Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

When I come here in the morning I milk cows or run a cream separator, or do all the things the men used to do, or might have done.

That’s not the typical way most of us start our days, but then, Ricky Weinheimer’s job isn’t typical. He manages the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm in Stonewall, where he performs the daily chores of a typical turn of the [20th] century farmer.

Back then, folks worked hard, slept good. They didn’t have everything to distract them in life. They stayed put on the farm. And, they still had time on Sundays to visit with neighbors. And that’s something you don’t find much anymore—everybody’s too busy in this modern day world.

When Weinheimer leaves the historic farm, he continues his agricultural avocation at his family’s farm.

Actually I have the best of both worlds: a modern life of tractors and equipment we have; plus, once I step across the fence here, the clock gets turned back, and we farm with horses, turning plows, a machine called a garden hoe and push plow…and blacksmithing and everything else that goes along with it.

Rural life in Texas changed slowly, and many people still recall those simpler times—something that Weinheimer says is often lost on the very young.

Adults will come into our barn and they’ll just take a deep breath and they’ll say…’ahhh…smells good’. The children behind them are holding their noses.

Reconnect with your farming past at the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm…it’s never too late…learn how at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Time spent in the outdoors is never wasted. And Texas state parks afford all citizens nearby… cost effective outlets for all flavors of nature lust. Walt Dabney is Director of State Parks for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Texas is largely privately owned, so the parks – if you like to go out and do things in the out of doors – the parks are one of the primary locations you have to do those kinds of things. So whether you’re a horse user, or a fisherman, or a camper, or a hiker, or a birdwatcher, or a photographer – whatever it is – parks are where you have to go enjoy those things. The other thing about parks is that we have some very important places that represent Texas history, important places where events occurred or people lived, and that remind us of who we are and how we became what we are. So, a lot of interesting things from an educational or interest standpoint and certainly lots of places to just go have a great, fun experience in the out of doors.

And with a Texas State Parks Pass, you and your family will get unlimited entry to all state parks and historic sites for a full 12 months. Learn more about the pass by logging onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife Web site.

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

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Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Mike Quinn is an invertebrate biologist and his interest in bugs developed through an interest in birds.

My parents were birdwatchers, and I had an interest in outdoors as a child. But it wasn’t until I was in my twenties… I was helping ornithologists at UT study painted buntings at McKinney Falls State Park, and walked around the bend, and we saw this large butterfly there sunning itself – absolutely gorgeous in the sun – and Anita Fauquier says, “I think that’s a giant swallowtail.” And it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was an epiphany for me that you could put a name on an insect. Why that was a revelation to me I still don’t quite don’t know, because I could identify birds by sight and sound, and plants and herps and etcetera. But putting a name on an insect was somehow a foreign concept. And I went home and I borrowed my mother’s butterfly field guide (which I haven’t quite returned yet), and just from that point on I started paying much closer attention to insects, and that led me to my degree now that I have in entomology and the job that I have studying them at Parks and Wildlife.

Spend time outdoors—you never know where it will lead. Share your outdoor story at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Although the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series is currently in summer reruns, show producers are busy planning next season.

We spend some time talking about what we’ll do for the next
season every spring and get out when the weather’s pretty and spend as much time out in the field as we can.

Alan Fisher is a producer with the show.

There’re so many interesting things to see and do out there;
there’s always something that you haven’t gotten to explore yet. So, we’re always looking forward to getting out there and going down those trails we haven’t been down yet.

Fisher said producers get a workout lugging around their gear.

We have 50 to 75 pounds of gear that we lug around. So, that’s
why the spring months are really the idea time to be shooting. And you want to be in a nice cool edit room in the summertime if you can.

One show Fisher is working on for fall is about the Texas Horned Lizard.

Some of the myths and legends about the horned lizard, and some of the research being done to help it out, as it’s stating to be a little harder to find.

And why does he do it?

There’s always something that I am always looking forward to doing, because I find it inherently interesting.

That’s our show for today…made possible by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Texas is the only US state with suitable Ocelot habitat.

The habitat that ocelots use is extremely dense brush. The type of brush that not only can you not see through it, you can’t walk through it.

Dr. Michael Tewes (two-ES) researches wild cats with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.

The main problem for ocelots now is, like many other endangered species, the lack of suitable habitat. There are less than 100 of them remaining in Texas and less than 1% of Texas has that very special habitat or cover type that they use. And since most of Texas is owned and managed by private landowners and ranchers, it is in their ability to protect the habitat that is vital to the recovery of ocelots.

Fewer ocelots mean less genetic diversity.

When the populations are as small as they are in Southern Texas, almost any kind of a wildlife population will start to decrease genetic diversity and tend to go towards extinction. We have been working on revising the recovery plan and, although it’s not finalized, translocation is suggested as a tool. The genetic diversity is much greater in Mexico than it is in Texas. And by bringing them into Texas it would help alleviate some of the problems that come with genetic erosion.

That’s our show… with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… and sponsored by the Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore critical habitat for endangered species like the ocelot.

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

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