Being at a Wildlife Refuge you can’t help but learn about some of the occupants and venues (Whether we wanted to or not!) of the area. So with that in mind I will pass on some of the things we have learned so far.
After being at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge for about a month things have calmed down and we are getting used to our schedules and duties. One thing that we were pleased to find out is that our fifthwheel acts like a wildlife blind and we can just sit inside and observe the critters through our big back window as they come to visit. This is our new pet Armadillo that comes and visits every once in a while, it is amazing how fast these things can dig a hole when they are after some juicey bug or grub. The Nine-Banded Armadillo is the official state animal of Texas. They usually sleep up to 16 hours each day in burrows and have four identical pups of the same gender in every litter. Some people even eat Armadillos and say they taste like pork. I was once on a military trip to San Antonio years ago and one of the guys we were meeting with had us over for a barbecue and claimed what he had on the grill were Armadillo tails – they tasted and resembled Johnsonville Brats a little too much to put much credibility in his claims.
This little guy is a Cattle Egret who came to visit us one day, just kind of wandering around by our rig.
These little guys like to follow cattle or other large grazing animals catching the little critters that the large animals stir up. They also have a habit of removing and eating the ticks and flies from the animals – kind of gross but it serves a purpose. They also follow farm equipment around picking up the disturbed things that they find.
Here is our Harris Hawk, again. I found out that these guys are pack hunters (something like an aerial wolf pack) and cooperate with small groups of up to seven birds to catch the unlucky rabbit, squirrel, or rat that they spot. No other raptor type of bird does this. I haven’t seen that happen yet - but I think it would be rather cool to see.
On one of the cool, windy weekends, we ended up down on South Padre Island by the breakwater. The waves were rolling hard but that didn’t stop the fishermen from trying their luck.
This guy must have been from way up north somewhere – he was out there diving into the waves with the wind blowing at 25 mph plus and temps just barely in the 60s. The water wasn’t that warm either.
On our walks along the South Padre beach we run into all kinds of people - walking, riding, fishing, and even driving their vehicles right along the surf. When you’re walking, you do have to watch out for the vehicles though – some of them drive pretty fast and crazy on the sand.
Here is a view of the beachfront of South Padre Island from the south end. It was a pretty cool day so the clothing for the day didn’t include swimwear with the exception of a couple of very hardy souls.
My latest project for the Refuge was to help the Biology Interns install tree tubes on newly planted seedlings. The four of us plus a crew from Flagstaff, AZ called the A.C.E. crew, staked and tubed 40,000 seedlings over a two week period. The A.C.E. crew is part of the American Conservation Experience based out of Flagstaff and provide people for manual labor to maintain or help with conservation related projects around the country. For me working with this group of young people was a blast, tiring but a blast.
Linda caught a picture of this guy on a recent trip back from town. It is the Greater Roadrunner and is a long-legged bird of the cuckoo family. The Latin name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". These guys run around on the ground as they hunt for little beasties - running down small animals and bugs including spiders like the Black Widow and tarantulas, scorpions, mice, small birds and especially lizards and small snakes. Small poisionous snakes are a delecacy for these guys, including small rattlesnakes. They kill their victims by holding the victim in its bill and slamming it repeatedly against the ground or a rock. I saw this happen once in Arizona and it is rather brutal.
It seems that this Roadrunner didn’t like Linda’s attention too much and mooned her. As much as a bird can anyway.
In reality this is how these guys cool off on the warm days – by lifting their feathers and exposing themselves to the wind.
With the projects I’m being involved in I’ve had the opportunity to get supplies in a nearby storage area that I refer to as the “Bunkers of Death”. These are old ammunition bunkers from World War II when they had a training area for the old bomber Ball Turret gunners that were headed for Europe. When I first attempted to go there, I was told I would have to wait until they had all of the killer bees (Africanized bees) cleared out. Once that was done I was told to watch out for the tarantulas, Black Widows, and scorpions that would fall off the doors when I opened them. Then to top it all off there was one last warning about the Coral snakes and rattlesnakes that like to hide in there. No one would volunteer to go with me the first time! To tell you the truth I wasn’t real excited to go out there. But once I did – no problem. No spiders, no scorpions, no killer bees (but part of the hives are still there), no snakes but there were a lot of snakeskin sheds on the floors. It doesn’t bother me to go out there anymore, but I am careful!
Not far from the Refuge is the Palo Alto Battlefield, a National Historical Park. It is a National Park Service unit which preserves the grounds of the first major battle of the Mexican-American War on May 8, 1846. The United States Army’s victory there made the invasion of Mexico possible. The historic site portrays the battle - and the war -and its causes and consequences from the perspectives of both the United States and Mexico.
The park's visitor center features exhibits and a film about the battle and the Mexican-American War. There is a number of trails that lead you around the battlefield with lots of interpretive panels and a couple of overlooks. Most of it is just grass and Mesquite, as though time and nature have tried to cover things up.
This is a replica of the cannon the Americans brought with them to the war while the one above belonged to the Mexican army. Quite a difference in size, and with the longer range and explosive power, was the deciding factor in the favorable outcome for the United States that day.
As we were taking a bike ride around the larger lake on the Refuge, we came across these guys just hanging around (a Tri-Color Heron and an Ibis). They let us get somewhat close but most of the time the wildlife on the Refuge take off at the first sight of humans and you can’t get close enough for a good photo.
Another example of our back window acting like a bird/animal blind – that is if I keep the windows clean. This little Bobwhite Quail came by just to get his picture taken.
A White Tail Buck peeking at me through the bushes as I rode by on the Bayside Trail.
Besides the Green Jay that we had in the last blog, there is another rather bright little bird called the Altamira Oriole around here. They are common in Northeastern Mexico, but were not found in this area until 1939. It’s rather common now and is considered a year-round resident here in the far southern part of Texas.
Another view of one of our little Armadillo friends just getting a little refreshment on a warm afternoon.
One animal that really surprised us when we got here was oringinally from the India/Nepal area and is called the Nilgai Antelope. Nilgai means "blue bull" in certain East Indian dialects. They were originally introduced to the huge King Ranch (over 850,000 acres) in the 1930's by a family member who decided that South Texas was too tough an environment for cattle that prefered a cooler climate. His search for an animal that could thrive in the South Texas climate and produce a high quality, lean meat led him to the Nilgai Antelope.
This started the Texas “safari” hunt business for those who don’t want to go overseas for an exotic animal head to put on the wall. It’s said they have over 10,000 head currently on the ranch. Another large ranch in the area started with 15 head and now claim about 30,000. Their websites advertise hunts at $500 per gun per day plus a harvest fee of $1,000 per Nilgai bull or $300 per Nilgai cow.
These days, the Nilgai are not so much an exotic in South Texas as they are a nuisance. The fast-running, 600-pound male antelopes have escaped the ranches and wandered all around the region, where they picked up a variety of fever tick from Mexico that once nearly wiped out American cattle. The ticks have spread among the population including the Refuge we are on and threaten the cattle in the area. When we arrived here the rangers were in the middle of managing a big hunt for these and the feral hogs that roam on the Refuge.
Linda caught this guy at one of the feeding stations on the Refuge. He is a Golden Fronted Woodpecker. I don’t know much about this guy other than he does have unusual coloring.
Enough with the wildlife for now. We will be heading out to the Island for a Kite Festival this weekend and see how the Island is gearing up for the real wildlife show near the end of the month and into March - called Spring Break.
Below is a quick little collage I made up from a few shell pictures I took while we were on the beach last week. (My way of collecting shells!)
Again, we leave you with a rather stunning sunset – this one from the far southern expanses of Texas and a place called Laguna Atascosa.
Home is where we park it!
Lee & Linda
