Control Feral Swine Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When feral hogs ingest sodium nitrite, it reduces their blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

08- We are attempting to exploit that in order to use sodium nitrite as a possible control measure in feral swine.

Since 2010, Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist, Donnie Frels and colleagues have been developing and testing sodium nitrite baits to
control feral swine.

12- What we’re currently doing, is looking at several different bait formulations that are hiding the taste of sodium nitrite and see which one of those is most effective.

The bait delivery system is one only hogs can access. Ironically, sodium nitrite is a compound used to preserve sausage and bacon. Although humans and most other mammals have an enzyme that effectively reduces sodium nitrite toxicity, Frels says he and his colleagues are cautious.

14-There are still a lot of things we have to investigate when it comes to using this as a toxicant. And one is concerns about residuals in tissues, secondary consumers, and how long this will last in the environment.

Preliminary results indicate low residuals in hog meat, so if a hunter bagged a hog that consumed the toxicant, the meat would still be fine to eat.

06-Because sodium nitrite is a food preservative, it is safe for human consumption.

It will be several years before the bait is commercially available. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Feral big mama sow.

Hunting Cannot Control Feral Swine Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hunting is not an ideal means of control for feral swine.

09- Although they’re very good to eat, and we have very liberal means and methods to take feral hogs, it’s just not proven effective as a control measure.

Approximately 2.5 million feral hogs roam Texas; wildlife biologist, Donnie Frels, researches controls for feral hogs at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area.

11- They have been documented in just about every county in Texas, although we see higher densities in eastern Texas, along the coast, and in South Texas.

Frels is among a group of researchers studying the use of sodium nitrite in a bait matrix as a control method. The compound is toxic to swine as it reduces their blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

13- We began investigating sodium nitrite as a potential toxicant back about 2010; since that time we’ve come a long way in bait development.

We need up to 70% control of the swine annually to hold the population stable from one year to the next. Frels says the ultimate goal of his study is to develop bait that is economical and environmentally safe.

10-We would like it in a pelleted form that a landowner or land manager could utilize themselves, within a specific feeder, so that it doesn’t provide access to non-targets.

Commercial availability is still several years away.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

It may look cute, but don’t be fooled. Feral swine are destroying Texas.

Feral Swine: Bad for Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The morning after Memorial Day, I spotted a group of feral pigs in a field. They’re usually nocturnal; perhaps flooding from heavy rains forced them from their hidden wallow.

14-Feral swine–or feral pigs–are not native to north America. They’re basically domestic swine gone wild, which have interbred with Eurasian wild boars, which were brought over in the 1900s, mainly for hunting purposes.

Wildlife biologist, Donnie Frels says more than 2.5 million of these hybrid animals roam Texas, causing extensive economic and environmental damage.

14- It’s been estimated by the Extension Service, that each year, Texas realizes about $50-million dollars in AG damage alone caused by feral swine, and about $200-million dollars in total damage each year.

Feral pigs are omnivores, and eat plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and even small mammals.

12- They compete with our native animals for acorns, fruits and mast during specific times of the year, which is how they negatively impact many of our game species.

How we’re attempting to control feral pigs. That’s tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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