IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME: WILDLIFE SEEKING REFUGE FROM DROUGHT

By Kasey Mock, Account Manager - Texas Pines & Prairies

The 1989 movie Field of Dreams tells the story of an Iowa corn farmer played by Kevin Costner who felt lead to build a baseball diamond in his fields. Those who have seen the classic film will recall the famous line: "If you build it, they will come." Now, pretend you are Kevin Costner, and the Black Sox represent local wildlife populations. Rather than looking for a place to play ball, they are searching for a steady supply of food and water that is quickly vanishing from many parts of the state.

"If you build it, they will come" is never truer than in a serious drought. La Nina has taken its tool on the Lone Star State leaving dry tanks and limited forage in its wake And despite the recent rains, there will be no quick fix for the ravages left in La Nina's wake. Wildlife and domestic animals alike are still actively searching throughout the day for food, water, and shelter, needs that Plateau is helping Wildlife Management property owners supply.

We have received many emails from clients sharing their success stories during the drought. Client reports of the first sightings of Bobwhite quail in over a decade, more and bigger deer, and increased diversity have been common threads as animals are forced to leave over-grazed pastures in search of the basic necessities.

"Great news Kasey, I saw a pair of Bobwhite Quail at 12:10 today, Sunday, August 28, 2011. This is the first we've seen in over ten years on the property! - Bob"

"Ever since June we have noticed several new big bucks showing up at one of our water tanks at dusk just about every night. We don't put out food, but they have adequate browse and forbs on the property." - Carolyn

These are just two examples of the results Plateau clients are experiencing in Texas. By managing pastures to promote native plants, providing a quality supplemental food source, and, most importantly providing a dependable source of clean water, property owners are doing their part to supply the three basic necessities to local wildlife.

As property owners and managers, we bear the responsibility to be good stewards of these resources. Stewardship is defined as the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially, the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. I would encourage you to do a quick evaluation of your management activities. If your wildlife numbers have decreased this is a sign that you could be doing more to supply their needs.

Have you seen more wildlife this year? Send us your stories! Email plateau@plateauwildlife.com.

Plateau has a full line of products and services designed to help you better manage these resources while improving your property and marinating a favorable tax valuation. Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

HOT AND WILD: NATURE'S SEASONAL SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES

By Plateau Land & Wildlife Management

Dashing from air-conditioned home to air-conditioned car, slathered in sunscreen, ice cold bottle of water in hand, Texas summers are almost survivable. While the first official day of summer arrived June 21, we received a blistering hot preview of the change in seasons starting in May. Some parts of Texas set record temperature highs over a month ago, and the state is in the worst drought in 44 years. Not that any of us need reminding. But while Homo sapiens is fortunate to have many methods (some of which are quite artificial) of coping with summer conditions, other members of the animal kingdom aren't as lucky. How does our Texas wildlife deal with these hot, dry living environments?

Despite harsh conditions, semi-arid and arid regions of Texas (including portions of Central, most of South, and all of West Texas) are able to support a wide variety of fauna. Survival strategies can include behavioral techniques or biological adaptations. Regardless, life in inhospitable environments often comes down to maintaining body temperatures and acquiring and retaining water.

One basic behavioral technique is to seek shelter from the conditions. While we crank the A/C and ceiling fans, small mammals, insects, and reptiles spend the warm hours of the day in underground dens, burrows, rock crevasses, or brush piles. These daytime hideouts are many degrees cooler than exposed areas. Because their skin is porous, frogs are at a high risk of dehydration. The moist habitats needed by frogs aren't always available - on the surface at least. During droughts, frogs will spend most of the year buried in cool, moist conditions well underground where they can absorb water through their skins. During this process, called aestivation, metabolic rates can be lowered as much as 90%.

Nocturnal (being active at night) behavior is one very effective and common way of avoiding the heat. Bat departures at dusk are the beginning of a night full of feeding activity. Snakes, skunks and opossums are examples of native animals with nocturnal behavior. To nature lovers made uncomfortable at the sight of snakes, be thankful!

Texas horned lizards, known locally as horny toads, use a behavior during summer rain events known as "rain-harvesting." These reptiles will lower their heads and arch their backs high in the air during precipitation events. During small rain events, most of the rain hitting the ground dissipates into the dry ground very quickly. However, moisture falling on the horned lizard is caught on its backs and drawn toward its head through very small channels between its scales. Instead of seeking standing water, the Texas horned lizard can simply open its mouth to drink.

Black and Turkey Vultures, both very common in Texas, use a more unsavory technique called urohydrosis to maintain body heat. These birds will excrete urine on their bare legs. Evaporation of the urine cools these areas and the cooled blood is then circulated in the body. Two additional coping methods used by vultures include spending daytime hours in flight at high altitudes where temperatures are much cooler and acquiring moisture through the carrion they consume.

The bodies of many animals have evolved in certain ways to deal with harsh conditions. Jackrabbits dissipate heat through their extremely large ears containing many blood vessels. In fact, jackrabbits occurring in more southern areas have larger ears than others occurring in cooler areas.

One widespread adaptation is for warm-blooded, wide-ranging animals occurring in warmer environments to be smaller in size than their counterparts occurring in cooler environment. Within a species, body mass tends to increase with latitude and colder climates. This pattern, known as Bergmann's rule, is based on heat conservation. Smaller body size is selected in warmer environments because smaller bodies have higher surface area to mass ratios, thus allowing for the more effective dissipation in heat. For example, body sizes of white-tailed deer in Texas are much smaller than those occurring in Canada.

The next time you get geared up for a hot day of bumming around at the beach, floating the Frio, or getting some work done on your property, take a second to think about nature's critters. While you won't see deer bedding down in air-conditioning or turkeys sporting cowboy hats anytime soon, know that Texas wildlife are built to survive.

From our customized Wildlife Management Plans to convert your land from an Ag Tax Valuation or Timber Valuation to Wildlife Tax Valuation, to our range of environmentally and financially smart services and products, Plateau Land & Wildlife Management is dedicated to increasing your enjoyment of your land, and helping you achieve your ultimate land vision.

GROWING A RIVER

by Cathy Ramsey, Contributing Author for Plateau Land & Wildlife Management

Paddling down a river is my favorite way to spend time near my home in Central Texas. The grassy hills and rocky, undulating terrain make for gushing springs and clear rivers offering up a seemingly endless succession of gentle rapids, stepping you down the stream one after another. The cool currents guide you through the countryside, rich with birdsong, wandering wildlife, and rustling breezes. What could possibly mar such a scene?

How about drought.

Dry periods are also a part of nature here, and while dreams of drifting down a full and lazy river may come to a screeching halt, they're prime time to prepare your land to take full advantage of every drop when the rains return. One key preparation is reestablishing native grasses.

Grasses are exceptional at building soil and aiding water infiltration, and can be managed to resupply our groundwater. The ideal time to seed our native warm season grasses is March and April. If you have bare areas or non-native pastures you want to convert back to native grasslands, now is the time to act.

Much of Central Texas was historically a mixed grass prairie, shorter on the ridge tops, mid-height on the slopes, and tallest in the bottom lands. Prairies absorb more water than they use, which resulted in huge aquifer reserves producing plentiful springs and abundant rivers. Since Texas became a state, farming, overgrazing, and development have changed things considerably. Less than .1% of this native prairie remains intact, and our springs and aquifers are diminishing at an alarming rate. We have already lost over a third of our historic springs, and more go dry all the time.

Reestablishing native grasses is an important step in water conservation, stream and river restoration, and the rewards become apparent in a relatively short time.

Reestablishing native grasses
Yard areas can be planted with shorter natives such as buffalo grass and blue gramma, and bordered with beds or swales of taller grasses to catch any runoff coming from the shorter yard. In areas of heavy deer traffic, taller bunch grasses such as big muhly and switchgrass can stand in for shrubs which deer can't seem to resist. Reseeding even a portion of your property can help reintroduce native seed stock which will spread with time. Choose a mix appropriate to your soil, and start with the early successional grasses which establish quickly, including blue and sideoats gramma, silver bluestem, green sprangletop, and bristle grass. Climax grasses such as little bluestem, switch, and indiangrass can be seeded simultaneously, but may take a bit longer to become established, particularly in dry years. Finally, throw in some Texas cupgrass seed, a beautiful and almost evergreen grass endemic to our area, which has the added bonus of being a favorite of painted buntings.

Once established, it's important to let the native grasses maintain their natural height. Mowing too frequently will prevent the bunch grasses from seeding, and eventually leave them vulnerable to competition from fast growing non-natives such as King Ranch bluestem and bermuda, which spread by both rhizome and seed. While occasional grazing or mowing at the highest setting possible is appropriate and beneficial, as described below, native prairie grasses maintained at their natural height have a network of roots extending deep and wide, loosening the soil to create a sponge-like layer. The taller the grass, the deeper the roots, and the better the possibility of infiltration with each rain, no matter how fast and hard it comes down. Some of these grasses have roots in excess of 17 feet deep! These taller grasses catch and hold water droplets along their stems, allowing absorption to continue after the rain has ended, and increasing overall intake into the soil. They also shade the soil, reducing evaporation and reflected heat, and act as filters, reducing pollution. Water that has filtered through the soil is not only purified, it's also cooled. When it's released through spring flow, rather than running over land as runoff, the temperature of our streams is stabilized, and our swimming holes stay clear, chilly, and inviting.

Know when to mow
Mowing once a year, generally in mid-February in most years, and perhaps again in early July during a wet year, is sufficient. Leaving alternate portions alone for a two year stretch will allow biennial forbs to become established, and provide cover and nesting structure for wildlife. In direct contrast to the benefits of grasses left at their natural height as described, above, short grass grows short roots, shrinking the active layer of life in the soil and reducing the ability of the soil to absorb water. Without the shading of taller foliage, the ground dries out faster and becomes hard, making the next rain less likely to be absorbed. The grass becomes dry and brittle, increasing fire danger. Considering that many of our natives, especially little bluestem, put on strong growth and begin seed production during the dry season of July and August, short mowing at that time places non-natives at the advantage. Moreover, the new growth present on the natives contains moisture brought up from deep in the soil and is less likely to burn than short, dry grass. If the grass is closely cropped at this time, more soil is exposed, and more heat is reflected. A tall meadow is noticeably cooler during the heat of the year; walk a path through one and feel for yourself! Lastly, too-frequent mowing increases compaction due to the weight of heavy equipment, further stifling root expansion and aeration. Runoff increases, erosion increases, and stream quality suffers.

If you're a fan of beautiful rivers, remember them when planning your landscape and managing your land. A big stand of native grass is not only a pleasure to view, swaying gently in the breeze, but is water in the bank and savings for the future.

Reestablishing native grasses is an important step in water conservation, stream and river restoration, and the rewards become apparent in a relatively short time. Photo by Lee Kothmann.