I can Fly

 We know about barn swallows, cave swallows, chimney swifts, and all their relatives, but not until this year did we get to know the barn swallow up close.  In part, we avoided barn swallows because we preferred to shoo them away from building their nest attached to the stucco.  So, from the past year's efforts, we had a partially completed nest that we left in place over the last winter.  This spring a pair was back again to complete the nest and we agreed to their petition. 

Their diligence at nest building caught our attention and we followed along by noting the progress. Nest building seemed slow, but that was because it was so dry, and they needed mud to make an adobe-style nest.

But finally, it appeared that the hen was sitting on eggs; how many we did not know as the nest was high, up near the ceiling of the breezeway.

Finally, it became obvious that the eggs had hatched because both parents were busy all day long hunting for bugs in flight.  It was a constant job.  The pile of bird droppings on the concrete pad was getting bigger by the day.  However, it was suggested that a flowerpot with soil placed under the nest is a good solution to this and so we will try that next year should they return.  Later, when we plant seeds in the pot, we should have some good blooms.

For several weeks, the newly hatched birds were so small that they did not show up above the rim of the nest.  But soon after, whenever a parent approached the nest from a flight of gathering food, four little gaping mouths appeared just above the rim of the nest.  They all yelled, "me, me, me, I am hungry".

This went on for a couple weeks and all the time the parents were hunting for insects and since it has been so dry, insects were scarce.  But they continued to grow and get even more demanding.  
Finally, the most adventuresome of the four decided it was getting to be high time for a jump out of the nest.  Besides, the nest partners were getting annoyed by all the wing flapping to test the flight capability.

Not long after this photo was taken, the one on the left jumped, then the one on the right jumped also.  Both rested on the railing of the porch to get their bearings.  The others stayed in the nest for another day, but then they too made the big move.  The last one was runty, and when it jumped from the nest, it landed on the concrete floor directly below the nest almost no flight at all.  But then with some wild flapping of wings, it was able to make the railing for a sigh of relief.

Then, all four decided on the best way to celebrate their new skills at flying by whirling around in the breezeway in a parade-like style.

Here is the parade of the four barn swallows.   The video can be seen by doing a search using "barn swallow graduation day" on the web, as it will take you directly to my YouTube channel.

Little by little, the four would make forays in the sky of the back yard practicing flight maneuvers and probably finding some insects.  They apparently were feeding themselves as we saw no evidence that the parents were teaching them about catching insects in flight.  They flew only for 15 minutes at a time, then returned to the nest for rest.

As we were watching them cavort in the sky of the backyard, they seemed to like our presence as they would commonly swoop under the roof where we were sitting and fly on by us to brag to us about their flight skills. We enjoyed their close visits.

Every night they returned to their nests for sleep.  I say nests because by now the four are using their original nest and last year's phoebe nest on the other end of the porch.  Four birds are now too big to fit into one nest.

We will keep track of them throughout the summer and will update this post when we note that they have left for winter times in the south.

Update.

Well, they left after swinging by in one last swoop to say goodbye.  That was about July 6th.  Its early for them to leave Texas but with no rain, they probably could not find food.  Makes sense to us.

What a change!

 No rain, no bugs, no birds---and very few bluebonnets.

Well, that's an extreme view, we have had some rain, although very little, there are some bugs but not many.  

And birds, where are they?

The phoebes that once hung around all year are gone, the bluebirds, none seen.  Purple martins, forget them as it's now too late for them to appear at the nest box.

The barn swallows are making a stab at refurbishing their nest in the breezeway; the test will be if they stay for the summer.  So far, Ma and Pa barn swallow are sticking it out with this dry weather and have hatched their four eggs in the nest in the breezeway.  What a hoot they are in their effort to constantly provide bugs for these four hungry mouths.

This photo taken on May 26th shows the four nestlings nearly ready for their first dive out of the nest.  The parents alternately provide a bug or two and then just swoop by the nest as if to say, "this is how to do it".   We have had some rain, but before the rain this week, it appeared the parents were flying some distance away, perhaps to the stock tank to find the bugs to bring back to the nest.

Our great State bird, the barnyard dog of the bird world, the mockingbird, has not been seen but once some days ago, and not recently.

Dee, the one with the ability to hear high frequencies, claims she has heard a Golden Cheeked Warbler, but since these birds are so reclusive, we have yet to see one this year.

Many don't think about this, but most birds feed their hatchlings bugs, even though these same birds will be seed eaters when they mature.  After the young seed-eating birds fledge, the seed-eating birds change from a bug diet to a seed diet.  That point underscores the importance of conditions and habitats for wildlife.

Every year we keep a close eye out for the Painted Bunting, which usually appears around now.  A few of our friends tell us that April 15th is always the target date for the bunting to appear and we are on the lookout.  One of our neighbors claims that an Indigo Bunting has arrived at their place.  That's good news.  In the past, we have found that water in the birdbath is important to all birds, especially the Painted Bunting.

This week may bring some rain.  Let's hope it does.

Please take note of this reminder to avoid mowing the roadside right now as the antelope horn milkweeds are up and about to bloom.  It's one of our best butterfly flowers, so we need to take care and let them bloom and go to seed.  This year is one of our best crops of milkweed in several years.

Meanwhile, readers are asked to check in on this blog post and let us know your success with attracting birds this year.  

Squirrels

 The squirrel doesn't get much attention as most see them as food and often call them tree rats.  We see them mostly in the daytime stealing food right before our eyes. I found that some squirrel chewed through the plastic bin that is used for storage of sunflower seeds

I collected 10 very plump and alive burr oak acorns from the bank of the San Marcos River down by Seguin, came home and soaked them in water for a few days to hydrate them and to be sure they were still alive.  Then I planted each in its own pot of a gallon size and let them sit and decide when to begin sprouting.  That was way back in early March when it was still cold and so the acorns just bided their time and remained dormant.

The ten pots each with an acorn, sat in the breezeway waiting for warmer weather. Along about April 10th I noticed the acorns from all ten pots had been stolen.  All plucked neatly out of the pot and taken to wherever.  

Which brings me to the observation that squirrels bury their newly found acorns in moist soil.  It is my belief that squirrels prefer budded acorns over those that are still dormant.  It provides the analogy that we humans like sprouted wheat over just plain wheat grains.  They taste better that way.  Squirrels are commonly observed storing acorns by digging a small hole in the ground, shoving the acorn in the hole and covering it over.  It is my belief they do this not to merely save the acorn for later dining, but to have it sprout and then eat it.  Sprouted acorns taste better than dormant ones--they tell me.  Not only that, but just as hogs are used to find truffles underground using their sense of smell, so can squirrels find the acorns they planted months earlier.

Most of our squirrels in this area and extending eastward are the fox and gray squirrels.  However, last week an unusual looking squirrel hied himself across the street in front of the car and into the roadside woods.  I noted a dark head and shoulders as a unique feature of this rodent.  I had never seen a squirrel like this in our neighborhood.  It turns out that we saw a rock squirrel.  Here is the coat coloring of this squirrel, photo courtesy of TPWD:

Texas Tech Research Lab has this to say about the rock squirrel:

Rock squirrels are nearly always found in rocky areas—cliffs, canyon walls, talus slopes, boulder piles, rocky fills along highways, and so forth—where they seek refuge and dig their dens. 

Although typical ground squirrels in most respects, rock squirrels can climb trees nearly as well as tree squirrels.

Occasionally they den in tree hollows 5 or 6 m from the ground. The usual den, however, is a burrow dug under rock or tree roots; others are in crevices in rock masonry along railroads and highways, cavities in piles of boulders, or small caves and crevices in rocky outcrops. They are diurnal and most active in early morning and late afternoon, but they are rather shy and difficult to observe at close range. Their call is usually a repeated, sharp, clear whistle.

They feed on a variety of plant materials, depending on availability. Known items include acorns, pine nuts, walnuts, seeds of mesquite, cactus, saltbush, agave, wild gourd, cherries, sumac, spurge, serviceberry, berries of currant and juniper, and all sorts of cultivated fruits and vegetables. Insects also contribute to their diet, especially grasshoppers, crickets, and caterpillars. They have been reported to catch and eat small wild turkeys and other birds.

Rock squirrels are facultative hibernators. In central Texas, they hibernate 2–4 months, from November to February or March. Fat is deposited, and they store food for winter use. At lower elevations in the Big Bend region of Texas they are active all year.

In Defense of Ashe Junipers

Okay, let me say from the beginning that an excessive amount of anything may not be the best situation. It certainly applies to Ashe Junipers but be careful as it also applies to you and me.

Ashe Junipers have been around central Texas for a long, long time.  Yes, over the years it seems as if its territory has expanded and taken over some rocky slopes, but not so much native grasslands.  This is probably true as fires, cedar cutters, and grazers are all working to keep their numbers in check.  Open, grassy fields are the last to see an invasion of Ashe junipers because the grazers keep them in check---besides that, birds are the main vehicle for transporting the seeds and birds pass the seeds when sitting on tree limbs, not while flying over the grasslands.

Fire as a means of control is out of the question because of the danger of property damage and the cedar cutters went out of business when steel fenceposts were developed.  Now the only means of control is the highly powered machine that grinds them up as they stand there, and yes, create quite a bit of litter for nature to take care of over a period of a decade or so.  Cedar wood does not rot very easily.

Why have these Junipers taken on such a bad reputation? It is not all that clear, but the push against the juniper started about twenty years ago by some self-proclaimed naturalists saying that they were invasive and deleterious to the growth of other more favorable trees.

Perhaps the most commonly heard complaint is that Ashe Junipers robbed the other plants, grasses as well as trees, of much needed rainfall.  Let's take this argument in segments.  Yes, Junipers can shield light rain from entering the soil by virtue of their canopy effect.  Studies show that rain of about 1/8 of an inch stays on the foliage, never reaching the ground.  Probably so, but 1/8 inch of rain is not valuable to any of our grasses or trees as it will evaporate from the ground rather quickly.

Now let's take on the criticism that Juniper's root structure pulls soil moisture away from grasses or trees.  Have you seen the root structure of a Juniper?  It's not much to look at---being shallow rooted and not very large.  After all, the transpiration rate of water from the foliage is low and therefore the Juniper does not need much of a root structure to stay alive.  All this supports the idea that the Juniper is not a water hog.

Dense stands of Juniper can and do become so dense that grass is totally blocked from growth.  Not good, but thinning cures that problem. Which reminds me, Ashe Junipers can be managed to grow just like a typical tree.  We find that cemeteries have used the Juniper trimmed up so that it provides a shady canopy, just like an oak.  Here is a photo of an Ashe Juniper in the Wimberley Cemetery.  There are many trimmed like this one.  The cemetery on Purgatory Road also has these same trimmed-up junipers scattered among the gravestones.

On the other side of the ledger, there are some surprising data that indicates that some plants form a symbiotic relationship with the Juniper.  One such plant is the Madrone.  From our own experimentation in this area in Bandera County, we could get Madrone seeds to germinate and grow best under the spread of an Ashe Juniper and only the Ashe Juniper. 

And then, there is the need for the Ashe Juniper to provide the favorite nesting material the Golden Cheeked Warbler (where are the environmentalists when we need them---now that the pipeline is installed?)   A recent article in the newsletter of the Texas Land Conservancy featuring El Coto de los Rincones Preserve has this comment: At Los Rincoes, the importance of the juniper-oak forest was recognized before the Golden Cheeked Warbler was listed as an endangered species in 1990.  Golden Cheeked Warblers return to the canyons of Los Rincoes every March.  Warblers most often nest in the oak, but gather their nesting material from the Ashe juniper, so you can see the importance of the combination of oak and juniper. 

That mere fact is enough to justify the existence of the juniper among the oaks.

We still don't know who started the ball rolling to rid the land of the Juniper but following the money may reveal the origin.  John Galley, (1905-1997) a geologist, said "There are two kinds of geologists, ones that like science as a study of the earth, animals or other aspects of the natural environment, and ones that get rich from it."  This differentiation applies to naturalists, biologists and conservationists as well.  

Perhaps if we dig deep enough, we might just find that the fanaticism for ridding Texas of the Ashe Juniper originated with those who had purchased these huge machines that grind up the Juniper in a matter of hours, thus turning the green of the juniper into the green of money. 

Exploding Maple Trees

It is not obvious why this topic of exploding maple trees has recently come into the news, but for what it's worth, under certain conditions deciduous trees will literally crack open along the grain of the tree trunk.  Sometimes it kills the tree, sometimes not.  It's not to be confused with limbs breaking with a cracking sound due to the load of ice or snow---this phenomenon results in a crack along the grain of the trunk due to expansion of the ice crystals. 

But the phenomenon is related to deciduous trees and not evergreens.  Yes, our Live Oaks live in the never-never land between deciduous and evergreen.

Deciduous trees have sap with a water content much higher than many others. Just ask the maple syrup harvesters how much water they must boil off the sap to make maple syrup. In the fall, the sap starts its process of moving to the roots for the winter, leaving the cells of the trunk free of much of the watery sap.  That is a start-and-stop process depending on the time of the year (amount of sunshine) and the temperature.  Continuous, and steady dropping average temperatures make the process of sap migration routine and uninterrupted.  There are no trunk explosions with this situation.

But, and especially those trees with high water content sap like the Maple, if the trend of changing temperature, either up or down is not steady, this watery sap may be caught in the trunk of the tree when the tree experiences below freezing temperatures for extended periods of times, like several days.  Then the sap freezes and the trunk expands with a cracking sound.  This phenomenon of cracking can occur more often in the spring than the fall as we don't have those bone chilling cold spells in the fall, but we do in the spring just as we did last February and to some extent this past week.

The oral and written record of this phenomenon is at least 500 years old, as the Native Americans have described the cracking of deciduous tree trunks during extremely cold periods of time.

Some like to jump on the observation of cracking trunks as a result of global warming, but don't be fooled.

The Mountain Lion

 We have spent many hours in the outdoors in Michigan, New England States, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas and throughout all those years and places we have spotted a mountain lion on two occasions, In Northwest Arkansas in the 1980s and by Lake Amistad in Texas in the 1990s.  Both were good spottings up rather close, maybe 100 feet away.  The Arkansas spotting was a mother lion moving her litter with a newborn cub in her mouth.  She spotted us, stood and looked at us for about 20 seconds, and then moved on casually to her destination.  The other spotting occurred as we were walking on an old ranch road near Lake Amistad.  The road was walkable with high brush on both sides so all we could see was the road ahead.  As we rounded a bend, ahead of us was a lion casually walking in the same direction.  Since its senses are extremely keen, it probably knew we were present but did not show that it knew we were there.  Finally, the lion ducked into the tall brush alongside the road, and we never saw it again. As many might think, no, we did not tremble with fear when we encountered these two lions. 

Yes, the mountain lion is a predator, but so is man.  It's understandable that if a lion has adopted the habit of repeatably killing livestock, it should be hunted and killed but the media and the TPWD have created such a negative attitude toward the lion, an attitude of fear, that even those who have no experience of any predation are eager to kill it.   We should work to change that attitude.

Now the range of the lion in Texas is concentrated mostly in the remote areas of the Big Bend.  It is occasionally spotted in the rest of the state but not very often. The map below shows the counties where the mountain lion has been spotted, but the spottings more than likely fall short.  It's almost certain that the mountain lion exists in all Texas counties west of the 100th meridian---maybe in all counties of low population in all of the state.

The map below shows the spotting data:

Figure 24.1 Range of the Mountain Lion

The Mountain Lion has a long history of residence in North America, and for those who have never seen a mountain lion here is a photo of one that matches those we have seen.  Some photos show the lion as a gray color, but I believe all are of the tan color unless the color of the fur changes with the winter season.

Figure 24.2 Mountain Lion

For those who have seen a bobcat, the mountain lion is larger than the bobcat and more elusive.  The bobcat of course is easily identified as its tail is very short.

According to the website maintained by THE MOUNTAIN LION FOUNDATION, the lion has a range running all the way from Canada through the western USA and into Chile.  The lion has maintained that longitudinal range since records have been collected, but the latitudinal range has been shortened dramatically to that west of the Mississippi by extermination and habitat destruction.  There is a species of lion that lives in the Everglades.

Western states exhibit varying degrees of attitudes about the lion.  For example, South Dakota is considering all-out destruction of the lion whereas Colorado is considering a ban on hunting the lion.

Texas for all of its notoriety of being a safe home for many forms of wildlife has an open season on lions with the thrust of this led by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Try visiting Mountainlion.org for more information.   Help save this great animal by not killing it for the sake of the kill.

Mountain lions are many names, including cougar, puma, catamount, painter, panther, and many more. They are the most wide-ranging cat species in the world and are found as far north as Canada and as far south as Chile.

Solitary cats, 

A Struggle for Existence

We find it enlightening to reread material written by naturalists in the middle 1800s as they began to study evolution and the origin of species.  Most commonly read are the two books written by Charles Darwin:  Origin of Species and Voyage of the Beagle.  There were many others studying the science of plant and animal development during this time and Darwin made good use of their studies in crafting his theories.

In these two books, especially in the Origin of Species, he makes the point that every generation produces variations in the makeup of the species--all due to natural causes.  The variations are too small to be observed in just one generation, but these changes, accumulated over time result in either more adaptability to the environment or less.  In other words, if the variation makes survival more likely, they make it, otherwise...  Some make it some do not.  The process can lead to overpopulation or to extinction.

These old writings make the reader realize that we live in an ever-changing world of living things and the change is happening right before our eyes.  But we don't notice the change as our span of observation is our lifetime and these genetic changes occur over a much greater time period.

This constant change sets up the contest for survival of the fittest and the struggle for existence.

Hundreds of years ago, the native Live Oaks of the gulf coastal region grew only in the heavy soil and warmer conditions along the coast.  Oaks are known for their ability to readily produce variation and some variations adapted to the soil and conditions of the Hill Country.  Because of these adaptabilities of the Oak species, we have the Plateau Live Oak that lives here but not on the coast. 

It may seem to us that the Plateau Live Oak is well established, but we ask, is it really?

Let's take the reseeding of the Plateau Live Oak, as just one of the factors that determine its existence.  Our variety of Live Oak (Quercus Fusiforma) received a kick it the rear end last year in February when we had that severe cold downdraft from the polar region.  Many of the oaks had trouble leafing out on time and from my observation, they did not produce many acorns that year.  Without acorns we get no new oaks.  During normal winters and springs, the oaks produce a good crop of acorns.  When I first began experimenting with live oak propagation, I collected handfuls of acorns at random and spread them out over the grassy fields expecting to see a forest of new trees develop.  How many did I see?  None.

Then I started testing the acorns to determine if they were alive and found that in a typical handful, I might find one that was alive, all others having had their cores eaten out by worms while still on the tree.   The little hole in the acorn that shows up later after the acorn has fallen to the ground is the telltale sign that the acorn is dead.  The worm consumes the heart of the acorn, develops and escapes it leaving a hole in the acorn.

So then, I only planted known live acorns in the grassy fields where I monitored them with a marker.  How many did I get?  None.   In disbelief, I started to inspect the planting site and found that the acorn did sprout but deer or some other animal found the new leaves so tasty that the sprout was consumed and without starter leaves, the new plant died for lack of nourishment.

Extrapolating the grazing process, it becomes apparent that this is the cause of most of our live oaks having Y-shaped trunks, where the grazer has nipped off the leader but left enough to allow the plant to live and to ultimately form two trunks in the absence of the leading stem.

So now to have more live oaks, I plant live acorns in pots and when they come up and live in a pot for a year, then they are transplanted with screen guards to prevent grazing.  It's the only way.  So, if you were to depart (we all do sooner or later) and come back in a hundred years, the botany of the area would look just like it does today, open grasslands and mottes of oaks, but perhaps with filled in areas of Ashe Juniper.  What gives Ashe Juniper the edge to expand its territory?  New sprouts are not attractive to browsing animals, perhaps due to their prickly exterior.  And even if the new sprouts are browsed, if the browser does not get every bit of green, the new seedling continues to grow.  Ashe Junipers are like that. That browsing also leads to the Ashe Juniper growing up without a main trunk and looking much like a shrub.

Live Oak acorns have other factors in their struggle to create the next generation of trees.  Live acorns are a prime source of food for squirrels, turkeys and hogs.

And there is Oak Wilt, a disease that can decimate whole stands of live oaks.

In summary, about the only way for a Live Oak to reproduce naturally in our immediate environment is to germinate in the brush among the mature trees.  The predators find it not worth their effort to probe the brush where the new sprout is hiding.  Acorns from live oaks standing in the open have no chance to produce seedlings.  This situation is one of the causes of our oaks forming mottes as commonly occur here.

I would like to see the data on the odds of a single tree producing a single successful descendant--it must be very low.  As Darwin has pointed out, there is a struggle for existence.

Rock Pile Kits

 The title sounds like something you would buy at a toy store, but in this case, it refers to the three gray fox kits that were raised in the rock pile in our back yard; the rock pile we preserved as a feature to attract the wild animal and plant life of the area.

Well, the gray fox found a great place to raise her three kits in the top of the pile where there apparently is a cave of sorts that all three kits could call home for a while. As is the usual arrangement, the mother fox lived close by but not in the den with the kits.

We did not notice this activity right away, but one day looking out the back window, we spotted a small fox that appeared briefly and then disappeared into the pile.   We kept the camera handy to catch the activity in the future.

Here is what we caught.

Kit Gray fox on the rock pile

After about three weeks, the three small foxes decided that they would vacate the rock pile and join mother.  We observed this ceremony when mother fox visited and as she left, all three went with her, single file to the back woods.

Over the next several months, we saw the small foxes when they would occasionally visit their early homestead, but then as time went by, and they grew to adult size, they stopped coming by, hopefully now out on their own.

A fantastic animal.

    

Porcupines and Other Observations

 Whoa, what was that animal recently observed running up the driveway?  It was too far away to easily identify it but it ran with a side to side gait, not very fast, and was the size of a fat house cat.  So, at the time I concluded it was a fat house cat.  Since the coyotes have returned to the neighborhood, the feral cat population seems to be down, but maybe this one was more clever to evade the coyotes.

Then a few days later, on the road at the entrance to the driveway, what do we see but the same animal--this time close enough so that it was obvious, it was a porcupine.

(Photo courtesy of istockimages)

We are familiar with porcupines, having some experience with them in Bandera County, and and greater experience with this animal in Michigan.  The territory of the porcupine ranges throughout the world in one form or another, but here in the USA the territory of the Porcupine ranges from Alaska through the lower forty eight states with the exception of the great plains (no trees) and the southeastern part of the country in general.  The range map shows the territory more clearly.

Range map of the American Porcupine

Over many years, the range of the porcupine in Texas has been moving slowly eastward.  It may take decades and then maybe never, for the porcupine to habit all of Texas.

There are a lot of stories that circulate around regarding the porcupine, one of which is that they have the ability to "shoot" their quills out like arrows from a bow.  Not so, but these quills are anchored quite loosely in their skin, so if a predator attempts to bite the porcupine, the quill being barbed on its tip, is then lodged in the predator's mouth.  Dogs have to learn this danger, but coyotes seem to know it instinctively.  I have seen dogs with their mouths full of porcupine quills.

Another story about porcupines is one from Michigan during WWII.   At that time, Michigan was issuing new license plates for cars and trucks on an annual schedule.  Aluminum and steel were in short supply, so someone in the government decided that fiberboard plates, made from wood chips, would suffice for a year.  In the city, the plates did last the year, but for those vehicles parked in the wooded areas, the porcupine ate the license plates right down to the mounting bolts.   They like wood and are strict herbivores.

Some think hedgehogs (think Europe) and porcupines are the same animal, but that is not the case.  The hedgehog does have quills but their quills are not barbed.  Furthermore, the hedgehog is an omnivore.  Yes, they look similar, but are not the same, only distantly related.  For those interested in the Scientific name of our native porcupine it is Erethizon dorsatum.

Other Observations

Taking a backward glance at the St. Valentine's day polar vortex that gave us that very cold week in February, it appears as if our earlier observations were correct in that the Palo Verdes are coming back from the roots, the Huisache has been told to move back south of San Antonio and the same goes for the orchardman's olive trees.

It will be an interesting observation to note how many years it takes the Huisache to move back to Hays County to the extent that it had established itself---- it maybe many years.  Perhaps shrubby trees read too many reports on global warming and decided to make the move north only to be disappointed.

Similar story goes for olive trees.  I once wanted several olive trees for the yard, but every nursery I contacted was south of San Antonio and thought, since I lived in the Hill Country, that I was being foolhardy, but I wanted olive trees for the decorative effect, plus the olives are good in some drinks.  Despite this discouragement from the south-of-San Antonio nurseries , several olive "ranches" developed up in the northern part of Hays County about 6 years ago.  Why they started this big investment when they probably received the same advice I received was a mystery to me at the time.  Think tourism.  The world is not short of olive oil, but olive oil does fit into the specialty market as do the wines of the Hill Country, so olive orchards were planted for their tourism appeal.  That tourism area, if you hadn't noticed lies to the north of a latitudinal line beginning in northern Hays County.  South of this line, outdoor tourism is essentially nonexistent.  So, the olive trees are gone, and I would doubt that replanting is in progress.

We noted the first (to us) flock of Canada Geese flying in formation on the coattails of the cold front that went through a few days ago. Seems earlier than usual.

Then another strange observation.  A fawn, new enough to still have a strong showing of spots showed up with its mother.  I don't keep good track of this information, but it sure does seem late in the year for a fawn with spots.

Spotted fawn on the left (through blinds)

I considered that it may have been an Axis deer as they have spots into maturity, but they are rare here and besides, my experience is that a Whitetail would usually run them off, especially if there is food around.

Time will tell if we see it again and its five feet tall and has spots, eh?

Who is boss among the wildlife?

 We decided to run a two week experiment about 30 days ago by providing food of four varieties at a specific time each evening.  The invitees were to be any that showed up. We chose 5-7 pm because we are usually at home then and can provide observation and data gathering each day.

The foods we chose were (a) sweet feed, which is probably ground up meal mixed with molasses (b) fruit scraps from our use of apples and pears (c) sunflower seeds and (d) small bits of 69 cent wieners as a meat. Oh, yes, and fresh water in the birdbath was included.  With this well balanced diet, we sat and waited.

The attendance was ragged at first, but within a week it settled into a routine that allowed us to make some observations.

The regular attendees were three deer (one six- point buck, one spike horn, one doe), one immature gray fox, a squirrel, countless Red Cardinals and a few titmice. The mockingbird, known in Texas as the junkyard dog of the bird world, was nowhere around as it hangs out on the other side of the house, since they and the cardinal are not particularly good bedfellows. Uninvited attendees were the zillions of fire ants. By the way, the ants this year are particularly invasive, more than any other year in our recollection. 

 At first, when we simply placed the wiener pieces on the sidewalk, the fox would bat the pieces along the concrete with its front foot to rid the meat of the ants, but still after eating, had to fight off the ants from its mouth with the side of its front paw.  So one observation is that the immature fox already knows all about fire ants and how to deal with them.

With the variety of food placed in separately located piles, all was peace and quiet for awhile.  The fox went for the meat, the deer for the sweet feed and the birds and squirrels for the sunflower seeds.  By now we had learned to place the meat scraps in a bowl situated in a pan of water; the water acting like a moat, to keep the ants off the food.  

The deer and the fox both liked the fruit scraps.  The deer were protective of the fruit scraps and the fox was well aware of that, warily eyeing the fruit and the closeness of the deer.  But deer don't gobble their food and they would occasionally wander off by a few yards giving the fox the chance to move in on the fruit scraps.

When the deer saw the need to ward off competitors, they got aggressive, battling their foes, which include other deer, by standing on their rear legs and waving their front hooves menacingly .  But as to the fox, all the deer needed to do was to look at the fox, move a few feet toward it and that was enough for the fox to move away. The fox seemed to have little fear of the does, but the buck with those antlers, well that was something to avoid.

Then we placed the fruit scraps in the same pan as the sweet feed.  The deer dominated this situation, but the fox took every opportunity to quickly run to the pan and grab a piece of fruit should the deer be looking the other way. The fox had to be quick and decisive to pull this off.

The deer were constantly concerned about their security (that's good, we should keep it that way).  For example, when the squirrel would jump from the tree branch to the bird feeder, shaking the limb wildly, the deer would jump away in alarm. Not the fox, the fox always seemed as if it had its security under control.  Interestingly, the squirrel was never observed on the ground at the same time the fox was around. That would indicate that the fox would attack the squirrel if it was caught out of the tree. That's somewhat surprising to us as the squirrel can get nasty when handled and it can use those front teeth to do battle.  But, we have learned that the fox and wild cats kill squirrels quickly by taking them in their mouth and shaking them rapidly, thus breaking their neck.

The deer never stopped being wary, but the fox dropped into a casual mode after eating, sometimes sitting on the sidewalk like a dog would sit, looking around and doing some necessary scratching. They are a beautiful animal.

The bird feeder is two sided, so if the squirrel was on one side, the cardinals were on the other side, not enjoying each others company, but being tolerant of one another.  The mockingbird would not act the same way, as it would incessantly harass the squirrel to the point where it would leave.  The cardinals are more complacent.

When finished eating, the deer would drink from the birdbath (it has to be refilled daily) and the fox would jump up on the rim and takes its fill of water before ambling off.

After a few weeks of this all the participants show up minutes after the food is put out.  They must all be parked up in the woods a few yards away waiting for noise I must make in setting up the days experiment.

One side observation is that none of these wild animals will eat man-made breakfast cereal---corn based, oat based, no matter, they will not eat it. They sniff it and walk away. Do they sense something we don't sense?  At cereal's $5 per pound cost, perhaps we would be better off eating sweet feed at 20 cents per pound.  

When night arrives, the cleanup crew appears.  The cleanup crew is always one or more raccoons, but they must be disappointed because all that is left is the odor of what was there earlier--except for the cereal which they don't like any more than all the others.

We ended the experiment by tapering off the food and then stopping it since we do not want to domesticate these fine wild animals.  

Marion, Texas---a favorite

 

Marion was established as a depot on the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway in 1877.  It was named by the owner of the railway, Pierce, in honor of his daughter Marion.

Looking at the map of the state as it may have existed in most of the early 1900s, Marion was situated on a major east/west roadway between San Antonio and Harrisburg and later paralleled by the railroad.  Because this route was the major connection between what is now Houston and San Antonio, it became the most significant depot in Texas by the year 1877.  The railroad dropped off tonnage of imports from other Gulf Coast ports for distribution to all south-central Texas.  The commercial activity of the area in the early history was cotton farming, cattle raising and the mercantile business for a wide-ranging area of south-central Texas.  So, the Marion depot was the loading spot for local baled cotton and live cattle.

The cotton was ginned in the area through two ginning companies, baled and shipped out.  Cotton farming was big business for countless small farms in an era before large scale operations.  Even though there were only two gins nearby to Marion, Guadalupe County had at least ten gins in operation. And, necessarily, all the cotton gins were situated along the Guadalupe River, the only source of natural power.  Few know this, but Stagecoach Road, west of the Guadalupe River and southeast of Marion ends at the site of the old Erskine Ferry at the river.  Then just south of the ferry site, there was a six-foot-high dam on the river to create the elevation needed for a millrace to power a mill and a cotton gin.  Today, looking at nearly any detailed map of this spot, it is apparent that the resort called Son’s Island is an island created by the millrace from the dam.  Very close inspection might reveal some artifacts of this old mill and ferry site, but in general, it’s all gone.

Cotton flowed out, and money flowed in, so the town of Marion supported a substantial bank.

The Marion State Bank in the early 1900s

Ranching and cotton farming required a reliable supply of hardware, feed and other supplies required to repair machinery, and make life more enjoyable.   All this was provided by the Krueger Store. 

The Krueger Store was typical of the mercantile stores of the era, as they sold nearly everything a person would need from clothing to ranch and farm supplies and even canned goods for food.

Interior of Krueger Store 1900s

Taking a close look at this photo, it is apparent that there is an ample supply of toasted corn flakes, and a significant inventory of canned goods on the shelves behind the clerks.  Keep in mind this was the era when clerks attended to customers from behind a counter and fetched many of the requested items for customers.  Self-serve had not been implemented yet.

Marion slowly increased in population to about 500 people around the time of WWII and added population steadily to about 1000 as its stable level.

So, Marion thrived because of just a few key ingredients.  Cotton farming, ranching, mercantile business, and the attendant shipping and banking component necessary for conduction of this business.  The geographical scope of this business activity was significant, covering a wide-ranging area all served by the frequent visits from the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad.

Life in this farming and ranching country is well described in a book titled Stagecoach Road, written by an area resident and updated by Steve Mardock. We have several copies. It’s an historical novel and contains many important facts of the area and of the times.  Stagecoach Road parallels the San Antonio Road that passes through Marion, lying about 3 miles south.  It was an important road in the early days, because it led to the ferry crossing across the Guadalupe River allowing easier access to Seguin long before any of the bridges were built.

In the late 1900s, changes in nearly all aspects of life in rural Texas changed and these changes affected Marion.

The changes of most significance were:

·         Cotton farming went industrial, with big farms, mechanization, and improved access to transportation.  This change removed a significant amount of cotton farming from the area around Marion and placed it in the northern part of the state.

·         Cars and trucks began to appear in great numbers replacing local traffic of the railroad and that of wagons.  Now it was easier to get to San Antonio than ever before.

·         The Interstate highway system was built and it bypassed Marion, thus making a rapid transit connection even better between Houston and San Antonio.

·         The demographics of the population made a slight shift due to the children of the long-established inhabitants moving to large cities for better paying (and easier) jobs, somewhat replaced by those moving from the larger cities to fill the need to live a rural lifestyle.  This change however was not large and for that reason the area has maintained a character unique to its history.

Adaptation of the town continued.  The Marion State Bank, established in 1906 moved from its original location to a new location on the main street, modernizing their facility and their services.  Way back in 2006 it celebrated 100 years of service and is still operating with its conservative practices.

The Krueger Store was replaced in 1973 with the Helping Hands Store which probably stocks and sells more items than any of the so-called big box stores.  Its enlightening to wander the aisles and note all the merchandise available here.  Also, the people who run the operation treat each customer as if they knew them forever.  We walked in after not having been to the store for a year or so and asked “where’s the cat?” since we were impressed on how the cat was apparently a fixture of the store.  The person simply said that the cat was upstairs as it had not been feeling well lately.  She answered the question without the usual hesitation to answer an off-the-wall question from a stranger.

So, today, there are the commercial mainstays consisting of the Marion State Bank, the Helping Hand Hardware, the Penshorn Meat Market, the Gg's Corner Café and the Coffee House, now locating in a ground level floor of the old bank building.

The meat market and the Corner Café and the others mentioned are “all American” establishments that take pride in what they have to offer.

However, the activity at the depot is gone and gone probably for good. While we were there recently, a Southern Pacific freight train blasted through the town pulling at least 100 cars, all headed in the direction of San Antonio.  The crew in the four-engine locomotive waved as they went on through the gate closed crossings.   Then, not more than an hour later, another freight train sped through, going the same direction, both heading for now what is the center of commerce, the big cities.

But Marion is doing just fine, in fact is doing so well that it does not seem to have the urge to be more robust by tapping into cheap tourism.

Living With Nature

 Living and learning with nature is much more educational than trying to transform it into something parklike.  But, our sense of being orderly  is often in conflict with our sense of the randomness of nature.  But if we're lucky enough to be starting out with a piece of property with a real bit of woods, some grass and shrubs it's worth our while to carefully observe the natural system and determine who else might have taken up residence here.  As John Muir wrote so famously,  "Everything I touch, I find it is connected to something else."

Its good that we humans have a sense of orderliness otherwise our cities would be a mess and unfit for living. Hmmm, many already are. Cities have had their ups and downs regarding order and control, but city priorities have largely eliminated nature from the city. It is difficult to find a city park that is still natural. Is there a chance that some children have never seen a weed or a tree or even a snake?

Most of our population in the US has a history of migrating from  rural areas to cities, leaving behind the rawness of nature and becoming accustomed to the artificial aspects of the city.  Orderliness of the city here refers to the absence of nature and certainly does not apply to the orderliness of social behavior because for the most part, we humans are more socially ordered in the countryside than we are in the city.  But that is a whole different subject where we have no expertise.

Because of social disorder in the cities that is occurring now, there is an indication of a reverse migration of people from the city to areas more rural---small towns and even more sparse areas of larger acreage. When that happens, there is an urge, not sure why, but there is an urge to bring city style orderliness to the countryside.  Big mistake. 

A substantial amount of work is required to modify the surroundings and perhaps even more to then  maintain that orderliness.  I chat on occasions with an old rancher who still uses his property to raise goats and cattle both of which seem to do a good job of managing nature yet not in a very orderly way at least not orderly in the city sense.  He once said that function is more important than style, just as in politics, content is more important than style. The most common comment he gets from those around him is that he should modify his gate as it is "not very attractive".  His response is that gate's function is to keep the cattle and the goats inside his property and it serves that function very well.   His gate could use a bit of remodeling I  would be the first to admit, but there is a limit to making everything look better and while not adding to its purpose.

Living in the midst of the clutter of nature has some benefits. The unmown grass prevents erosion and produces seeds for the next growing season, piles of rock provide homes for wildlife, and on this point, we looked out over the backyard and spotted a mother fox playing with her three kits on top of the stone pile, a stone pile of about 5 feet high and 20 feet long.  Soon, she decided enough playtime for the moment and sent a signal for them to go back into their den.  We could not see the den opening, but they disappeared into the pile and she strode off.  Where else can one get this type of experience?  Surely not on a screen.  In truth, saving the visual sight in ones memory is much more valuable than saving it on your photo file. The list of benefits could go on to great lengths, but listing them might destroy the thrill of discovery.  It gets down to being an astute observer.

The whole idea is to live with Nature and not destroy it in a quest to make the surroundings safe, secure, neat and tidy. Man's junk is not attractive, but nature's "junk" is surprisingly attractive and useful.  I would guess that it depends on whether you are a good observer.

The Struggle of the Live Oaks

 Probably most people travelling from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the Hill Country and beyond notice all the Live Oaks but they probably don't know that the Live Oaks in the Hill Country are not the same as those along the Gulf Coast, and for that matter all the way from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Atlantic states up to Virginia.  Digging even deeper into the variations of the Live Oaks, the classical live oak of the Gulf Coast that thrives in the heavy soils all the way to Virginia only exists in the eastern part of the Texas Gulf Coast.  Texas has five forms of the Live Oak, one of which is the Quercus Virginiana, and the other are modifications, if you will, of the Q.Virginiana and they are all Quercus Fusiformis.  The Latin name of the four variations comes from the observation that a distinguishing factor between the Q. Virginiana and the other four Q. Fusiformis is the long, slender acorn of the Fusiformis

In summary these five are in the Live Oak Complex

• Live Oak (Q. Virginiana)
• Escarpment Live Oak  (Q. Fusiformis)
• Q. Virginiana x Q. Fusiformis
• Q. Minima x Q. Fusiformis   (small zone of growth along the sandy coast of Texas)
• Q. Oleoides x Q. Fusiformis  ( small area of growth along the lower sandy coast of Texas)

From this list, the classic live oak is Quercus Virginiana with its range from just west of Galveston Bay in the coastat counties, all the way to the Carolinas.  The Live Oaks of our immediate area run from the Balcones fault line northwestward for about a hundred miles. This is the Quercus Fusiformis.  Then to make things even more complex, there is a hybrid that grows in the area between the Fault Line and the range of the Live Oak of the coastal area.  So, if driving from the Houston area to the hill country, you would pass through the territory of the Q. Virginiana x Fusiformis.  The fact that the Balcones fault line separates the Fusiformis from the Virginiana x Fusiformis would suggest that the abrupt change in soil is the dominant determining factor.  Temperature and rainfall may also be a factor as well.

Which brings us to the dilemma of the St. Valentines Day polar blast and the very slow recovery of the Live Oaks in our area.  Our observations indicate that some of the oaks are having more trouble leafing out than others.  It just so happens that the boundary between the Q. Virginiana and the Q. Fusiformis runs right along the Balcones escarpment, with the Virginiana x Fusiformis being happy and contented with conditions south of us and the Q. Fusiforma content with the conditions north of this line.

But the line between the two variations can move with time and temperature.  Of course the line of tolerance on temperature is fuzzy and it depends on the amount of time that the tree experiences at low temperatures.  For example, in the Dallas area, where the Live Oak had been planted extensively, it was nearly completely obliterated in the freeze of 1983 when the temperature was below freezing for 12 consecutive days.

Knowing that there is variation in everything in nature, the speedy recovery of some of our Live Oaks compared to that of others right next to them would suggest that at this boundary line between Live Oak varieties is vague and we may have two kinds of Live Oaks in our local forest.  If we see some of our Live Oaks die, it may simply be that they were q. Virginiana x Q Fusiformis.   Time will tell, but so far, we have spotted only two trees that look in really bad shape.  

Another factor causing the decidedly slow leafing out of our live oaks may be caused by abnormal sap withdrawal to the root system from this very cold February and cold spring to boot.  We all know that deciduous trees only leaf out when the sap flows up from the roots and that timing is related to moisture and temperature.   Who knows, the Live Oak may be right on the edge of being a deciduous tree.  But then we wouldn't want to call it a live oak.

As to the pesky but very attractive Huisache, it appears that the few that we had are dead from the freeze.  Note all the dead Huisache along the roadside of  Old RR12 just after leaving Wonder World Drive at the LaCima entrance.  A warming trend brought them up this far from the southern part of Texas and a cooling trend sends them back home.

The same goes for the Palo Verde mentioned in the previous month blog post.  It now appears that all the Palo Verdes trunk and limb structurer is dead but the plant is coming back from the roots.

We haven't searched out the fate of the Olive orchards, but it is likely that these trees are gone.

The Tree Rings Wlll Reveal the Times

In our opinion, we have not fully recovered from the drought of this immediate area that began about 6 years ago.  The "immediate area" is important to note because in some adjacent areas, such as east of here in the blacklands, rainfall seems to have been adequate to reach underground levels.  But right here, the drought is still with us.  Yes, we have had rain, but it either arrives in runoff quantities or in small doses.  The runoffs help the rivers, and the small doses of water evaporate quickly.  This abnormal rainfall  will show up in disparate tree rings should some of our larger oaks be cut in future years.  When someone in the future were to cut a tree and look at the growth rings, they will wonder what happened in the 2015-2021 time frame as the rings will be closely spaced indicating little growth. One of our indicators of drought is Lake Bridlewood, and most residents probably noticed that it went dry this spring.  That has not happened more than once or twice to our recollection.

Droughts in Texas are common, and this year, we not only had a dry winter, but a cold one on top of all that.  The St. Valentine's Day cold spell, on top of dry conditions, hit many plants that I would call border plants quite hard.  For example, the Huisache, the Palo Verde and similar vegetation that seem to be creeping northward over many years only to now have this reminder that all is not warm and friendly up from the safety of the Valley.  I often wonder how the olive orchards that were being commercially established in northern Hays County have survived this brutal season.  Typically, olive trees survive to the south of San Antonio, but are considered risky plantings to the north.  Yesterday travelling on the road to Lockhart, we noticed entire groves of some thorny brush all black and seemingly lifeless.  These are not Mesquite, because all those seem to have survived quite well.  As the summer progresses, we intend to keep an eye on these stands and conclude how or whether they survived and the variety of plant in question.

And then there are the webworms that nearly ate all the leaves on our 15 ft. Shumardi Oak this spring, but now with some watering and the recent warm weather and rain, these planted oaks are putting out the second round of leaves.  Good for Mother Nature.  Its not an easy call to poison the webworms as they are a favorite food of the Cuckoo.  We did not spray the webworms   and all seems to be okay now, so that was a success.

The Live Oaks seem to be very hesitant to put out leaves this spring, probably due to lack of rain and the cold spring.  I am sure they will survive, but probably show some damage and appear stressed.  That means we need to provide special treatment to these trees when we can and watch for any invasion of pests.  I think  the webworms are gone, but we never know where the Oak Wilt disease is lurking.  So, if you cut limbs from the Live Oaks, seal the cut with a pruning aerolsol spray found at local stores. Otherwise, wait until winter to prune any Live Oaks.

Regarding all of our seemingly dead plantings, we are waiting to see what comes up from the roots or  out from the side of the trunks before we tear them out.  The big stand of Palo Verdes that we had growing at the culvert crossing on Steeplebrook Drive are being monitored.  Yes, we know they are considered invasive, but when its tough to grow things in this harsh environment, even invasive stuff can be tolerated knowing that Nature steps in from time to time and fixes things.  Two cases in point are the Russian thistle and the Bastard Cabbage that nearly overran us five years ago, but now is hard to find in our area.

Bluebonnets you ask?  What bluebonnets?  They need water in the fall and winter and did not get it so the seeds will probably sit in the ground until this fall and then, if they are still alive, will produce some plants.  Look for the immature plants in the fall and if they are not visible, chances are we will not have any stand of bluebonnets the next spring.

Meanwhile, the plant nurseries are doing a thriving business.

Who ate the wieners?

  It all started with a video of a man somewhere in Canada who recorded his scene of hand feeding a hoard of about 30 raccoons their evening meal of two pounds of wieners. No, we didn't search for this video, it happened to be in the up next position after we were looking at one of our videos on our channel.

Mind you, we are not fans of feeding wild animals people food, but on the other hand, in this busy world we all need a little merriment and watching this video was amusing. Search for it on Youtube but if unsuccessful in finding it let us know and we will help locate it.

Then we decided to bait the game camera to see what would show up at our place in Central Texas.  

We know that our most frequent visitor is the raccoon, since it (maybe they) have to make a nightly raid on the bird feeder getting every last sunflower seed.

Now, 'coons don't get around much in daylight, but as soon as it gets dark, they are on the prowl and miss nothing if it smells like food.

So, adding a package of wieners to our grocery list, we came home with 8 wieners costing 69 cents.   These were not your gourmet variety, but made from all sorts of meat, and in Canada to boot.

The first night out showed that the raccoon got the wiener at 8pm.   It also showed that the fox made its appearance at 2am the next morning---way to late.  From the photo, you could tell that the fox knew what was going on with the provided dinner because it had that look of "okay, I can beat this ol' 'coon at his own game".

For the next several evenings, the wieners went out at about 5 pm and they were gone by 630 pm.  Ya see, the fox knew the 'coon was still up in the tree because it was not dark yet.

All this prompted the crafting of this rhyme to document the study.   Must get another package of wieners.

Who Ate the Wieners?

I did not know how this could be, but in colder climes apparently

Coons can hibernate like bears,  and so must eat to fatten their

Bodies ‘til spring arrives and they awake, to rustle up a new grubstake.

A kindly Canadian then set about, arranging a giant wiener handout.

Roly-poly coons came by the horde, to feast on his hot dog smorgasbord.

They were here and they were there, climbing all over him everywhere.

 

Well that gave an idea to my better half, an opportunity for a photograph.

First to the store for some cheap bait, then set up the camera overnight and wait.

Next morning, just as he’d figured it , there was the face of the masked bandit.

Would he be back again to sup,  on another wiener and gobble it up

Before another animal could benefit, would he again get all of it?   BUT---

The coon snoring up the tree in his bunk, wouldn’t leave it till the sun had sunk.

 

MEANWHILE

 

Someone else had seen some juice on the plate, and knew he had been too late.

He twitched his whiskers and decided then, that that would never happen again.

And he waited patiently in the woods, for the deliverer of the goods.

Soon he heard a step gravitate, in the direction of the plate.

He could see and hear no muss no fuss, as chunks of meat hit the surface.

It was still light no coons about, so he took his time and just pigged out.