Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

It may surprise you to know that on average 11 meteor showers a year grace our night skies…and on November 17 the Leonid Meteor Shower reaches its peak.

05—The Leonid Meteor Shower is a shower that occurs every November.

Anita Cochran, the assistant director of the McDonald Observatory, explains this phenomenon.

11—It is the result debris left over from the passage of the Comet Temple Tuttle which comes past the sun and past the earth every thirty-three years.

Dust particles burning up in the earth’s atmosphere will create this year’s shower. Of course, the peak time for the shower is 3 p.m., not exactly prime viewing time; and then in the evening, a waxing Gibbous moon could create some light obstruction, too.

However, in 1833, the skies were dark and when the Leonid Meteor shower peaked, the skies rained down thousands of meteors an hour, causing some people to fear the end was near.

10—There are times when we go through, and it’s approximately every thirty three years, when we see a huge storm because we go through the peak of it. We might see hundreds of meteors per hour.

If you’re lucky, when you go out on the 17th, you’ll see a few meteors streaking through the night sky. If nothing else, you’ll get to spend some time outdoors in the still of the night…just you and the owls and coyotes.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Part of the appeal of mountain biking, is the untamed terrain, however, the rocky trails can be a little rough on your bike.

08—For a beginner, the main things to worry about is do you know how to change a flat? Because if you ride ten miles in and you’ve got to come ten miles back out, you want to have that tire or else its going to be a very long walk.

Dan Oko, author of the Texas Parks and Wildlife guide – Bike Texas, says there are three basic tools that mountain bikers want to pack when heading out for a ride, starting with an Allen Wrench.

08—They have tire levers which are designed to go underneath the tire so that you can get that inner tube out if you happen to puncture it. I would say those are the two and the third thing is to have a chain device in case you break your chain.

Oko encourages riders to take it a step further than just packing those basic tools

23—You should learn to use the tools before you have a problem on the trail because chances are trying to figure it out on the trail will be really difficult. I was up in Cedar Hills State Park, outside of Dallas a couple of years ago, and a couple of guys rode up the trail and about two minutes later – they came back out. One of the guys had broken his chain. They didn’t have a chain tool, I did. When I handed the chain tool to the fellow, he didn’t know what to do with it. I ended up fixing his chain.

According to Oko, most local bike shops are more than willing to teach riders who to make repairs. Find bike trail information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Be sure to check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife YouTube channel for videos on biking at State Parks and Historic Sites.

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This is Passport to Texas

If you’ve been in a holiday mood lately without an outlet for your good cheer, make the trip to Goliad State Park and Historic Site on December fourth and get jingly with it. That’s when everything there will be lit up, and activities will abound for those who are brimming with pre-holiday giddiness.

It has a real tradition with the mission there at Goliad—not just the historic site there, but it’s a recreational park as well. And they light up the place and they do a chorus singing traditional Christmas songs, and the director of the Beeville Chorus is coming over.

So, I think people will really enjoy—kicking off Christmas inside the old chapel. And, it’s just one of a kind with the restored Mission. And it makes for a very unique and a very special Christmas trip.

Thanks Bryan.

Find more information about this and other holiday events at state parks and historic sites when you log onto texasstateparks.org.

That’s our show for today, thank you for joining us…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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If cats, dogs and grackles are the only wildlife visiting your backyard—you need a wildscape. Creating one is not as tough as you might think.

02–You know, the hardest part is just getting started.

Kelly Bender is an urban wildlife biologist and co-author of the book Texas Wildscapes, and was instrumental in creating the Texas Wildscapes interactive DVD, which comes with the book, and guides users through planning an urban oasis.

15–The wildscape DVD is designed to help people to get started in planning their habitat, understanding what wildlife need to succeed, or to survive, and to give them the tools that they need to start implementing wildlife habitat management principles in their own gardens and landscapes.

Just pop the DVD into your computer, and a wealth of information, including which plants will grow in your area and what wildlife they attract, is at your fingertips.

20–We made this product that allows us to enter in different variables. So, you can say, well, I want something that is native to Central Texas, that needs a lot of sunshine or a little bit of sunshine, or attracts hummingbirds, or attracts songbirds, or whatever it is that you really want to have in a plant. And it will give you a list of plants that are appropriate for your goals.

Texas Wildscapes DVDs come with the Texas Wildscapes book from book sellers through Texas A & M Press.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Wildlife restoration program, working to preserve habitat in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Habitat requirements vary between species, yet some critters make themselves at home anywhere.

06—Wildlife are really adaptable, and there’s going to be some wildlife that thrive in whatever type of habitat that’s provided.

Kelly Bender is an urban wildlife biologist. She says even a perfectly manicured monochromatic monoculture known as lawn—will attract some wildlife.

20—In a typical urban area—where you’ve got really closely mowed Bermuda grass lawn, or St. Augustine lawn, and then just a few really tall mature trees and kind of nothing in the middle? That kind of habitat is really good for grackles, and pigeons, for possum and raccoon, and kind of the species that you see in a disturbed habitat.

Bender says most people don’t mind seeing those species sometimes, but not all the time.

15—And so what we try to do is to encourage people to create a more balanced habitat. And what I mean by that is to provide native plants that provide natural food sources—fruits, nuts, berries, leaves, etcetera—that provide a balanced source of nutrition for the animals.

This balanced habitat is called a wildscape, and we’ll tell you more about Wildscaping tomorrow.

That’s our show… visit us online at passporttotexas.org and leave a comment on our blog…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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