More Bears Means an Increase in Encounters

A Black Bear in Del Rio, Texas

With the number of black bears in Val Verde County, Texas, on the rise, expect more interactions between bears and people, one state biologist says. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildlife Biologist Sylvestre Sorola earlier this week helped capture and relocate a young male black bear that wandered into a residential neighborhood in south Del Rio.

Sorola said encounters like the one earlier this week are possible now because black bears are re-colonizing traditional ranges in south and west Texas, areas from which black bears were extirpated in the mid-20th century.

The biologist said that sightings in Val Verde County began to rise in the 1980s and said those bears probably came to the area from thriving black bear populations in the Sierras del Carmen and the Sierras del Burro, the mountains in northern Coahuila that contain the distinctive “Sleeping Lady” formation west of Del Rio. Sorola said the bears from northern Mexico first established breeding populations in Big Bend National Park in far west Texas and have also returned to the Trans-Pecos, including Val Verde County. Continue reading More Bears Means an Increase in Encounters

Texas State Parks Looking Better!

Texas State Parks

With gasoline and airfare prices soaring, many families may be planning summer vacations closer to home this year. One high-value, low-cost option is Texas State Parks, which are “getting better all the time” thanks to increased funding provided by state lawmakers and voters.

The 80th Texas Legislature passed House Bills 1 and 12, providing an additional $25.6 million for state park operations during the 2008-09 biennium. Lawmakers also appropriated roughly $69 million in bond authority to fund state park major repairs, including $17 million under Proposition 8 and a little over $52 million in new bond authority from Proposition 4.

Last November, voters approved Proposition 4, which allocates $25 million to dry-berth the Battleship Texas to ensure its long-term preservation and another $27 million for major infrastructure repairs at state parks across Texas. After bonds are approved and sold this summer, design and construction contracts will be let this fall, and major repair work will start in 2009. Continue reading Texas State Parks Looking Better!

Death of Endangered Turtle Signals the Need of Texas Beaches

Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle

As best anyone can tell, sometime during the middle of May a female Kemp’s ridley turtle crawled out of the surf on South Padre Island and was struck by a passing vehicle. The cautionary tale illustrates why biologists are asking beachgoers to keep an eye out for the endangered sea turtles and report sightings.

Injured and confused, the turtle returned to the warm Gulf waters for nearly a week. Then, on May 23, the turtle came ashore again. After the animal successfully deposited her clutch of eggs in the sand, volunteers noticed her injuries and took her to Sea Turtle, Inc. There, a veterinarian noted the severe infection and estimated the turtle had only about a week to live. She was euthanized the following day.

The Kemp’s ridley turtle’s extraordinary drive to reproduce bodes well for the world’s smallest marine turtle species. Weighing-in at about 100 pounds as adults, the turtles once came ashore on Gulf of Mexico beaches — in northern Mexico mostly, but also in South Texas — in the tens of thousands in a phenomenon known as an arribada (arrival). Continue reading Death of Endangered Turtle Signals the Need of Texas Beaches

Great Texas Birding Classic Teams Awards Grants

Great Texas Birding Classic photo

Winning teams in the 2008 Great Texas Birding Classic have awarded their conservation prize money to fund seven habitat projects totaling $73,000 along the Texas coast. Touted as the world’s longest birding competition, the Birding Classic has funded a total of $651,000 for avian habitat conservation since it began 12 years ago.

Each year, winning teams allocate prize money to fund wildlife habitat conservation and restoration projects approved by the Birding Classic staff. This year’s event ran April 27-May 4. The competition is jointly hosted by Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Conservation prize money comes from corporate sponsors, team entry fees, community and individual donations, a Wildlife Diversity Conservation Grant from Horned Lizard Conservation License Plate funds and a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program. Continue reading Great Texas Birding Classic Teams Awards Grants

Game Warden Locates Illegal Dump in Lampasas County

Texas Game Warden badge

It doesn’t pay to litter! In October 2006 a Lampasas County, Texas, game warden located an illegal dumpsite while responding to a poaching call. Later that month, game wardens in a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department helicopter took photographs showing the magnitude of the dumpsite during a GPS mapping tour of deer camps. The game warden contacted the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and an investigation was launched.

A search warrant was executed in April 2007, and soil samples along with other evidence were gathered at the property. A grand jury indicted the suspect on a third degree felony relating to the handling of used oil and a state jail felony charge of illegal dumping. A jury deliberated last month just 10 minutes before returning convictions.

Rattlesnake Breeding and Behavior

Rattlesnake on the move

Rattlesnakes, like all snakes, are fascinating animals. This is probably because they are rarely seen by most people and they are perceived as scary. Yes, a rattlesnake is venomous and can kill you. However, the chances of you being bitten by one are low, very low. With that out of the way, today’s article discusses the breeding behavior of rattlesnakes.

Adult, female rattlesnakes become receptive to male advances only in years when they have stored enough body fat to bear a litter. In short, a rattlesnake may not breed every year. Because individual body condition is important, depending on hunting conditions only a small percentage of females may be available for breeding on an annual basis.

The rattlesnake mating season takes place in late summer. Females hold sperm in their reproductive tract during winter estivation (similar to hibernation) and fertilize their eggs at the beginning of the following spring. During pregnancy, female rattlesnakes will not eat, and this is even after an entire winter without feeding! They will not eat all summer.

Instead, females will stay at exposed to the sun in south-facing areas adjacent their winter den. Females rely only on their fat reserves to support the growth and development of their embryos throughout the summer months. This is why female rattlesnakes must be in excellent condition prior to breeding.

In a good year, the females will give birth to live young in late very late summer. A baby rattlesnake is venomous from birth, but it is incapable of defending itself from predators. Birds, raccoons, coyotes, and other snakes will quickly consume fresh-born rattlesnakes. Even fish, including largemouth bass, will eat snakes if the young are near water.

The just-born rattlers must be protected by their mother. Young rattlesnakes will have to spend the first week of life basking in the open until they shed their natal skin and can move on their own to safer ground. During that natal basking period, the mothers stay near their young, defending them from potential predators.

From this point, it will take the baby rattlesnakes anywhere from six to ten years to reach maturity. Once mature, females will only mate every three to six years. As you can see, rattlesnake populations can be closely tied to environmental conditions. Thier low rate of reproduction makes them highly susceptible poor habitat conditions or over-harvest.

Black Bear Captured in Del Rio

A black bear was darted in Del Rio, Texas

A wild black bear was captured alive in a south Del Rio, Texas, neighborhood Tuesday. The Del Rio police, city animal control officers and state wildlife officials converged on the 300 block of Plaza Avenue in the city’s San Felipe neighborhood about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The black bear, which had been sighted in the area since Monday afternoon, climbed a pecan tree on a vacant lot adjacent to Don’s Funeral Chapels, 307 Plaza Ave. Police armed with shotguns and rifles cleared a two-block area around the pecan tree into which the bear had climbed, ordering persons living in the neighborhood to stay inside their homes.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildlife Biologist Sylvestre Sorola, an experienced outdoorsman and veteran hunter, shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart shortly after noon Tuesday. Instead of leaving the tree, the darted bear scrambled about 10 feet higher,
forcing wildlife officials and Del Rio firefighters to use the fire department’s ladder truck to haul the unconscious bruin to the ground.