May 9th, 2007
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program
The Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge had a feral hog problem. Their management strategy involved trapping and shooting the animals, and leaving the carcasses to decompose.
The pig, as an uninvited visitor to the refuge, has been utilizing our resources since they got there. So, we’re putting the resources back into the natural system.
The center’s Rob Denkhaus, agrees the hogs represented usable meat, but the center didn’t have a safe way to process it. That’s not an issue for Broken Arrow Ranch. They harvest hogs and other exotics, with on site processing and inspection. They age and package it at their facility in Ingram, and ship it nationwide.
On an annual basis we harvest about seventeen hundred deer a year, about eight hundred antelope, and last year about a thousand wild boars.
And that translates to more than 180-thousand pounds of wild game. Chris Hughes took over the business from his parents, who retired to a ranch in the hill country, where they first observed the exotic species.
They saw an untapped resource here in the area, and a potential market; worked through the government agencies to get all the appropriate regulations in line, and began harvesting animals and selling them to restaurants in 1983.
Tomorrow: How Broken Arrow Ranch works with landowners.
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 fuels…
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
Posted in Conservation, Education, Podcasts, SFWR, Shows, Wildlife | Comments Off on Feral Hogs: Harvesting Hogs
May 8th, 2007
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program
Feral hogs pose a serious problem at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge where they’ve destroyed acres of fragile habitat. The center’s Rob Denkhaus says working with various groups the center developed a management strategy that met the needs of the community and the hogs.
And the key to it was determining how we could do it in the most humane way possible that would allow the animal welfare community to accept it. And, we needed to do it in a certain safe fashion, because we are inside the city limits, where discharge of firearms is generally not allowed. So, we went through a whole process, a whole matrix of different ideas that we worked on in order to come up with the one that actually fit best – that met all of our criteria.
In the end, trapping and shooting the animals was the simplest, most effective, and most humane solution.
We go to great, great lengths to make sure no animal suffers in our traps, which any responsible hunter or trapper of any kind is supposed to do as well.
What happens to the harvested hogs…that’s tomorrow.
That’s our show… we had help today from Tom Harvey… the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our show…and it’s funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels…
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
Posted in Conservation, Education, Podcasts, SFWR, Shows, Wildlife | Comments Off on Feral Hogs: The Solution
May 7th, 2007
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program
You may not know this, but hogs aren’t from around here.
Hogs are an invasive, exotic species; they’re not native to anywhere in North America.
Rob Denkhaus is Natural Resource Manager at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge. Descendants of escaped domestic hogs introduced by Spanish Explorers 300 years ago, bred with runaway Eurasian wild boars that were brought to Texas in the 1930s by ranchers for sport hunting. The by-product of this porcine partnership has resulted in a large, destructive, modern
day wild pig population.
The activities that they get involved in like rooting – where they can root several feet into the soft soils – and they’re eating invertebrates, they’re consuming the bulbs and rhizomes of plants and everything. So, they’re having a negative affect on the plant community as well as the wildlife community.
These hogs, says Denkhaus, can also prey on wildlife species.
Ground nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians, and the like. So, their impact is far-reaching…and all negative.
We’ll talk more about this plague of pigs tomorrow.
That’s our show… we had help today from Tom Harvey… the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program supports our show…and it’s funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
Posted in Education, Podcasts, SFWR, Shows, Wildlife | Comments Off on Feral Hogs: The Problem
May 4th, 2007
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
This weekend, explore bats, bugs, birds, and more during guided field trips and workshops at WildFest San Antonio.
WildFest San Antonio is going to be San Antonio’s first birding and nature festival, and we’re going to have over seventy different programs going on all weekend long at about twenty-five different locations spread out through Bexar county.
Gail Dugelby, a Nature Preserve Officer for Medina River Natural Area, says the Alamo City is an ideal location for the fest because it’s a crossroads.
Just in Bexar county alone we have 4 different eco-regions converging all on itself. So, when we say that we’re a crossroads, we get to be a crossroads of culture, as well as a crossroads of ecosystems. We’ve got this abundance of diversity.
WildFest offers participants a chance to enjoy the natural and cultural resources of the area.
Our goal is to educate the residents and the visitors about the unique natural and historical environments and increase the awareness of nature in and around San Antonio.
WildFest is May 4th through 6th throughout San Antonio. Most tours are limited to 15 to 20 people, and charge a fee. Other events are free. Visit www.wildfestsanantonio.com for complete details.
That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
Posted in Birding, Education, Events, Podcasts, Shows | Comments Off on WildFest San Antonio
May 3rd, 2007
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
Texans don’t need much encouragement to kick up their heels and celebrate. And this Saturday, several state parks celebrate May Day and Cinco de Mayo.
Fulton Mansion State Historic Site is a stately, one hundred thirty year old manor, that faces Aransas Bay. And Saturday, May fifth, this jewel of the Gulf Coast Region celebrates spring, with May Day festivities. If you’re so inclined, go ahead and show off the moves you’ve learn on “Dancing with the Stars” when you trip the light fantastic around the maypole. Or play period games with the kiddos, enjoy old-fashioned pie-eating contests and create beautiful flower crafts. There’s live music, a petting zoo…from 10 to 4 pm.
Not to be outdone, Sebastopol House State Historic Site in Seguin, located in the Prairies and Lakes Region of the state, offers it’s version of May Day festivities. It is a free family event packed with music, a maypole dance, demonstrations, a climbing wall, games, free kid’s prizes and much more! Families are invited to come enjoy time together at this historic setting from 11 to 4.
Cinco de Mayo marks the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla. And on Saturday, the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, offers family activities with a Hispanic theme including games, dancing, music and food, from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Reduced admission for adults, and free for kids under 12 years.
For entrance fees and directions to these events, go to the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.
That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
Posted in Events, Historic Sites, Podcasts, Shows, State Parks | Comments Off on May Day and Cinco de Mayo Celebrations
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