Tag Archives: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

The aoudad story

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Did you know before reading this post what an aoudad is, other than a potentially useful word to know the next time you play Scrabble? I admit that I had never heard of them, but the state is Texas has … Continue reading →

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Sorry, Smithville

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Their loss would be Houston’s gain. MD Anderson Cancer Center will relocate its nearly 50-year-old research facility near Austin to Houston, a decision that’s upset business and political leaders in the central Texas area. Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape has … Continue reading →

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Hogs in the city

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Too close, y’all. Too close. If you have noticed more feral hogs in your Houston-area neighborhood recently, you are not alone. Neighbors across the Greater Houston report the wild animals are more frequently making their way into their subdivisions and … Continue reading →

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The dino turtles of Buffalo Bayou

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I love this story. The creature didn’t growl and didn’t need to. The alligator snapping turtle held menace enough in its massive, gaping jaws, which ended in a sharp beak poised like the fangs of an agitated rattlesnake. Its long, … Continue reading →

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The Harvey effect on the Waugh Street Bridge bat colony

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It was bad, but we hope they will recover. Tens of thousands of bats perished or were displaced from their home at the Waugh Bat Colony when Hurricane Harvey swept through the city this summer, according to bat experts. “Pre-Harvey, … Continue reading →

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Save the bats

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

In case you needed something else to worry about. Texas researchers have closely watched the state’s bat population for years, looking for signs of a disease that has killed millions of North American bats: the white, powder-like substance on their … Continue reading →

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The zebra mussels keep invading

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Can anything stop them? When zebra mussels exploded in the Great Lakes region during the early 1990s, fisheries managers in Texas and many other southern states certainly noticed, but most weren’t overly alarmed. Yes, the alien freshwater mollusks, native to … Continue reading →

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Here come the drones

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Look! Up in the sky! Companies in Austin and Addison on Wednesday became the first two firms to become officially credentialed to operate unmanned aircraft systems under a new training and safety program that officials said promises to boost Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Another kind of feral hog to worry about

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Texas now has a warthog problem. Over its 46-year history, the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area has been the site of a long list of achievements that cemented its reputation as the premier state-owned wildlife and wildlife habitat research, education and … Continue reading →

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Please don’t feed the gators

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Should be obvious, but apparently not to everyone. In the time it took for something to hit the water and the unseen creature lying in wait to snap at it, the legend of the “killer gator” was born. It didn’t … Continue reading →

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Making room for quail

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Preservation isn’t just for urban elites. Jim Willis knows it isn’t easy to love a prairie. The quilt of burnt orange and brown that covers his Colorado County land can’t awe or inspire the way a canyon or mountain range … Continue reading →

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A home where the Texas State Bison Herd can roam

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. It was a little confusing at first, but the bison at Caprock Canyons State Park are settling into a pasture that’s 10 times what they were used to — basically the entire park. Park staff opened up 10,000 … Continue reading →

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Two environmental stories

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news, and some bad news. The bad news: We have an oyster shortage. Add an oyster shortage in Texas Gulf Coast to the problems exacerbated by the state’s years-long drought. But Texas’ dry spell isn’t the only reason … Continue reading →

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Make sure you check for zebra mussels

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

New boating rules are in effect in an effort to combat the spread of zebra mussels. Starting on [July 1], boaters are going to have to take an extra step to clean their vessels if they want to cruise around … Continue reading →

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Feral hogs cross the border

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

You can’t stop them, and hoping to contain them is not looking so likely, too. If nothing else, the voracious wild hogs that years ago destroyed the lucrative melon and cantaloupe harvests in this isolated border city — and are … Continue reading →

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Look out for zebra mussels

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Take proper care of your boat, y’all. Fishing and boating enthusiasts take note: you’re probably going to need a little extra time as you head out on the lake this year. Rules to prevent the spread of the invasive zebra … Continue reading →

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The feral hogs of Montgomery County

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Because three blog posts about feral hogs are better than two. Feral hogs – which some find more pesky than mosquitoes and more invasive than fire ants – are alive and well in Montgomery County. Officials in The Woodlands say … Continue reading →

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Radack finally gets to implement his feral hog plan

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t wait to see how well this works out. Locally sourced pork finally may be on the menu for needy Houston-area families as Harris County Precinct 3 launches its most ambitious effort yet to eradicate feral hogs damaging parkland … Continue reading →

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So you want to see Bigfoot?

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

He’s coming to your town, Houston and San Antonio. Or at least, whatever the huckster Rick Dyer is trying to pass off as a Bigfoot carcass is coming to your town. Dyer, 36, says he killed an 8-foot-tall Bigfoot in … Continue reading →

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The feral hogs of Kingwood

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

They’re everywhere. Kingwood communities that are battling feral hogs could be in it for the long haul, experts say. The huge, fearless cousins of domestic pigs have been roaming through the affluent northern suburb for at least a month, said … Continue reading →

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Educating people about invasive species

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Worth a shot. Every two months, Christopher Churchill, a U.S. Geological Survey biologist, scuba dives in Ray Roberts Lake, northwest of Dallas, to monitor the growth rates of zebra mussels, which have wreaked havoc on several Texas lakes and rivers. … Continue reading →

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The hogs keep winning

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Same old story. More than two decades into Texas’ ever escalating war against feral hogs, the wild swine continue gaining ground while Texas and the state’s native wildlife, plants and ecosystems lose it. Despite taking millions of casualties – an … Continue reading →

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The parks that weren’t there

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Very sad. For 30 years, the state parks department has owned 1,700 acres of diverse wilderness about 45 minutes east of downtown Houston. It stretches from the highest hill on the Texas coastal plain down to a pristine, white sandy … Continue reading →

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No, we shouldn’t be closing any state parks

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We shouldn’t be closing them in bad times, and we definitely shouldn’t be closing them in good times. “We need to turn up the volume and let people know that our state parks are threatened,” said Ian Davis, director of … Continue reading →

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Here come the tax cut proposals

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

When the sunny revenue forecast came in, we immediately got one crappy tax cut idea, to eliminate the margins tax at a cost of $4.5 billion. The Texas Association of Business didn’t care for the idea, at least at first, … Continue reading →

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Save those seeds

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

What would have been worse than the drought and the wildfires in Central Texas that wiped out millions of trees? Not having the wherewithal to properly reforest afterward. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, but it was a closer call than you’d … Continue reading →

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One form of federal funding Texas has not rejected

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Funding for bike trails is still welcome in the state. As you may know, under the new federal transportation bill, MAP-21, bicycle and pedestrian projects now have more competition for less money than was available under previous transportation laws. The … Continue reading →

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From the fish fraud files

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

My name’s Friday. I’m a fish fraud cop. Game wardens inspecting the takes of the “Nice Tails” team at the annual Ladies Kingfish tournament last month knew something was up when they saw a trout with a mottled belly and … Continue reading →

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A dollar a tree

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Replacing the trees lost in the Bastrop fires last summer is going to cost some money, but there’s now a foundation working on raising that money. Flanked by containers bristling with pine tree seedlings, state and local officials on Tuesday … Continue reading →

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More porkchopping, please

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, shooting feral hogs from a helicopter isn’t as popular a pastime as you might think. “Number one, the cost is kind of limiting,” said Steve Lightfoot, a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, explaining that interest has … Continue reading →

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It’s what comes after the rain that’ll get you

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

All that rain we got was great and badly needed to finally kill off last year’s drought. But we know what comes next. In the last three weeks, Harris County has confirmed three cases of this potentially deadly disease in … Continue reading →

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Environmental drones

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! A drone! One year into a $260,000 two-year grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, [civil engineer Thom] Hardy and his crew of biologists, geographers and spatial analysts have … Continue reading →

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See you later, alligator

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In some parts of town, it’s more like See you sooner or later, alligator. This time of year, the proprietor of Janik Alligators in El Campo spends much of his time trying to keep that scenario from happening. In the … Continue reading →

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Tough times for Texas parks

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Between the drought and the budget cuts, Texas parks are hurting. Dry weather and depleted lakes and rivers from the prolonged drought mean fewer folks are visiting parks or buying hunting and fishing licenses, the head of the Texas Parks … Continue reading →

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