Passport to Texas

Safety training in the field.

TPW TV: Shooting Safety Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Smart hunters make time to practice shooting before the season begins. The smartest hunters use proper safety gear. Learn more on the TPW PBS TV series this month. Series producer, Don Cash.

54 –We offer some advice on how to protect your eyes and how to protect your ears when you’re shooting.

You can watch this the week of July 7th on the Texas parks and Wildlife PBS Television show. If you happen to miss it, we’ve got a YouTube channel, a lot of hunter education and hunter related videos there.

Thanks, Don.

Support provided the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program…funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

Jesse Griffiths makes duck yakitori.

TPW TV: Duck Yakitori Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

This week the TPW PBS TV series has a segment to inspire everyone to get grilling. Producer, Whitney Bishop.

59 – What we have coming up is Austin chef and butcher, Jesse Griffiths, and he’s going to be grilling some teal for us.

This show airs on PBS stations the week of June 23; check local listings.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds conservation projects in Texas.

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

Image from June issue Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine

TPW TV: Coastal Fishing Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Summer officially arrives later this month. And if fishing is on your to-do list, Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Series Producer Don Cash says, a segment on this week’s show highlights angling opportunities along the Texas coast.

58 –I’m pretty sure that the fishing along the Texas coast is pretty good all year round, but summertime is when people seem to really think about going fishing. And this story focuses on a couple of different ways to do it. One of those ways is to take a charter boat out. The great thing about that is you’re surrounded by water — no land anywhere in sight – and you don’t really know what you’re going to catch sometimes. You never know what’s going to come up on the end of your hook; you can specifically fish for a certain type of fish, but Lord, there might be a hundred pound grouper, when you’re fishing for that two pound snapper. So, there’s a lot of excitement there. One thing you see in this story is the people fishing are having a really good time. Whoa! That’s a red snapper [laughs]. What I hope happens with this story is people will watch it and they’ll say ‘Wow. That looks like fun.’ If you can’t do a charter boat, you can always do wade fishing; you can go fish on the pier. There are all kinds of ways to go fishing on the coast, and all of them are a lot of fun.

Thanks, Don.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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

Indian Lodge

TPW TV: Stephanie Rubio -- A Hero Among Us Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Coming up on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series the week of May 12 a story where a cooler head prevailed. Producer, Alan Fisher has details.

63— We profile an employee – Stephanie Rubio – who works at Indian Lodge in the Davis Mountains State Park. Stephanie is one of the people who keeps Indian Lodge running. I think Stephanie probably has one of those jobs that if everything is going right you wouldn’t know that she was even working there. But, there was a particular incident in April of 2011, where she had quite a different day at work, and really rose to the occasion. So, in April of 2011, there was a wild fire that started outside of Marfa and tore all the way into Fort Davis. Stephanie was really in charge at that time; she was kind of the only person there to sort of keep an eye on things. And she made the decision to evacuate people out of safety concern. With the fire approaching, she saw the danger – only one road in and out – and made sure that everybody was safe. Everyone who knows her well, said that she’s always very calm and collected; and she really stayed calm through the entire incident. I think afterwards she kind of realized that that was kind of a big deal, but a very modest person. Humble; would never brag about it. Just doing her job.

Thanks, Alan.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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

Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat TPWD YouTube Channel

TPW TV: Protecting Rare Bats Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Texas is home to some thirty-two bat species. TPW PBS TV producer, Abe Moore, says viewers will meet one of the lesser known bats in a segment airing this month.

56— We did a story on the Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat. They’re one of the least known bats in the Southeastern United States. And the story looked at one of the largest Big Eared Bat colonies in Texas. The colony’s at the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge. And it’s in – of all places – in an abandoned mobile home that’s out in the woods. The house was abandoned 18 years ago. We were going to tear it down; we decided that we would rather keep it open for the bats, and actually keep the house in working order enough so they could use it as a roost. It’s this abandoned horror movie type of house. There are rat droppings all over the floor and spider webs everywhere. I mean, it would be the greatest set for a film. But it was the perfect home for the bats. And the refuge built these cool bat roost towers nearby for them to live in the mating season. And they’re close by, and the bats will readily move from here to the towers, depending on the temperature. That story’s going to be on Texas Parks and Wildlife television the week of May 5th through the 11th.

Thanks, Abe.

Support provided by Ram Trucks. Doing what’s right and good regardless of the degree of difficulty — takes guts. Those are the people who build Ram trucks. RAM.

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