Status Updates From Armadillos to Ziziphus: A N...

As the Spanish explored Mexico [1500s] they took cattle with them..but many..escaped..Soon, herds of feral cattle were roaming..Mexico..into Texas. These feral herds faced..Mountain Lions, Wolves, & Grizzly Bears..There was strong natural selection for longer horns, which the cows used to "hook" would-be predators...We raise Texas Longhorns on the Double Helix Ranch..& we never experience any problems with predators.

For our first date,I asked [Ann, my wife] to accompany me to look for frogs in a violent rainstorm.Several days earlier I'd invited her to come up to my dorm room to listen to my records of frog calls.She turned [me] down,saying that her mother had warned her about people like me,but her roommate accepted..Ann said later that she was surprised to learn that I had actually played records of frog calls for her roommate

DNF

"Some examples of problematic invasive ornamental trees and shrubs you should avoid are Chinese Tallow, Bradford Pear, Tree-of-Heaven, Chinaberry, and both European and Chinese Privet. If you have these trees or shrubs growing on your property, they should be removed and replaced with native species" (258).

"...in the Eocene, the Chisos Mountains in west Texas were covered in tropical rain forests, and little primates called tarsiers lived in trees on the slopes of the mountains" (245).

"The native tallgrasses were well adapted to our cycle of flood and drought in central Texas. What you see above ground is a tiny portion of the plant. Switchgrass and Big Bluestem may grow to be six feet or more above the surface, but their roots go far deeper underground. Their deep and extensive root systems are the secret to these grasses' success" (230).

"Although we consider armadillos to be iconic members of our local fauna, they actually moved into our area only in the late 1800s" (217).

At minimum, a lichen consists of a symbiotic interaction between a fungus and a population of unicellular photosynthetic organism. The photosynthetic organisms are typically algae, but thy can also be cyanobacteria (a group of photosynthetic bacteria)" (180).

"Our Black-chinned Hummingbirds mostly fly overland to Mexico, whereas many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds fly long distances across the Gulf of Mexico to reach Central America (especially on their northward flight; more individuals seem to fly along the coast when heading south)" (173).

"The Edwards Plateau Ecological Region alone supports 2.3 million Whitetails, or about 41 percent of the state total. Across the Plateau, the average is about one Whitetail for every 7 acres...The Central Texas Mineral Region (Llano Uplift)...consists of Llano County, most of Mason County, and smaller parts of the surrounding counties...deer densities are far higher here - a deer for every 3 to 4 acres... (151-2).

"There are nearly 50 species of snakes in the Hill Country, and the few venomous species are easily recognized. Only two venomous snake species are common across most of the Hill Country - the Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake and the Broad-banded Copperhead. Learn to recognize these two species on sight. They will not chase you; they want to get away from you more than you want to get away from them" (140).

"Our most abundant oak species, the Plateau Live Oak, keeps green leaves all year long, dropping its leaves in the spring as it grows a new set. Live oaks may not grow especially tall (at least in comparison to many eastern oak trees), but they make up in breadth what they lack in height. Many visitors to the Hill Country marvel at our ancient, twisted, sprawling oaks..." (128).