Passport to Texas

Texas Bumblebee, photo Jessica Womack

Wildlife: Texas Bumblebees Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[SFX—buzzing]

Bumblebees are the bomb—or per their genus: bombus. Texas has nine native species of this big, slow-flying, black and yellow insect. They’re effective pollinators of our native plant species, and many food crops, too.

This is the time of year when they start to wind down.

18— At the end of the summer, the queen that started the colony gives birth to new queens. The old queen dies and all her workers die. But the new queens mate, find a hole in the ground, spend the winter there, come back out in the spring, and she starts a whole new colony.

Michael Warriner… an invertebrate biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife… tells us how this queen bee does it.

36— In early spring—February and March—the new queen comes out, and she’s foraging. [She] finds a nest site, and she starts making what’s called a “honey pot.” It’s a little waxen thimble, and she fills that with food. Then she accumulates pollen and makes a big pollen ball. Then she lays eggs, and she stays there [tending to the nest and larvae tht hatch]. And those are her first workers. Once her first worker daughters mature, she stays there [in the nest] full time—her main business is laying eggs. But, getting started is pretty much all on her: getting all the food and having the reserves to stay put and raise that first batch [of young].

Learn more about Texas Bumblebees at Texasbumblebees.com.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Blue tilapia

Invasives: Tilapia Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

When you hear the word tilapia, you may think of a savory meal with lemon butter sauce, but you probably don’t think of the term “invasive species.”

11—Tilapia are great to eat. They’re raised as a food fish, and they’re quite tasty. They’re quite popular in restaurants. But the problem is when they’re in our natural waters they are upsetting the ecosystem.

Originally established in fish farms as a food source, Tilapia eventually ended up in Texas waters.

Gary Garrett, a former Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist, says tilapia pose a threat to large mouth bass and other native species.

16—They build big pit nests and in doing that they stir up a lot of the sediment. And it’s been shown, for example, with large mouth bass, all that sediment stirred up and settling back down will often kill large mouth bass eggs.

And because of the delicate nature of the food chain, this behavior has the potential of damaging the entire ecosystem.

Texas Parks and Wildlife has regulations for tilapia, but because they’re widespread statewide, they are difficult to control. But if you like to fish, Garrett says, there’s one way you can help.

02 – Don’t throw them back. If you catch them, keep them.

So, next time you reel in tilapia, turn on the grill and get cooking.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Air boat at Sea Rim

Parks: Sea Rim -- Better than Before Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008 destroyed Sea Rim State Park in Sabine Pass.

06— You can kill the facilities, but what you can’t kill is the park, itself. Because the park, itself, is memories.

Ben Herman is Sea Rim’s superintendent. After years of planning and hard work, Sea Rim had a grand reopening June 20; it’s fully functional now, and ready for visitation.

08— That is something that is a proud moment for us, a true legacy for us as a park staff, because we get to have people come build those memories again.

Staff used lessons learned from the hurricanes – in conjunction with Dade County Florida Building Standards, which is ground zero for many Atlantic-spawned mega-storms – to guide their rebuilding efforts.

15— So, everything we put out here is built on Dade County standards and is able to withstand pretty severe weather. Of course, you know, Mother Nature is always going to have the upper hand on us, but we’re very confident that it will be able to stand up to most everything that’s thrown at us out here.

Sea Rim State Park offers RV and primitive beach camping, fishing, paddling trails, wildlife viewing. Oh, and don’t forget the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets.

13— We have from horizon to horizon sunsets and sunrises. And, man, they are beautiful – they light up the entire sky. And you can see them out here like you can’t see them any other place because there’s nothing to block them.

Make camping reservations online at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Snake handling

Wildlife: Snake Nerd Nirvanna Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The snake nerds will be out in force in west Texas at the end of the month for Snake Days – and Texas parks and Wildlife herpetologist Andy Gluesenkamp will be among them.

15— This is really a snake celebration event. Where people who love snakes get together and talk about snakes, and look for snakes, and share pictures of the things that they found, and basically enjoy themselves in the burgeoning metropolis of Sanderson, Texas, population 880.

I had to know: are there enough snake lovers in the world to warrant such an event?

10— There are four hotels in Sanderson, Texas, and they have had all of their rooms booked for this upcoming event for about the last six months – so you tell me.

In addition to the camaraderie of being with others who “get you,” there are also educational opportunities.

33— We have a full roster of award-winning authors, well-respected biologists, academics, hobbyists, snake breeders; a really diverse bunch of speakers, and pretty much the A List of people that we could possibly hope to have speak at Snake Days.