Spring/Summer 2005 • Wildlife Division TPWD Passes Changes to Hunting Regulations

TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE

he Texas Parks and Wildlife A similar measure addressing Commission at its April 7, 2005 long-term habitat loss impacting lesser meeting has adopted a series of prairie chicken populations allows a Tchanges to state hunting and limited harvest option for properties fishing regulations that offer greater har- with a wildlife management plan geared vest flexibility on lands managed for mule toward this species. Under the new deer and prairie chickens, while simplify- regulation, hunting during the two-day ing and expanding hunting opportunity in season will occur only on managed other areas. properties in the program. There will be Based on the department’s popular a two-bird daily bag limit and proper- Managed Lands Deer Permit program that ties in the program will have a harvest provides incentives to individuals that con- recommendation. duct habitat improvement projects on their Another proposal offering incentives different one-buck-only counties or they property for the benefit white-tailed deer, for quail management was withdrawn from could hunt in multiple two-buck counties, the commission approved similar opportu- consideration pending further discussion provided they do not exceed the county nities for mule deer and prairie chickens. with constituent groups, landowners, bag limit or take more than three bucks in The new voluntary habitat-based hunters and other interested parties. all the two-buck counties combined. permit programs offer landowners with an Among the prominent changes in In addition to deer, the commission approved wildlife management plan hunting regulations adopted by the com- adopted regulation changes simplifying greater flexibility in managing mule deer mission is a continuation and expansion of turkey hunting. The fall Rio Grande harvest. Permit holders could hunt from special buck-deer harvest regulations in season has been consolidated and stan- the first Saturday in November through the 21 counties. For the 2005-2006 hunting dardized to run concurrent with the first Sunday in January. season, the department is adding a second general deer season. The spring season buck to the bag limit in counties with the for Rio Grande turkeys will open the special antler restrictions. Those hunters Saturday closest to April 1, 2006 for Inside Tracts will be allowed to take two bucks, but at 44 consecutive days and the eastern turkey least one must possess an unbranched antler. season will run April 1-30, 2006. The Purple Paint: Making Your In another move, the commission has commission also opened fall and spring Mark Without a Fence ...... 2 simplified antlerless white-tailed deer seasons for Rio Grande turkey in Cameron hunting by consolidating the seven differ- and Zapata counties, and a fall season in Lone Star Land Steward ent options currently in place across the Tarrant County. Awards Program ...... 3 state into just three standard doe day cate- The commission also adopted rules The Riparian Sponge – gories. Hunters are urged to check the prohibiting hunting by remote control. Bigger is Better ...... 4 county specific hunting rules for these This issue centers on the use of internet Wildlife and Habitat Management changes in the upcoming 2005-2006 technology as it relates to the taking of Outdoor Annual, available in August. on Small Acreages ...... 5 game animals and game birds. The new The commission also eliminated the provision requires any person hunting a Pastures for Upland Birds ...... 6 aggregate buck-bag restriction in one-buck game animal or game bird to be physically Wild About Wild Turkeys ...... 7 and two-buck counties. The new regulation present and personally operate the means allows hunters to take a buck in any three of take. Purple Paint: Making Your Mark Without a Fence

ne of the advantages of wildlife management as an agricultural PENAL CODE §30.05. CRIMINAL TRESPASS. practice for ad valorem tax pur- O (a) A person commits an offense if he enters or remains on or in property, poses is landowners no longer need to including an aircraft or other vehicle, of another without effective consent or he enters or worry about maintaining livestock-proof remains in a building of another without effective consent and he: fences. The downside to this is that fences (1) had notice that the entry was forbidden; or often help deter trespassing. They can also (2) received notice to depart but failed to do so. provide places to post “NO TRESPASS- (b) For purposes of this section: ING” signs. Keeping up with these signs (1) “Entry” means the intrusion of the entire body. can often be a challenge, and many a (2) “Notice” means: landowner has been frustrated by a tres- (A) oral or written communication by the owner or someone with passer declaring they were unaware they apparent authority to act for the owner; were on private property because they (B) fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders didn’t see any signs. Thanks to the 1997 or to contain livestock; Legislature however, signs are not neces- (C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the build- sary in order to legally mark a property’s ing, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden; boundary. Instead, landowners may utilize (D) the placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts what has become known as “the purple on the property, provided that the marks are: paint law.” (i) vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not The 1997 session added (D) to §30.05 less than one inch in width; of the Texas Penal Code in defining what (ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three constituted criminal trespass. In order for a feet from the ground or more than five feet from the ground; and person to be guilty of criminal trespass, (iii) placed at locations that are readily visible to any person they must have received – and ignored – approaching the property and no more than: (a) 100 feet apart on forest land; or notice that entry was forbidden. This (b) 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land; or notice can be achieved in several ways, (E) the visible presence on the property of a crop grown for human including marking trees or posts with consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being harvested, or marketable if purple paint. harvested at the time of entry. “What color purple?” is the question most often asked by landowners. Any shade of purple is acceptable as long as the it, it makes little sense to build fences in numbers of landowners opting for wildlife marks meet the requirements of height and order to mark a boundary by cutting down management as their agricultural practice spacing. the very product you are trying to grow for for ad valorem tax purposes, this law When this bill was introduced to the market! A distinctive color of paint made provides an attractive alternative to tradi- Texas Legislature many people – including considerably more sense. With increasing tional fencing. legislators – were confused as to why such a bill was deemed necessary. Using paint to mark boundaries is a common practice in several other southern states with exten- New Publications Available from TPWD sive timber industries. If one thinks about The Private Lands and Public Hunting Program of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has recently released several new brochures for TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT landowners. To obtain a copy of these Commissioners brochures, contact TPWD or your Joseph B.C. Fitzsimons, Chairman San Antonio local biologist. Alvin L. Henry, Vice-Chairman Houston A Place in the Country is J. Robert Brown El Paso T. Dan Friedkin Houston for new landowners who wish to Ned S. Holmes Houston manage their land for wildlife. Peter M. Holt San Antonio Prescribed Burning Philip Montgomery Dallas Associations in Texas provides John D. Parker Lufkin landowners with basic information Donato D. Ramos Laredo about prescribed burning and the Lee M. Bass, Chairman-Emeritus Fort Worth advantages of prescribed burning MAKING TRACTS FOR TEXAS WILDLIFE associations. Robert L. Cook Executive Director Potential Income for Texas Mike Berger Director, Wildlife Division Landowners: Public Hunting Leases Linda Campbell Editor, Program Director, explains TPWD’s short-term lease program Private Lands and Public Hunting Linda McMurry Assistant Editor of private land to be used for public hunting.

2 Lone Star Land Steward Awards Program – Ten Years of Recognizing Outstanding Stewardship on Private Lands

ay in and day out, generation after Edwards Plateau – Treadwell Brady Two additional properties were generation, many rural Texas Ranch, John A. Treadwell, owner, and recognized in special categories for their Dlandowners are faced with the Brian Treadwell, operator, Menard and achievements: challenge of making a sustainable living McCulloch counties. Corporate – White Rock Lake Park, from their land. For these stewards of the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes – City of Dallas, owner, Dallas Parks and land, conserving and enhancing the state’s WW Ranch, Jim Willis, owner and opera- Recreation Dept., managers, Dallas natural resources are a way of life. tor, Colorado County. County. As the shift to urbanization in Texas Pineywoods – George H. Henderson Wildlife Management Association – grows, the significance of the efforts of Family Partners L.P., Trey Henderson, Cave Creek Wildlife Management private landowners to manage the natural owner and operator, Angelina County. Association, Sam Segner, President, landscape can be lost to those who seldom Post Oak Savannah – Shepherd’s Gillespie County. venture off the asphalt. Mountain Ranch, John and Nellie Colson, On May 25th, Texas Parks and owners, and Gary Chalmers, operator, The Sand County Foundation, LCRA, Wildlife Department recognized nine Washington County. Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Farm owners and managers of ranches and Rolling Plains – Snipes Ranch L.P., Bureau, H. Yturria Land and Cattle other properties for their innovative and Rick, Lana and Bailey Snipes, owners and Company and the following banks help ecologically sound management of wild operators, Stonewall County. support the Lone Star Land Steward habitats at the 10th Annual Lone Star South Texas – Las Vivoritas Ranch, Awards through financial sponsorships: Land Steward Awards reception. Edward H. Austin, Jr., owner and operator, Farm Credit Bank of Texas, Capital Farm The Lone Star Land Steward Awards Jim Hogg County. Credit, Heritage Land Bank, Southwest recognizes private landowners’ ability to Trans-Pecos – Cibolo Creek Ranch, Texas Land Bank, AgriLand Farm FCS, integrate traditional land uses that produce John B. Poindexter, owner and operator, AgTexas FCS, Great Plains Ag Credit, and meat, agricultural crops and outdoor recre- Presidio County. Ag Credit of South Texas. ation opportunities with habitat management and wildlife conservation, natural resource education of youth and outreach For more detailed information on each of these winning landowners, please refer to the to other groups, and partnerships with nat- TPWD news release "Lone Star Land Stewards Protect Wild Texas" of May 2, 2005 ural resource agencies. available online at: www.tpwd.state.tx.us In addition to individual ranchers and farmers, the awards recognize cooperative conservation efforts by wildlife management associations across the state, neighbors partnering with neighbors to create consistent land management across vast tracts of land. These co-ops help reverse the negative effects of land fragmentation, improve habitats for all species and help co-op members produce income from wildlife recreation. Also recognized are the conservation efforts or corporate and industry landowners and managers who use sustainable resource practices. Recipients of this year’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards for outstanding land practices in their region included: Blackland Prairies – Rey Rosa Ranch, Rusty Rose, owner and Rick Bruce, operator, Ellis County. Cross Timbers – Richards Ranch, E. C. Richards Land Co. Ltd., owner, and John Hackley and Brent Hackley, operators, Jack County.

3 The Riparian Sponge – Bigger is Better by Steve Nelle, NRCS, San Angelo

here is no greater social or Veteran riparian specialist Wayne and capturing sediment and the political or economic or biologi- Elmore has observed, measured, pho- streambed was raised by 2.5 feet. An T cal issue in Texas than water. tographed and followed the changes in eight-fold increase in water storage! Many folks have put their water hopes in this creek for the past 28 years. Prior to Side benefits were a return of perennial such grandiose plans as reservoirs, inter- 1976, the area received no specialized flow and the return of fish. The rancher basin transfers, pipeline projects, brush grazing management. As a result, the has benefited too, with a tremendous control, desalinization and other such riparian vegetation was sparse and inad- increase in riparian vegetation and “solutions.” Yet, there is another large equate. Creek banks were actively erod- greatly increased grazing capacity. Now and mostly unrecognized source of water ing and the channel was cutting down. the vegetation is properly grazed in a that can be developed in nearly any part Flow was intermittent and no fish life sustainable manner and riparian func- of the state. could exist. During runoff events, the tions are maintained. One of the attributes of a properly volume of sediment was high. The size Just think, 12-acre-feet of water functioning riparian area is the sponge of the riparian sponge was only 3.8 acres (4,000,000 gallons) being stored in the effect and water storage capacity within per mile of stream and this sponge was banks and the riparian floodplain on the riparian area. This does not refer to storing less than 500,000 gallons of each mile of the creek. This water is water storage in the creek channel itself, water per mile – far below its potential. absorbed during periods of runoff, but water detention in the land. This Following a change in grazing stored in the riparian sponge and then large absorbent sponge of riparian land management, including several years of slowly released for continuous flow in will soak up, store and then slowly rest, the riparian area began to respond. between runoff events. The shallow release water over a prolonged period. In 1985, a specialized grazing plan was aquifer is being continually recharged. This riparian sponge can be managed in implemented to continue the recovery of This natural phenomenon can be dupli- a way to greatly increase and improve the area – both the uplands and the cated on thousands and thousands of this storage or it can be managed in a riparian area. miles of creeks all across Texas. While way to decrease and degrade water By 1996, riparian vegetation was each creek is different, the principles of storage. full and thick. The riparian sponge had riparian management and restoration The best example to illustrate the increased to 12 acres per mile and this work in Texas just as they do in Oregon riparian sponge effect is from Bear Creek sponge was now storing 4,000,000 and other places. in central Oregon (12 inches annual gallons of water per mile. The improved The key to building a bigger and precipitation; 3,500 feet in elevation). riparian vegetation was now filtering better riparian sponge starts with the right kinds and amounts of vegetation. If grazing is continuous or if livestock are concentrating their grazing in the riparian area, a change in grazing management is recommended. Fencing to create a separate riparian pasture can alleviate these problems and allow appropriate management. In some cases, a complete rest from grazing for a few years is recommended to jump-start the recovery process. In other cases, a change in the timing and duration of grazing is all that is needed to allow restoration to begin. Rest during most of the growing season and light to mod- erate grazing during the dormant season will allow recovery in many cases. Slowing the flow of water as it moves downhill and keeping water on the land longer is the key to good land and water management. Good stewardship by private landowners can be a critical link in helping solve the water problems of Texas. Good habitat management is responsible for keeping this spring-fed riparian habitat in Dimmit County, in deep South Texas, healthy and productive.

4 Wildlife and Habitat Management on Small Acreages in the Cross-Timbers and Prairies Region of Texas by Nathan Rains, TPWD Private Lands Biologist, Cleburne

he face of Rural Texas is changing. specific habitat needs for reproduction and flowers are very important to wildlife and The size of private farms and survival. If one of these components is are preferred over most introduced Tranches has decreased dramatically missing, that is the limiting factor for “wildlife plants.” over the past few decades. Today, 80% of that species. It is the availability, arrange- Providing supplemental water: Texas’ private land holdings are less than ment and ratio of these habitat elements on The availability of water year round is 500 acres. Many of these properties are the landscape and influence of proper extremely important to wildlife and is now owned by absentee landowners or are management that will determine the often a limiting factor on many properties. being subdivided for mobile home parks, amount of wildlife (number of species and Most often we think of stock ponds (or high dollar “ranchettes,” rural housing and population of each species) on the prop- “tanks” in Texas) when we think of water industrial developments. Congestion in the erty. This is referred to as the carrying sources. However, there are also many cities and metroplexes has increased capacity. Since many wildlife species other ways to provide water to wildlife that “urban sprawl.” With a strong economy often share habitat types, most common can be equally beneficial. Troughs, wind- and increased resources, many people are habitat management practices will benefit mill overflow basins, wildlife guzzlers and leaving the urban environment to commute a number of wildlife species. plastic drums are just a few ways to pro- to the country for a taste of country life. vide supplemental water for wildlife Land use on these properties is also What wildlife species should I without excessive costs. It is imperative changing. specifically manage for? that these structures be monitored and kept Today, many landowners are shifting First, it is important to learn about the filled for them to be effective. away from traditional agriculture opera- ecology of wildlife species found in the Census: Annual census of wildlife tions and land uses such as ranching or area. All wildlife have a minimum size of populations is a valuable tool for monitor- farming, either for economic reasons or area they need to live and reproduce. This ing the stability, growth and health of changes in land-use interests. Managing is their home range. Some animals such populations of many wildlife species. land and habitat for wildlife is gaining in as small reptiles and amphibians have Conducting surveys on white-tailed deer popularity, whether for trophy white-tailed small home ranges of only a few hundred populations is an important technique deer, songbirds or everything in between. yards. Others, however, like white-tailed for proper management and harvest in Recent changes in the property tax deer or wild turkeys, have home ranges of Texas. Other census techniques such as laws of Texas have also helped increase a square mile or more. Wildlife species to migratory songbird call counts, roadside interest in wildlife and habitat manage- be considered for management are those in quail surveys, time area counts for small ment. Now, wildlife management as a which a landowner’s property supports and mammals, and drift fences for reptiles and primary land use can be used to maintain encompasses their habitat and home range amphibians are just a few types of survey agricultural tax valuation on properties or at least a significant part of it. methods that may be used to estimate with an existing agricultural tax valuation. Second, what species of wildlife are populations of other wildlife. Determine Proposition 11 was passed in 1995 to already living on and around the property the best census technique for the target amend Article VIII, Section 1-d-1 of the to be managed and which would benefit wildlife species found on the property and Texas Constitution permitting agricultural most from some type of management? keep good records. appraisal for land used to manage wildlife. Finally, what type of wildlife management Providing supplemental food: Landowners and wildlife have both bene- practices would be most economically and Wildlife feeders and food plots are the fited from this change. environmentally feasible to meet the goals most common ways to provide supplemen- However, wildlife and habitat and objectives of the landowner? tal food for wildlife. Feeders, while often management on these smaller properties providing a good place to observe or har- can be challenging. Can you really manage Wildlife and habitat management vest animals, usually do not provide a habitat for white-tailed deer on 20 acres? practices for smaller acreages substantial benefit to most wildlife species. No, but there are things landowners can do Fallow Disking: Fallow disking They also may increase the threat of preda- to benefit wildlife on almost any size refers to disking the soil in the winter tion and spread of diseases. Food plots, property, especially with a little creative months after the first freeze but prior to the planted in native plant species are gener- thinking. first green up of spring. This promotes the ally a better option. Native grasses, forbs germination and growth of grass, weed and (weeds) and wildflowers usually provide a What is wildlife and habitat wildflower seeds already present in the soil better nutritional benefit to most wildlife management? (called the soil seed bank). Some of these species. However, wildlife feeders and Wildlife have four basic needs; food, seeds may have been dormant for years, food plots should always be viewed as water, cover and space. The arrangement but with a little disking to expose them secondary to proper habitat management. of these elements is often equally impor- (and a little rainfall) they should grow tant. Each species of wildlife has its own vigorously. These natural weeds and wild- (Continued on page 6) 5 Pastures for Upland Birds: Opportunity to Restoring Native Plants in Benefit Bobwhite Quail and Farm Bermudagrass Pastures Economics in by Matt Wagner, TPWD, College Station; Fred Smeins, Department of Rangeland Ecology Texas and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station; and Brian Hays, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station CP33: Habitat Buffers

he conversion of large areas of the site, two rates of Glyphomax Plus herbi- for Upland Birds Post Oak Savannah to improved cide (41% glyphosate) and a combination • Provide food and cover for forage grasses, such as bermuda- of different native seed mixes and planting T bobwhite quail and other grass (Cynodon spp.) and bahiagrass methods were applied. Two years after her- farmland wildlife. (Paspalum notatum), has been a major bicide application, the two rates averaged reason for the decline of wildlife species 86% bermudagrass control on sandy soil, • Program sign-up at local FSA in the region. Bobwhite quail (Colinus 90% on sandy loam and 52% on clay soil. offices began October, 2004 and virginianus) and eastern wild turkey Foliar cover of native grasses averaged runs on a continuous basis. (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) are two about 50%, 40% and 15% on sandy, sandy • Automatic enrollment of important game species that have been loam and clay soils respectively, while eligible acres. impacted by this vegetation conversion. forbs averaged 10%, 50% and 40% respec- • Offer incentive, cost share and Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB) is a tively. Funding and support for this study maintenance payments for estab- research, management and demonstration was provided by the Texas Parks and lishing and maintaining buffers. program designed to determine cost- Wildlife Department, Texas Agricultural effective strategies for establishing native Experiment Station, Texas Cooperative For more information on the grasses and forbs in bermudagrass pastures, Extension, Cross Timbers Chapter of Quail Conservation Reserve (CRP) while providing technical assistance and Unlimited, Dow AgroSciences, National Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat cost share incentives to private landowners. Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Natural Initiative, contact your local FSA Study sites were established in Falls, Resources Conservation Service and the office or visit the FSA’s web site at: Grimes and Washington counties. At each National Wild Turkey Federation. www.fsa.usda.gov

Wildlife and Habitat Management on Small Acreages… (Continued from page 5)

Brush management: Brush Providing supplemental shelter: where landowners do not have enough Management or brush “sculpturing,” as Nest boxes and brush piles are two land to manage for the wildlife they are it is sometimes referred to, is an impor- simple yet practical ways to provide shelter interested in (i.e., white-tailed deer), tant way to improve wildlife habitat. For and nesting sites to wildlife. Instead of wildlife cooperatives are an excellent example, in Texas, Ashe juniper (cedar) burning all piles of cleared juniper, leave a alternative. Landowners, joined together and mesquite are invasive species that few piles to create habitat and escape cover with common objectives and goals, require management. Mature juniper, for small birds and mammals. Nest boxes can manage wildlife habitat on a much especially on land with a history of over- for bluebirds and wood ducks are also larger scale than they could independ- grazing and lack of natural wildfires, can simple and easy ways to provide valuable ently. Communication is the key to literally take over the landscape. In and nesting habitat. They are easy to build or developing and maintaining effective around these cedars it may become an can be purchased from various sources. cooperatives. “ecological desert.” They shade out They also are a great project for a high mid- and under-story vegetation, reduc- school environmental class or local There are many other ways to manage ing the amount of sunlight reaching the agriculture group. The size of the entrance wildlife habitat and there is certainly ground and restrict the growth of other hole and proper placement of the nest room for some creative thinking on important plant species. A little work to boxes are the two most critical factors to smaller acreages. Contact your local remove some of this brush to create a their success. Literature is available on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department “patchy” landscape will greatly benefit proper construction and management of office for information on how to obtain many species of wildlife. Remember, nest boxes. A system of monitoring and assistance with wildlife habitat manage- some cedar is beneficial because it is recording their use and success (reproduc- ment on your property under the evergreen and provides year round cover tion) should be established. Private Lands and Habitat Program. for many wildlife species. However, it Wildlife Cooperatives: On smaller must be kept in balance with other plants properties where many management and trees. Diversity is the key. practices are not feasible or on properties

6 turk” or perhaps from the Hebrew word Wild About Wild Turkeys tukki which also means “peacock” and was used by Jewish poultry merchants that by Jim Dillard, Technical Guidance Biologist, Mineral Wells helped spread them across Europe. Ben- jamin Franklin even supported an effort to here are a lot of outdoor experiences from many of the eastern states by 1920. make the wild turkey our national emblem, and happenings we have as kids Today, due to restoration efforts and regu- but the bald eagle was eventually chosen. Tthat stay with us all our life. It only lated hunting, turkey populations flourish Male Rio Grande turkeys (gobblers) takes an encounter or the mention of throughout most of their range. weigh 13-25 pounds and can be distin- something in later years to spark our Five distinct subspecies of wild guished from females (hens) by their larger memory and take us back in time. I still turkeys are recognized in North America size and black tipped breast and back remember the smell of bacon sizzling in an and three are found in Texas. Although feathers that makes them look almost old black skillet on a smoky campfire these subspecies may be similar in appear- black. Hens average 6-10 pounds and down in the bottoms of the San Gabriel ance, each has its own unique requirement have buff tipped feathers that give them a River in Central Texas when I was about for reproduction, survival and habitat. lighter coloration. Most gobblers have a 12. Sunrise squirrel hunts and the aroma of The Rio Grande turkey (Meleagris gal- distinctive beard (mesofiloplume) sticking damp leaves and mud and gun smoke lopavo intermedia) is found generally west out from the front of their breast as do hanging in the air linger in my mind. And of I-35 in the western two-thirds of the some hens. This bristle-like appendage then there's that first turkey gobbler I heard state and here in the Cross Timbers of arises from a single follicle of skin and years ago that continues to draw me back Northcentral Texas. The eastern turkey is considered a trophy to most dyed-in- to the woods year after year to experience (M. g. silvestris) has recently been reintro- the-wool turkey hunters. Some turkeys all over again its calling, its cunning and duced into the forests and woodlands of may have multiple beards. The beard on its culinary delights. East Texas and the Merriam’s turkey yearling males (jakes) is usually 3-5 inches Domesticated turkeys were discovered (M. g. merriami) into a few mountain and will grow to 10 or more inches at three by the Spanish conquistadors when they ranges in far West Texas. years of age unless broken or worn down. invaded Mexico in the early 1500s. In the early Greco-Roman language, Gobblers have spurs on the back side of Ancient Aztec cultures there had tamed Meleagris meant “guinea fowl” and their legs that are used in fighting. Spur wild turkeys and used them extensively for gallopavo was Latin for peafowl of Asia. length is another general indication of age: food and their feathers as ornamentations. Linnaeus proposed the scientific name 1 year = 1/2 inch; 2 years = 1/2 to 7/8 inch; By 1520, some of those birds were taken Meleagris gallopavo for turkeys in 1758. 3 years = 7/8 to 1 inch; 4 years + = 1 inch +. from southern Mexico back to Spain. One source indicated that the common The amount of barring and ware on the Eventually, they were spread throughout name “turkey” was used to describe any outer most two primary wing feathers can Europe and the British Isles. Some of the foreign or exotic species imported from also be used to determine whether a turkey early colonists in North America brought Tartary or Asia. Others believe “turkey” is a juvenile or adult. stocks of these turkeys with them as a food was derived from the bird’s call of “turk, (Continued on back page) source. They were known to have been sent to Jamestown around 1607 and to Boston by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1629 to help support the establishment of the towns. Descendants of those domestic turkey stocks are the ones we buy down at the grocery store today. They’re the real couchpotatoes of the turkey world, having been bred for deeper bodies, shorter legs and heavier fleshing for consumers. To me, turkey tastes like turkey, no matter how you slice, dice or package it. There were already other native wild turkey subspecies in North America prior to European settlement. Native Americans didn’t attempt to domesticate turkeys but did hunt and trap them with nets, snares and pens. Turkey feathers were a favorite source for arrow fletchings and ceremonial headdresses. Leg bones were made into beads and other ornaments. Turkeys served as an important source of food for early pioneers and settlers during the expansion of our nation. However, due to unregulated This young gobbler, or jake, can be distinguished from the older mature gobblers by his hunting and loss of habitat, wild turkey visibly shorter beard. His tail fan is another distinctive, identifying feature. Starting from populations began to disappear completely the center, the longer “adult” feathers begin to replace the shorter juvenile feathers.

7 Wild About Wild Turkeys… (Continued from page 7)

Since the eyes of turkeys are located berries, green leafy material and grain and hatch in 28 days once incubation on the side of their head, they have a crops. Food is “gobbled” into their crop begins. wide field of vision and can detect the (proventriculus) for later movement into Wild turkeys are good flyers and slightest movements around them. Sneak- the gizzard and stomach for digesting. young are capable of flight two weeks ing up on a flock of turkeys is nearly Gravel or grit is ingested into their after hatching. Predators include skunks, impossible as any bobcat, gray fox or gizzard to help grind coarse materials raccoons, snakes, fox, bobcats, coyotes, cammo clad turkey hunter can attest. and hard seeds. owls and me. Turkeys communicate bird to bird using Turkeys roost at night in tall trees I can still smell the aroma of a big a variety of calls including yelps, perts, for protection from predators. Nests are ol’ turkey roasting in my mother’s oven peeps, gobbles, purrs, clucks and hisses. built on the ground in clumps of grass at Thanksgiving as if it was only yester- They’ll eat things like acorns, pecans, and weeds or in low brush. An average of day. Thank goodness for wildlife, wild insects, snails, worms, seeds, fruits, 12 eggs is laid over a two week period places and especially wild turkeys.

HELP STOP POACHING REPORT VIOLATIONS TO OPERATION GAME THIEF 1-800-792-GAME

Austin, Texas 78744 Texas Austin,

4200 Smith School Road School Smith 4200

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildlife and Parks Texas

Permit No. 2270 No. Permit

Austin, Texas Austin,

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