Texas Critters

Boy, do we have critters in Texas!!!! We have some marvelous zoos in most
of the large cities, although my two favorite zoos are the ones in San Antonio and
Brownsville. And we have EXOTIC critters being raised in totally unexpected
places!!!!!You can be driving along, heading for the beach. Suddenly, you see
a family of giraffes, living on a farm. In another part of Texas, you can see
herds of emus and ostriches and exotic antelope types from Africa and Asia,
being raised like beef cattle for the meat. There are a number of safari-type
drive-through parks and "retirement ranch" refuges for old circus and
laboratory animals. Of course, everywhere in Texas you'll see native
critters, both year round and migratory varieties.

Critters of the Feathered Variety

Water birds at Toledo Bend Reservoir take to wing at left. A Great Horned Owl
blinks sleepily in the daylight. At right, a flock of ostriches at YO Ranch raises a cloud
of dust scratching in the dirt.

At left is a delicate Whitewing Dove, whose soft cooing greets the sun
in the morning. A minor league baseball team, The Whitewings, are based
in the Rio Grande Valley. At right is the colorful Green Jay. Unlike its
noisy cousin, the Blue Jay, the Green Jay hides very well in its South
Texas habitat, its greens and yellows blending into the year round foliage.
A favorite of birders, it is curious about people and may be checking you
out while you are looking for him.

These whooping cranes, shown at the Aransas National Wildlife
refuge, are on the endangered species list. Efforts being made by man have
stopped its decline, and the numbers are slowly increasing.

The chachalaca, shown at left, is a good sized bird, like a small
wild turkey, and in the past was readily eaten like any other game fowl. It
has a raucous call which mimics its name and nests up in trees, quite a feat
for a bird of its size. The roadrunner, on the right, is not quite as colorful
as its cartoon counterpart, but it does run very fast. Folk legend says to see
one in your yard means good luck.

South Texas, especially the Rio Grande Valley, is unique in that we have a
number of species that are considered to be indigenous to Mexico, but are also
found here. The river dividing the two nations has proved no barrier to Mexican
varieties of raptors, predators, songbirds, hummingbirds and butterflies. One such
bird seen commonly in the Valley is the Great Kiskadee, above left. On the other
hand, flocks of sea gulls, like these waiting on the rigging of a shrimp boat, are
common everywhere there is sea water.

Besides the ever-present sparrows of all varieties, the Valley is blessed
with a variety of "nuisance" birds, such as this Great-Tailed Grackle, also called a
Texas Jackdaw. Large flocks of raucous male and female birds roost in trees at night in the
winter covering everything below in their droppings. The male is a handsome black bird
with irridescent feathers and a giant tail, all of which he ruffles in a intricate
dance to impress the smaller brown females. Large flocks of wild turkeys are beginning
to reappear, such as this one at Ft. Clark Springs.

In Texas, we have fresh water birds such as the mallard, above left,
and salt water birds such as the sandpipers, shown here at South Padre Island.

We have birds like this gold fronted woodpecker who is a solitary
critter and others like these egrets who seem to feel the more the merrier.
But, most of all, Texas has BIRDS, enough to satisfy the thousands of
birders who visit...just for the birds.

There is a very pretty plain bird who has a vast repertoire of songs...The Texas State Bird.....
The Mockingbird. He seemingly can sing for hours and never repeat a tune! The
bird on the right is the brown pelican, found in large numbers at the beaches.
This huge bird gave rise to the little ditty.."A wonderful bird is the pelican/
His bill will hold more than his belican./ He can take in his beak/ Food enough
for a week,/ But I'm damned if I see how the helican." It was written in 1910 by
Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879-1972)

Four-legged Texas Critters

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