By: Evan McCoy, Senior Wildlife Biologist

Many landowners desire to have a variety of wildlife on their property. However, animal diversity will not be achieved without first achieving plant diversity. Common limitations include overabundance of both juniper and large herbivores (i.e. livestock, deer, and exotics). Brush clearing alone can increase the abundance of plants that are already present but may not increase diversity since any new plants are consumed. You can enhance the benefits of clearing by simply leaving some downed trees, or slash, on the ground rather than removing it.

Once dead leaves shed, brush skeletons create a natural cage that protect plants beneath them. The first thing you will notice is an increase in grass and forb growth which provides shelter for ground nesting birds and small mammals. Overtime, animals will deposit seeds on those sites and woody plants, such as oaks, persimmon, and hackberry will begin to emerge. These shelters can also increase the presence of less common species such as escarpment cherry, Carolina buckthorn or kidneywood. This practice is particularly useful on sites with limited cover. Shelters should be made with few trees so not to restrict plants from water or sunlight. You can also strategically place slash on top of existing plants for protection. 

Protected from herbivory, these plants now have a better chance of maturing and surviving. If you have several of these shelters scattered around the property, you can make a considerable improvement in plant diversity and overall habitat quality.

Creating Abundance Through Nature's Wisdom

By: Taylor Collins, Land Steward & Landowner

The most fertile soils of Texas were built through the evolutionary symbiotic relationships of large herds of bison. Throughout North America in the early 1800's, an estimated 30-60 million bison served as ecosystem engineers to regenerate the prairies, savannahs, and river valleys that cover most of our diverse state. As we consider the brilliant evolutionary design of our largest native land mammal, we must admire the creative capacity in which Mother Nature conceived the ecological architecture that leads to abundance. It is also our responsibility as farmers, ranchers, and land stewards to observe the beauty of nature and do our best to mimic the complexity of her design. When it comes to managing livestock, we can work alongside the rhythms of the natural world when we adapt our grazing to closely resemble how bison historically coevolved with our land. Principles such as modern high density grazing mimics predator avoidance in which large herds of bison traveled together for safety. The subsequent and frequent movements of these historic herds across our landscape can be emulated today with a grazing plan based on appropriate animal impact and subsequent recovery (frequent movement). No matter what livestock you manage, through human ingenuity and creativity, you can mimic the evolutionary brilliance of bison. It is with grace that nature's capacity for healing is greater than our own species capacity for destruction and its time we look back to nature for inspiration and wisdom.

By: Mike Miller, District Leader

Many land stewards strive to maintain plant health, watershed function and provide ample wildlife nesting and fawning cover. But like the boiling pot and frog metaphor, it is easy to miss small changes over time.  Forage can be over-utilized by livestock, deer, or exotics before you realize that animals need to be removed.

Fenced exclosures can provide landowners and managers with a visual cue for adjusting livestock grazing and deer numbers. They exclude ungulates from small, representative areas so that vegetation can be compared inside and outside of the fenced areas within pastures and food plots. They are also useful when placed around woody plants to evaluate browsing pressure from deer, goats, or other browsing animals.

Exclosures can be constructed with 2 – 16’ cattle panels (4-foot tall, 4” openings) pulled into a circle with the overlapping ends wired together and supported by 2 - 4 T-posts. You can also build 4’ x 4’ or 8’ x 8’ square cages with T-posts at the corners.  Regardless of design, they need to be tall enough to discourage grazing and browsing use, but small enough, in terms of square footage, to prevent deer from jumping inside.

Plan to take photos of exclosures during the growing season (May/June) and during the dormant season (Jan/Feb). Photos are best taken from about 10 feet away, looking north and including some area surrounding the exclosure within the camera frame. Not only can immediate comparisons be made, but you can begin to evaluate vegetation trends by examining photos over time.

By: Jeff Foreman, Wildlife Techician - Mason Mountain WMA

There are five species of cavity nesting songbirds that benefit greatly when landowners scatter several nestboxes in areas of central Texas nesting habitat.  These songbird species include the eastern bluebird, Bewick’s wren, black-crested titmouse, Carolina chickadee, and the ash-throated flycatcher.

These five species are incapable of building cavities themselves but readily build nests in cavities occurring naturally or man-made. Cavity nesting birds do not build nests on the ground or the open branches of a tree; therefore, without a cavity to build their nest these birds will not reproduce. 

A simple box design works well by attaching the box to a post and placing it on the west side of a shade tree in an area frequented by one or more of the five species.  The boxes’ primary purpose is to provide a cavity that allows birds to build their nest, incubate their eggs, then feed and protect their young until the nestlings are ready to leave the nest. The whole process takes about six weeks per brood, then the box can be used again by the same parents or another species of cavity nesting bird.

Since Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area began keeping records in 2017, we have observed nests in 83 nest boxes where birds laid 1,515 eggs in 304 nesting attempts. Of those eggs, 1,045 hatched and 902 of those babies flew out of their nest box. This was possible by simply helping the birds by providing cavities.

Click here for more information on how you can assist birds through nest boxes!

By: Johnny Arredondo, Wildlife Biologist - Kerr & Bandera Counties

Have you ever driven the hills of central Texas and something bright pink caught your eye?  You then ask yourself, is spring already here?  The Texas Redbud has a cluster of rose-pink flowers that appear in early spring on bare wood before any leaves emerge and continue to bloom as leaves develop, March-April. It is commonly seen and grows in areas with dry climate, limestone soils, and in full sun or partial shade.  It has distinctive heart-shaped leaves, rose-pink flowers that produce reddish-brown coloring, and flat legume 2–4-inch seed pods, which ripen in the fall.  It is considered a small tree but can grow up to 10-20 feet tall.  The native range consist of central Texas, southern Oklahoma, and northeastern Mexico.  The flower provides a good nectar source for butterflies, bees, moths, and other insects.  The leaves are sometimes browsed by deer and the seeds are eaten by birds.  Texas Redbud is also considered a larval host plant for the Henry’s elfin butterfly.  Unfortunately, the Texas Redbud has been in decline over the past two decades because of factors such as lack of fire, overpopulation of herbivorous animals, and habitat loss.  Texas redbud is the most popular small tree for landscaping in the hill country and could be your start to assist with the recovery of this beautiful Texas Native Tree.

Click here to learn more about the management implications of this species.