Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Residents of Florida manage to live with alligators and have for years, but it’s new to Texans who haven’t yet gotten used to the increasing presence of the large reptiles here.

10—We’re trying to educate people and teach them about the American alligator, its habits, its behaviors, and exactly what to expect from these creatures.

Wildlife biologist Greg Creacy says when you go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website you’ll find information on living with alligators. He says that while only a very small fraction of alligators pose a threat to humans, there is a common belief that all gators are dangerous.

10—They’ve seen a lot of television and other things that have led them to believe that alligators are man-eaters and are a risk to people.

And just because you see an alligator doesn’t mean it’s a problem. He offers a couple of guidelines on what would be considered a “nuisance” alligator.

08—Has it retained its natural fear of people? Also, if an alligator is coming up out of the water and spending time in someone’s yard.

Coming up on tomorrow’s show, would you know what to do if you saw an alligator?

03—Just because they see it, they don’t need to panic.

That’s our show for today…we receive support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Alligators have always been a part of the Texas wildlife. Once considered endangered, their numbers have steadily increased. But in the surrounding counties of Houston, alligators have thrived.

07—The alligators are re-populating their former range, where they occurred several decades ago.

But Parks and Wildlife biologist Greg Creacy says just as the reptile’s numbers have increased in the area, so has the human population, as more neighborhoods go up near alligator habitat. Over the past few years, alligator complaints have been on the rise. More than half of the calls came from Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, and Liberty counties.

14—This is a relatively new thing for Texans, they aren’t used to it. They are living in close proximity to these alligators and over time I think Texans will begin to appreciate this animals as part of our natural heritage.

Coming up on tomorrow’s show, helping bridge the gap between man and beast…

09—We’re trying to educate people about what it would take to live with alligators and understand the things you can and can’t do around these animals.

That’s our show for today…we receive support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

You know that bison, referred to as buffalo by some, are big animals. In fact, they’re the largest land mammal in the US, with the bulls weighing in at two thousand pounds and cows half that much. They might be stocky, but don’t challenge one to a foot race—you’ll lose.

07— It may look like they’re big, huge, lumbering animals, but a bison can run 35 miles and hour; that’s pretty fast.

Donald Beard is park superintendent at Caprock Canyons SP, where visitors can view the official Texas state bison herd.

10—[bison grunting] They’re like people they have different personalities. You’ll have an animal that’s really curious and want to come up to you to see what’s going on. Then you’ll have some that want to stay back and don’t want to be a part of it. [ambiance at end]

The newly expanded bison enclosure at the park, allows visitors to get close to the animals—but if you get too close, the bison will let you know.

14—When they’re agitated, they will raise their tail into a question mark. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the saying ‘Let’s high tail it out of here?’ That came back from the 1870s when settlers would see those tails go up in that question mark; they knew it was time to get out of the way.

The park has plans to eventually expand the bison’s territory to encompass the majority of the park. Get more information about the Texas State Bison herd at texasstateparks.org.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Caprock Canyons State Park is home to the official Texas State bison herd.

07—This bison herd was started by Charles Goodnight back in the 1870s during the slaughter of the American Bison.

Tens of millions of southern plains bison once thundered across the land, including Texas, but in the late 1800’s they were nearly hunted to extinction, says park superintendent Donald Beard.

14—They were slaughtering millions of these animals; and Mrs. Goodnight would listen to the calves bleat in the nighttime, and so they rounded up a few calves and, uh, that was the beginning of the herd. And they’ve been here at Caprock Canyons ever since.

The State Herd numbers just under 80 animals; genetic testing supports the claim they are all that remain of the southern plains subspecies.

In an effort to give visitors a better look at these examples of living history, park staff doubled the acreage in the animals’ enclosure, to include the area around the visitor’s center.

13—So our goal is to expand their territory here in the park and have a unique experience to where when you come in the park, you are in the habitat with the bison.

Eventually, bison will have access to the majority of the park. Learn more about Caprock Canyons SP when you go to texasstateparks.org.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

The AgriLife Extension service estimates the impact of red imported fire ants in Texas at $1.2 billion annually. These insects wreak havoc in urban, agricultural and wildlife areas posing threats to plants and animals. Because of that—they must die.

12—Generally what we recommend is a broadcast bait over the whole entire yard in the spring and in the fall, and that dramatically cuts down on the amount of fire ants that you see popping up in-between those times.

Entomologist, Elizabeth “Wizzie” Brown is with AgriLife Extension and much or her work focuses on fire ants. She says the broadcast baits take time, but are effective. Impatient and desperate homeowners have tried homemade treatments for hopefully quicker kills to allow them to enjoy their outdoor spaces again.

28—Club soda was a big one. People were asking me about this, so that’s when I did my testing and it didn’t work. Used coffee grounds are another one—a lot of people were using that to treat fire ant mounds; Again, I didn’t find that that one worked. Ground cinnamon….. This year I’m hoping to test cayenne pepper and oak ash. I had somebody bring oak ash to me; he says that he uses it all the time and that he doesn’t have any fire ants and so we’re going to test that one out and see what happens.

We have links to information about managing this biting pest at passporttotexas.org.

The SFWR program supports our series and helps to fund the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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