Passport to Texas

Horned lizard

Identifying Good Horned Lizard Habitat Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Urbanization and invasive species are two impacts that’ve led to the decline of the iconic Texas horned lizard. The San Antonio Zoo plans to eventually release lizards from its captive breeding program into the wild.

Management is the first step in this process.

Andy Gluesenkamp is Director of Conservation at the zoo. He says he and his staff will consider environmental factors before releasing lizards onto a property.

One is: are they within the historic range of the species. Two is: are there horned lizards there now? This is a really important question. Because if there are horned lizards on that property, then that’s really a matter of managing existing populations. And I tell landowners that they are much better off than having to try and start anew and establish a population where one doesn’t exist. Other criteria are the size of the parcel; is there enough habitat for the lizards that—if we get a population established—that it will not just persist. The idea for them is to metastasize out into other habitat. And so, we’re putting lizards back onto the landscape, and not just on parcels of the landscape.

Andy Gluesenkamp says he uses high-resolution satellite-based maps from the Texas Parks and Wildlife GIS department to help assess whether areas have quality habitat for newly minted lizards.

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

A very handsome Texas Horned Lizard.

Horned Lizard Decline Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Once a common sight in Texas, horned lizards are in decline. The past three decades of urban development coincide with their disappearance.

Not a coincidence at all. And although there’s no single smoking gun in the decline of horned lizards, generally urbanization is a common factor.

Andy Gluesenkamp is Director of Conservation at San Antonio Zoo, where he developed and oversees a horned lizard breeding program. Urbanization is just one impact.

There have been other, less obvious impacts. Like the introduction of non-native invasive grasses. [It] fundamentally changes the landscape from a lizard’s perspective. A lot of the grasses that we would look at and think that’s perfectly normal Texas grassland habitat, is kind of like an impenetrable bamboo thicket for these guys.

Such habitat changes mean lower diversity and density of arthropods, the lizard’s prey base. And then, there’s the red imported fire ant.

Although they’re not a deal-breaker for horned lizards, they’re not good for horned lizards. And a lot of places where horned lizards used to occur, there are now too many red imported fire ants for them even to get stablished in those places anymore. The red imported fire ants tend to eat the young as soon as they hatch out of the eggs.

Horned lizards from the San Antonio Zoo breeding program will be released back into the wild. But that takes planning. Details next time.

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

Texas Horned Lizard

San Antonio Zoo's Horned Lizard "Factory" Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The horned lizard, or horny toad, is a charismatic creature and beloved by Texans of a certain age.

Mostly people my age. So, anyone that wasn’t around in the eighties probably hasn’t seen a horned lizard in the wild.

That’s Dr. Andy Gluesenkamp, Director of Conservation at San Antonio Zoo. Let’s just say he’s not a millennial. Andy heads up a horned lizard breeding program at the zoo, which is where I visited him in early October of last year.

We are in the main room of the conservation center. And if you look around the walls, there are rack after rack of ten-gallon aquariums. Each one with a Texas horned lizard in it. And this is what I like to call the beginning of our horned lizard factory.

You might wonder why we need a horned lizard factory—or breeding program—for the Texas State Reptile. Truth is: the little critters are getting scarce.

Although horned lizards are still doing really well in parts of their range, they’ve disappeared from about a third of their range in Texas. And that just so happens to be that portion of Texas where most Texans live.

Urbanization and the introduction of non-native grasses impact horned lizard populations. Andy Gluesenkamp says once lizards reach maturity, they will be released into areas that can support them.

We receive support in part from RAM Trucks: built to serve.

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

Pensacal wind farm and avian radar.

TPW Magazine: Wind and Wildlife Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Texas is the number-one wind energy state; but what’s the effect of wind farms on bats and birds? Writer Russel Roe addresses this matter in an article for the March issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

The stakes are high when it comes to wind and wildlife, especially as you consider that Texas has the largest population of bats in the world and the nation’s highest diversity of bird species.

Although clean, renewable wind energy offers benefits to the environment, you’ll learn in Roe’s article that it does so at the cost to wildlife. Hundreds of thousands of birds and bats die annually, their fates sealed when they fly into the turning blades of gargantuan turbines.

Bats are hardest hit—no pun intended. With more than twice the number of fatalities than birds.

Roe writes that wind companies and conservation groups agree that responsible siting of wind turbines away from areas with high wildlife activity is a key first step to reducing the problem. TPWD is working on its own set of wind energy guidelines and hopes to release them sometime in 2019.

Meanwhile, read Russel Roe’s article about Wind and Wildlife in the March issue of Texas parks and Wildlife Magazine. You’ll also learn about research on ultrasonic acoustic deterrents that reduced bat fatalities by 46 percent.

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

Photo from the Texas Master Naturalist Facebook Page

Becoming a Texas Master Naturalist Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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There’s a training program for people with a passion for nature. It’s called the Texas Master Naturalist Program.

The Texas Master Naturalist Program is a volunteer based training program; we develop a corps of well-informed volunteers that provide education, outreach and service around the state in the beneficial management of natural resources and the natural areas within Texas.

Mary Pearl Meuth (MOYT) is the program’s coordinator. They train roughly 700 volunteers annually, and have training sessions annually.

Our curriculum that is used for the training, has 26 chapters in it. So, they march through those 26 chapters all with a large context of the state of Texas, but then developed even more within their local ecosystem.

Once trained, volunteers provide 40 hours of community outreach, and take 8 hours of advanced training annually. The program’s not just about taking or facilitating classes. It’s also about discovery.

Quite a few of our Master Naturalists have identified new species of plants or new species of animals located within the state of Texas.

Are you ready to help Mother Nature, and to make a name for yourself – or a new species? The Texas Master Naturalist program can help. Find a training session at txmn.org.

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For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti