Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife…

It’s estimated that some 350-million monarch butterflies will arrive in Texas as part of an annual fall migration to Mexico.

They hit the Panhandle and the Red River in mid September… they’ll hit Central Texas in the first week of October. The best place is actually along the western portion of the state. They’re not common in East Texas and along the coast.

Mike Quinn, invertebrate biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife, says monarchs make the long trip, surviving on nothing more than flower nectar. And yes, there is a visual difference between the males and the females…

The male monarch has black spots in the middle of the upper side of the side wings and females lack those.

Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Monarch Watch program enlists the services of hundreds of volunteers to collect data on the species during its migration.

We recruit volunteers of all ages and backgrounds all across the state, and we have over 500 people that keep calendars, that’s the one of the most helpful bits of information that people collect for us.

Members receive a booklet and migration calendar, which helps record the presence and abundance of the species in their area.

To volunteer, log on to our website, passporttotexas.org.

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

Cliff Shackelford, Parks and Wildlife non-game ornithologist, was a city kid whose family owned land in east Texas. It’s there Cliff discovered his passion.

It was great to have this big backyard of a hundred and twenty acres. And I used to wander around with a BB gun shooting cans, and pine cones…I saw this big bird, and I couldn’t believe how big it was. The colors – it was black and white and had this big flaming red crest and it landed on a trunk of a tree and started hitching up like a woodpecker.

So, to me, it was really fun to identify things – and it hasn’t stopped. And, thirty plus years later and I’m still doing it.

Thanks, Cliff. Go to passporttotexas.org to share your outdoor story.

That’s our show for today…remember Life is Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

When it’s so hot outside that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk, a lot of us wish for the life of a fish. We’d love to spend all day in the wet stuff. But a fish’s life is no walk in the water park.

When the water’s warmer it holds less oxygen.

Cindy Contreras is in Resource Protection at Texas Parks and Wildlife. She says fish are between a rock and a wet place in summer through early fall because as water that’s been heated loses oxygen; and as fish warm up they need more oxygen.

So it kind of creates a bind, or a squeeze on them, as the water holds less and less, but they continue to need it. Also other organisms in the water, like bacteria and insects, anything that’s living in there is going to be using that same oxygen.

Texas Parks and Wildlife stocks sport fish in reservoirs across the state. And according to Contreras summer heat causes the water in those basins to stratify.

The top layer is warmer and lighter, and rests upon a cooler, heavier layer of water. And typically the lower levels will not have very much oxygen or any oxygen.

And so the fish flounder in the warmer water… which is as good a reason as any to go fishing.

Take them out. Get them before they succumb.

Our show is made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Texas Parks and Wildlife television series airs a segment this month that puts the spotlight on a shy flying mammal – the Mexican Free-tailed bat. Ron Kabele is a produce for the show.

And the name of the story is Billion Dollar Bats. It concentrates on the economic impact that bats have. There are more bats in Texas than any other state in the country.

In Austin, along the Congress Street Bridge, there’s anywhere from a million, to a million and a half bats that come out every night. And they eat anywhere from ten to fifteen tons of insects.

These insects feed on agricultural crops, which in turn reduce the productivity of agriculture.

So, farmers love it, because it’s a way of doing natural pesticide control. [begin auction audio] The producer Lee Smith staged this thing with this auctioneer. They’re auctioning cattle and things like that, then they go and they auction these bats [end auction audio]. It’s all staged, but it was cute.

Check your local listings.

That’s our show…for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Texas Parks and Wildlife on PBS and Cable
Stations and Air Times
Times and dates are subject to change, especially during PBS membership drives.

• Amarillo, KACV-TV, Channel 2: October–March, Saturday 6 p.m.
• Austin, KLRU-TV, Channel 18: Monday, 12:30 p.m.; Friday 5:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. KLRU2, Cable 20: Tuesday, 11 p.m.
• Bryan-College Station, KAMU-TV, Channel 15: Sunday, 5 p.m.; Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Corpus Christi, KEDT-TV, Channel 16: Sunday, 12 p.m.; Friday, 2 p.m.
• Dallas-Fort Worth, KERA-TV, Channel 13: October–March, Saturday, 6 p.m. Also serving Abilene, Denton, Longview, Marshall, San Angelo, Texarkana, Tyler, Wichita Falls and Sherman.
• El Paso, KCOS-TV, Channel 13: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Harlingen, KMBH-TV, Channel 60: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving McAllen, Mission and Brownsville.
• Houston, KUHT-TV, Channel 8: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.; Friday 1:30 p.m. Also serving Beaumont, Port Arthur, Galveston, Texas City and Victoria.
• Killeen, KNCT-TV, Channel 46: Sunday, 5 p.m. Also serving Temple.
• Lubbock, KTXT-TV, Channel 5: Saturday, 10 a.m.
• Odessa-Midland, KPBT-TV, Channel 36: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
• San Antonio and Laredo, KLRN-TV, Channel 9: Sunday, 1 p.m.
• Waco, KWBU-TV, Channel 34: Saturday, 3 p.m.
• Portales, New Mexico, KENW-TV, Channel 3: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
• The New York Network, NYN, Thursday 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m. Serving the Albany area.

Cable

Texas Parks & Wildlife can also be seen on a variety of government, educational and access cable channels in the following communities: Abilene, Allen, Atlanta, Boerne, Collin County Community College, Coppell, Del Mar College, Denton, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Irving, McKinney, North Richland Hills, Plano, Rogers State University, Texarkana College, The Colony, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls. Check your local listings for days and times.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Of the four most common venomous snakes in Texas — Copperheads, Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouths, and Coral snakes – we come across one species more than others.

Probably the Western Diamond Back rattlesnake because it is so widespread and very abundant in many places. It also gets large and can be aggressive.

We asked herpetologist, Andy Price, if he would give us the first rule of human/snake encounters.

Yeah… leave it alone.

Although venomous snake bites are rare, they result in an average of 2 to 3 deaths annually statewide.

Emergency medical folks tell us that about half of the snake bites that occur are what they call ‘illegitimate bites,’ which means people have been messing around with them in one fashion or another. For those that are legitimate, the best thing to do is go get treated at a medical facility as quickly as you can.

Even people receiving so-called “illegitimate” snake bites should seek treatment. What’s another way to avoid snake bites? Get to know what they look like and where they live — and always remain aware when outdoors.

Most of those bites occur when people aren’t watching what they’re doing, basically. Stepping over a log and not seeing what’s on the other side. Putting their hands or feet somewhere where they can’t see, like in a crevasse. Some people are bitten when they reach under plants for one reason of another.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger… for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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