Passport to Texas

Bobcats serve an ecosystem function.

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This is Passport to Texas

According to the US Census Bureau, the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area leads the nation in population growth. But this growth has fragmented wildlife habitat, and as a result wildlife have become more visible. Now sightings of one particular species has citizens concerned.

There have been some neighborhoods in the DFW area that have seen a lot of bobcats.

Richard Heilbrun is the urban wildlife program leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

If you’re in an urban area and you happen to see a bobcat, the most important thing you can do is to stop and enjoy the moment. Keep your distance. Take a photo, but don’t approach it. The bobcat will probably run away.

To answer growing public inquiry, Texas Parks and Wildlife partnered with Utah State University to capture and study urban bobcats.

We caught 12 bobcats in the middle of the metroplex and we radio-collared 10 of them. And we followed them for a year. We found out that bobcats are good at living in the city. They use greenbelts and golf courses, cemeteries, river corridors, and when you stitch all those habitats together they actually form a functioning ecosystem for a wide variety of wildlife.

Understanding urban bobcats is an important first step in achieving a conflict-free coexistence with humans.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series and funds bobcat research in Texas.

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

James Montgomery practicing with his rifle before dove season.

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This is Passport to Texas

You know I grew up playing soccer and football. I missed out on Boy Scouts. Never got involved in the outdoors. Didn’t find hunting until my mid-20s or so.

Austinite James Montgomery is a business and family man…he’s also a coach and a dove hunter. We meet him the week of August 25th on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS.

Getting away from the everyday hustle and bustle of going to work. Leaving the job behind. It feels good to get away and just experience nature.

Shaun Oldenburger is upland game bird program manager for parks and wildlife.

The great thing about dove hunting is you don’t need to grow up in it. As far as having a place to go, there’s a lot of public opportunities available for dove hunting that Texas Parks and Wildlife provide. For the most part, you just need some shells and a shotgun and a hunting license. You can be good to go and have a great opportunity to get in the outdoors and get an experience and get the introduction to hunting in Texas.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Sunrise on a jetty, ready to catch dinner.

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This is Passport to Texas

Regulation changes to spotted sea trout, like bag and size limits, is an important tool in our tool box for managing saltwater fish species. A robust a hatchery program is another.

Spotted seatrout is this most popular recreational sportfish out there. So, there’s a lot of pressure on these fish.

Ashley Fincannon is hatchery manager at the Marine Development Center in Corpus Christi; it’s there where they, raise spotted seatrout for stocking…specifically to the Lower Laguna Madre. That bay system also has a five-fish daily bag limit.

The Lower Laguna Madre was the first bay system to go under the five-fish limit and that was when we really ramped up our contribution down there.

Earlier this year, Texas Parks and Wildlife proposed a new regulation to change the bag limit in Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake on the upper coast from 10 fish a day to five—as it is in all other bay systems. That’s a good thing.

Anecdotally I know I’ve heard from the fishermen when you go stock that they are catching larger trout now and that the trout fishing is better than ever in the Lower Laguna Madre.

The new bag limits go into effect September first. Learn how we regulate and raise spotted sea trout and also find a tasty recipe for it on our podcast Under the Texas Sky; find it wherever you get your podcasts.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our Series.

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

This is why we fish.

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This is Passport to Texas

Their abundance, eagerness to hit natural and artificial baits, and their flavor when cooked make the spotted sea trout popular with coastal anglers like Charles O’Neal.

I am just a guy married to a good woman who allows me to fish 150 plus days a year.

We caught up with Charles in February of this year at a public meeting about changes to fishing regulations for spotted seatrout.

I am a passionate spotted seatrout guy. I fish from Brownsville to Alabama.

Texas Parks and Wildlife proposed a new regulation to change the bag limit in Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake on the upper coast from 10 fish a day to five—as it is in all other bay systems. During that meeting Charles and other anglers made their feelings known to TPW and to the commissioners who made the final decision.

I think after many, many hours of research that this data does not support the reduction.

After careful review, the commission thought differently. But, Charles O’Neal remains a fan.

More recreational anglers need to come to meetings, stand-up, participate in surveys. And go to the public meeting and get involved with TPWD. They’re not bad people. They give me every piece of information I ask for.

Learn how we regulate and raise spotted sea trout and get a great recipe for it on our podcast Under the Texas Sky; wherever you get your podcasts.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our Series.

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

Writer Pam LeBlanc happily waiting for teal.

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This is Passport to Texas

Fall hunting season kicks off on September first with dove. Teal is next with a sixteen-day season that runs from September 14th through the 29th.

Last year writer Pam LeBlanc took advantage of an invitation to go teal hunting with former TPW Executive Director, Andy Sansom. She wrote about it for the current issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

In the article, Pam admits that she is not a hunter, and never imagined she’d find herself slogging through a wetland, wearing rubber waders and shooting at teal. But she did and writes vividly about the experience.

A funny bit is about a “sticky-footed” frog that spent the night in her waders which she’d left on the porch of the Bucksnag Hunting Club in Garwood, where the hunting party stayed. She discovered the little fellow when they were in the truck, headed to into the field.

She writes: [The frog] shot out of my pants and onto the windshield, then ricocheted across the interior of the truck like a tiny, spring-loaded pogo stick, jolting me awake. That would wake me up, too.

Find Pam LeBlanc’s article about her teal hunt in the August-September issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

You’ll also find a recipe by Chef Jesse Morris for Smoked Teal in Miso Garlic Butter Sauce.

Our series receives support in part from RAM Trucks: built to serve.

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