Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

More than a hundred years ago people participated in a time-honored Christmas tradition.

06—People would go out and do what was called a side hunt, and the winning group would come back with the biggest pile of dead critters.

How festive. The majority of critters in those piles were birds. Cliff Shackelford, a non-game ornithologist with Parks and Wildlife, says conservationists had a better idea.

05—Early conservationists thought that we ought to count birds and not try to collect birds.

Today we have the nationwide Christmas Bird Count. This season—between December 14 and January 5—groups of volunteers, armed with a bird list, head into the field and count birds over a 24-hour period.

15—What people do is they get into teams, and they have a defined 15 mile radius circle that they’re counting in, and that circle never moves. The hope is that you would count that circle for decades and decades and over time you would see trends.

Different groups pick different days within that three week period to count birds. Researchers then use the census information to assess the health of bird populations, and to guide conservation action.

It may be a little late to get involved this year, but there’s always next year.

05—They might need a full year’s heads up to chew on it and figure out, hey, I want to do this next year.

Go to Audubon.org for more information. The Sport fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our show. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Ninety percent of the 12-hundred vertebrate species in Texas—that’s including fish—are non-game.

04—It doesn’t even include all the invertebrates that we have.

Invertebrates are estimated at 50-thousand. Matt Wagner, deputy Director for the Wildlife Division at Parks and Wildlife, says hunting and fishing license sales support conservation of game species and their habitats.

13—When you talk about non-game, and the species that aren’t hunted, there’s a lack of funding there. Although hunters have been paying for habitat work, we need to expand the number of folks that are contributing to conservation through their pocketbooks.

There are several ways for Texans to do that, and one way Wagner suggests celebrates a spiky Texas icon.

08—If you buy a horned lizard license plate for $30, $22 comes back to the agency to do non-game programs.

Sales of the horned lizard license plate generate between a quarter million to 300-thousand dollars annually.

12—We take that money, and then we leverage it with grants that come from the US Fish and Wildlife Service into the agency so that we can implement our Texas Conservation Action Plan.

Tomorrow: species that have benefited from Texans’ purchase of the conservation plate.

Our show receives support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…funding the private lands and public hunting program.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Eagles and hawks are raptors—birds of prey; and these amazing creatures hunt primarily using their long, sharp talons.

05—Raptors are the birds that are living just almost the same level as we are.

John Karger is Executive Director of Last Chance Forever Bird of Prey Conservancy. He rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds and—when feasible—releases them back into the wild, where they play an important role.

13—The raptors are prime indicators. When they get sick, we’re going to be sick. Thus in the 1960s we realized that we put a lot of chemicals on the earth. We knew that we did that because the birds were disappearing.

Karger travels around Texas with his raptors to demonstrate their prowess, and more importantly, to encourage in everyone a sense of stewardship.

18—If could get them to do one thing – just take a moment – realize how incredible nature is, and that it can really give you a sense of awe…a sense of incredible. What I really want people to do it to come to the Expo and realize that the whole outdoor world is there, and it is ours for just enjoying tremendously if we just take care of it.

Find links to information about raptors and the Last Chance Forever Bird of Prey Conservancy at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today…We receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Hawk Watch website

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This is Passport to Texas

For the price of an inexpensive meal for two—including tip…

[SOUND EFFECT: cha-ching]

…you can have access to almost a million acres of public hunting land for an entire year.

05—Public hunting is [when] you hunt on either owned or leased public properties that Texas Parks and Wildlife manages.

Vickie Fite is public hunting coordinator. A public hunting permit costs only 48 dollars, and gives users access to diverse terrains. Once you purchase the permits, Fite says you’re going to receive a book that contains hunting information with phone numbers and information on how to reach these areas.

09—I strongly recommend that you call the areas and find out what they say their forecast is going to be for this year, or what the hunters have been able to do so far this year.

Whether you hunt deer, upland game birds, or waterfowl, you’ll find these opportunities and others on public lands.

15—And, remember, with the forty-eight dollar annual public hunting permit, it offers a great opportunity for day hunts and even weekend hunts during the holidays. And once you purchase the permit, you can take kids under seventeen hunting for free – which is a great deal for families.

Maybe a Thanksgiving hunting trip is in order this year.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.

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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