Author: WM Pro

Abandoned Fawn: What Should I Do?

The number of wild animals rises and falls based on environmental conditions. Habitat quality, namely food and cover, determines the success of individual animals to reproduce and recruit animals into the population. Many wildlife species, such as white-tailed deer and birds, are quite active throughout the year, but animals with young must work harder to find food due to increased energy demands. Young animals are often left unattended while mother looks for suitable forage. The result is that folks in rural as well as urban environments may find themselves dealing with an abandoned fawn, abandoned bird or other wildlife species.

These young or adolescent animals appear to need human kindness. More often than not, people just want to help and care for these stranded critters. Intentionally left unattended, young animals often stray and appear to be abandoned, and some may appear listless from the heat or lack of water. What you think may be happening may not be reality. Regardless of your intentions, this is not the time to lend a well-meaning hand. Continue reading Abandoned Fawn: What Should I Do?

Black Bears in Texas: Drought Has Them Moving!

Texas has been plagued by exceptional drought for almost an entire year and it’s taking a toll on native wildlife. Trees are losing their leaves, creeks and rivers have evaporated and the dry weather is driving black bears into urban areas searching for both food and water. In West Texas, the bears have been traveling out of their normal habitats for a couple of reasons. Not only has it been dry, but the place is literally burning up.

With fires scorching black bear ranges in the mountains of West Texas and Northern Mexico, and extreme drought making it hard to find water and food, the usually solitary bears have been on the move this summer, increasingly making their way into towns and cities. And where bears need to go is where the food is, be it dumpsters, gardens or even bird and deer feeders. Continue reading Black Bears in Texas: Drought Has Them Moving!

Black Bear in Del Rio – Comstock Texas

Although most people do not realize it, the American black bear is found throughout North America, including the state of Texas. Black bear use habitats ranging from swamps to desert scrub, which is exactly where the bear recently spotted in West Texas lives. Black bear are seen quite often between Del Rio, Comstock, even as far east as Junction, and all the way west to Alpine and the city of El Paso.

Most black bears are found in forests, but they are omnivores and can make it anywhere. At least two subspecies of black bear are thought to occur in Texas: the Mexican Black Bear (Ursus americanus eremicus) and the New Mexico Black Bear (subspecies U. a. amblyceps). Both are found in West Texas in desert scrub or woodland habitats within scattered mountain ranges, predominantly the Chisos and Guadalupe Mountains. In addition, both subspecies of black bear are state-listed as endangered in Texas. Continue reading Black Bear in Del Rio – Comstock Texas

Texas Prescribed Burn Workshops for Habitat Management

Fire has long been an ecologically important factor in Texas, and more recently landowners and wildlife managers have been using prescribed burns as an effective wildlife and habitat management technique. Currently, a prescribed burn workshop is accepting applications for participants interested in learning more about prescribed fire. The course teaches attendees how to use prescribed fire as a tool for land management. The participant will gain an understanding of fire effects and how to use fire in a safe manner to accomplish certain habitat management objectives.

In addition, the course combines lecture, group discussion, teamwork, individual projects and field work to increase each student’s knowledge of fire weather, fire behavior, physical properties and characteristics of fuels, and the effects of fire on habitat, wildlife and soils. Students will become aware of the risks associated with prescribed burning, including smoke risks and the risk of fire escape. Laws pertaining to the use of prescribed fire and their influence on a burn manager’s planning and decisions will be explained. Continue reading Texas Prescribed Burn Workshops for Habitat Management

South Texas Wildlife Conference

Texas Wildlife Association, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are hosting the South Texas Wildlife Conference. The event is scheduled for September 28-30, 2011 in Victoria, Texas, at the Spring Creek Place Event Center. The habitat management conference will focus on energy development and the future of wildlife habitat in South Texas. Much of the increase in the costs of Texas land for sale is because of landowner interest in recreation and wildlife habitat management, but there are also some other factors that many Texas landowners are finding out about, namely energy and mineral values from exploration companies.

The South Texas Wildlife Conference offers a rare opportunity to hear from a wide range of practitioners, land managers, policy makers, wildlife biologists, and wildlife researchers, about the future of energy development in the region and what it means for landowners. Habitat management sessions will inform landowners and other attendants about the latest studies concerning water, invasive grasses, habitat restoration strategies and general wildlife management techniques, as well as updates on issues that impact the precious natural resources found in this region. Wildlife conference topics include those with the greatest projected impacts: oil and gas, wind energy and uranium. Continue reading South Texas Wildlife Conference

Black Bear Sightings Increase in Texas

Black bears are native to Texas, but many residents have never seen one in the wild. That is all changing this year. It’s also causing quite a stir, becoming a wildlife management challenge for the state wildlife department. The increased number of black bear sightings in Texas this year is part of a larger story in West Texas, where black bears have made a comeback in the last couple of decades.

“We used to have thousands of bears in the state of Texas,” said professor Louis Harveson of Sul Ross State University. “They (hunters) used to hunt in the Davis Mountains and harvest eight a day.” But unregulated hunting, among other factors, drove black bears to near extinction in Texas, where they are still a protected species. But in nature, wildlife populations tend to cycle. Continue reading Black Bear Sightings Increase in Texas

Wildscaping for Wildlife: Texas Style Conservation

It’s a method of landscaping that is wildlife friendly, promotes native plants and it can save you money on your water bill. In Texas, it is best known as wildscaping, and at the heart of the practice is resource conservation. With drought impacting every corner of the state, native plant wildscaping could be just what the biologists ordered to help you conserve water while maintaining some greenery in your yard.

With temperatures rising and water low, it’s a bad time to be a water-dependent plant in Texas. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows Texas gasping for water under a dark red thermal blanket of severe to exceptional drought intensity, the third worst dearth of rainfall seen by the state in recorded history. But there is something we can all do. Studies have found lawn care accounts for over 50 percent of a household’s water usage! Enter wildscaping. Continue reading Wildscaping for Wildlife: Texas Style Conservation