Coalition for Hog Control in Jefferson County, Texas

How’s that for a snappy title of a blog post?
I never, in all of my wildest dreams, thought I would be attending a Southeast Texas Beef Symposium, but that is what I did today!  :)  I was sent there today to help man the booth for the Coalition for Hog Control.  Oink, oink, what’s up with that? 
I headed out this morning for the Ford Arena, outside of Beaumont, TX, to meet up with Jena Moon, the biologist, at McFadden NWR.  Texas is home to an estimated two million feral hogs, which accounts for about 50% of all the feral hogs in the United States.  Feral hogs destroy rangeland, pastures, crops, streams, ponds and watersheds.  This is a major economic challenge for farmers, ranchers, and wildlife refuges.  That’s about $51 million in damages for Texas landowners every year!

Jena is competing for a grant to help control the feral hogs in Jefferson County.  The method of control is to kill the hogs by shooting them from the air in helicopters.  Some may think this is cruel, but these hogs are really destroying the habitat, and they breed year round here like rabbits!  I’ve seen the destruction they can cause on our refuges.  Anyway, our job was to sign up ranch owners for the eradication program at no cost to them.  Once they heard her little speech, quite a few were very interested.  All the ranchers around here have to deal with these destructive hogs.
As the lectures during the symposium were droning on about soil tests and fertilization of hay fields, I decided to take a stroll around the other vendors.  There were several tractors and other equipment located between the two rows of vendors. I found the booth on ear tagging your cattle quite interesting, considering I grew up in the big city of Chicago.  It was something I had never even thought about.  Notice the diagram about where to place the tags in order to avoid arteries, etc.  I felt a little bit out of my element in my gym shoes as everyone else was wearing boots and cowboy hats.  :)  They were all very friendly, however. 
While I was there, I also visited the Hay Show and saw the Grand Champion Hay Bale!  Life doesn’t get much better than that!   You just never know what tasks you’ll be asked to perform when volunteering.  I know you’re all jealous of my experiences today, but try to control yourselves.  :)  Maybe some day you’ll get a chance to be in Hay, Hog, and Heifer Heaven!

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Holy Bug-bite, Batman!

In my post, yesterday, I included a picture of an insect.  One of my readers, a veterinarian, commented that she thought the insect was from the Family Reduviidae.  AKA....the Assassin Bug!  I'm happy to report that neither Emma nor myself provoked that little bugger.  Apparently they can inflict a nasty bite if provoked.

Wildlife refuges harbor all kinds of critters, and some of them are not user friendly.  :)  That reminds me of the time a couple of years ago that I was helping pick up trash at McFadden NWR in preparation for their Marsh Madness celebration.  I was calmly walking along the roadside with my bucket and trash picker when I saw what I thought was an old soggy glove in the grass.  I tried to pick it up with the picker, but the tongs slipped off.  I remember thinking, "my goodness, that's a heavy glove."  So, of course, I stepped closer and tried again.  As I began to lift the glove, it began to uncurl!  It wasn't a glove at all, but was a cottonmouth snake!  You can bet I dropped that snake and jumped back.  Thank goodness it was early in the morning and still pretty chilly out which meant the snake, a cold blooded reptile, was still groggy.

This afternoon, as I took Emma to the back of the compound so she could have a good run, we both noticed that we were not alone.  Just on the other side of the barbed wire fence was one cow surrounded by a half dozen feral hogs.  Not a good time to let Emma off the leash.  Feral hogs are a real problem for southern refuges.  They reproduce freely, and they have a disastrous effect on the marsh.  I had seen that same
herd(?) of hogs late yesterday afternoon.  (I can't think of what you call a bunch of pigs...not a flock, or gaggle, but what?)

Then just before sunset today, a bobcat loped across the open lawn next to the RV pads.  I hope he sticks around and dines on the rodents.  :)

One of the interesting challenges for female fulltime RVers is getting a decent haircut across the country.  I most often end up with an exuberant hairdresser that more than gives me my money's worth.  Today's experience was the opposite.  This hairdresser was rather timid about shortening my locks, and she used way too much conditioner.  I have very fine hair, and using conditioner means my hair just lays flat on my head...no body at all.  Oh well, next cut will come from around Austin, TX.  We'll see what happens there.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy