Passport to Texas

Wildlife: Texas Mussel Watch Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Just as we’re physically weaker when we lose muscle, freshwater ecosystems weaken when they lose their
mussels.

14—They’re a very important part of the aquatic ecosystem. They’re the foundation. I like to call them the vacuum cleaners; their main diet is bacteria and other small particles. They’re the filtration systems of the rivers, lakes and ponds.

Texas Mussel Watch coordinator, Marsha May, says one species of Texas mussel is on the federal endangered species list. US Fish and Wildlife is considering listing additional species of freshwater mussels.

03—We’ll see what happens in the next three to five years.

You can help keep track of these important species as a member of Texas Mussel Watch.

24—Texas Mussel Watch is a program designed to get citizens involved in monitoring freshwater mussel species throughout the whole state of Texas. We hold workshops normally in the springtime. They can learn about freshwater mussels. Once they’ve gone through the workshop, they can be put on my
scientific permit, and then go out and monitor mussels within their own community and give us information on what they find, because it’s very important information.

Find information about mussel watch on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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 fuel.

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

Replacing Trees That Died in the Drought Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The summer heat and drought of 2011 killed too many trees to count. And fall is the time to start replacing them.

10— Getting the trees in the ground in the fall, they have the entire dormant season o spread roots out before the bog demands on roots and water starts in the spring.

Scott Harris is an arborist with Tree Folks of Austin.

14— you always want to plant your trees at the exact same level that they were in the pot. So, the grade with the surrounding ground is going to be the same as they were in the pot. Don’t fig a big deep hole, dig a big wide hole.

Use the soil you removed as back fill, and do not add compost to the hole—just put it around the tree instead.

22— Put your compost underneath the mulch, which you should have three or four inches of. And then all of that organic goodness will kind of dribble down, in the way nature intended. Sort of like the forest floor: you have less broken down things on the top, and more the deeper down you go.

Soil moisture is especially important during the first three years after installing your tree. Provide one inch of water each week for the first season. But if 2012 gives us another dry scorcher of a summer, you will have to water more often.

Find information on wildscaping and a Texas native plant database on the TPW website.

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

Shelter for Wildlife in the Backyard Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Wildscaping is a method of landscaping that allows urban dwellers to create sustainable wildlife habitat in their yards. The first element of a Wildscape: shelter.

07—Shelter is primarily done by structuring your landscape so that you have some plants at every level of the horizon.

Mark Klym oversees the wildscaping program at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Shelter gives wildlife places to escape or to nest.

10—A lot of people think of nests, they think tall trees. Well, most of our birds don’t nest in tall trees. They nest within five feet of the ground. And, so, if we take out all the brush at the five foot level, we’ve eliminated their habitat.

Klym says when you structure your landscape with plants at every level – including lower brush — it becomes attractive to more species.

10—At the same time, that lower vegetation serves as a great food resource usually, because that’s usually the plants that your berries, your nets, your nectar flower are going to occur on.

You can find more information about wildscaping – including a native plant database — on the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site.

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

Creating Wild Spaces Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

A highly manicured landscape may attract the praise of neighbors, but it won’t attract much native wildlife. To do that, you need a wildscape.

05—Essentially, wildscaping is creating your landscape in a way that’s going to be friendly to wildlife.

Mark Klym is with wildlife diversity at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Fall is a good time to create a Wildscape.

16—So, we’re looking at providing food, shelter and water for the wildlife on the space that you have available using native plants. We ask for at least fifty-one percent native plants. And creating a habitat they feel comfortable with, while at the same time, keeping it comfortable for yourself and your neighbors.

For example, creating a wildlife attracting brush pile in your yard may seem a bit unruly for your tidy suburban neighborhood, but if done right, it can satisfy both man and beast.

20—Well, a brush pile is a wonderful thing for the wildlife to have. And if it’s properly done, it can be a very pleasing thing for us, especially when you start getting some of the field sparrows that we don’t normally see around our gardens, coming into our garden because of that brush pile. These are a wonderful resource. I’ve seen them in downtown Corpus Christi in a way that the neighbors wouldn’t even know they were there unless they looked for them.

Find more information about wildscaping on the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site.

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

This is Passport to Texas

During extended periods of drought, when the risk of wildfires is highest, your plant choices and their
placement in the landscape could make your home vulnerable to fire damage.

While we do want to encourage the use of shrubs and brush around the home, we don’t want to encourage it right up against the home. Especially things that are extremely flammable…

Such as yaupon holly and cedar. Marks Klym coordinates the Texas Wildscapes program for Parks and Wildlife. In cooperation with the Texas Forest Service’s Firewise program, Klym’s program endeavors to educate homeowners about plant choices that are hot, but not readily flammable.

Something that’s got a higher water content. Things that don’t tend to take fire from the ground towards the roof, because the roof is a sensitive area in most homes. Things that don’t take fire from the ground up into your window frames, which is another very sensitive area. You want to avoid our tall native grasses, because they have a tendency to dry out and become a firebox. Certainly, the other thing you can do is use that area for your hardscapes. Things like rock walls…walkways. These become a good barrier that the firs has difficulty jumping, unless you’ve got forty mile an hour winds.

We have the link to the Texas Fire-wise website, at passporttotexas.org.

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

Firewise Landscaping Play Now | Play in Popup | Download