In January of 2018, my wife and I were invited to a cook-out on a local ranch owned by the family of our friends, Walter, and Kay. It was a beautiful day to be outside in late January. Family members use this land for hunting and recreation and they feed corn and other grains to the wildlife that come onto the property. We saw mule deer, wild turkey, wild hogs and quail that day.

In the first image, a yearling spike male and a yearling female are by the homemade feeding trough where we were treated to several family groups coming in to graze over the course of the afternoon.

In the second image, an older female is near the trough but she is on full alert for trouble. Her huge ears are what earn this species the name of mule deer. Desert adapted animals can have enhanced ears to help them detect and avoid trouble on their range.

We enjoyed the wildlife drama as each group came to the feeding troughs and their cautious approaches. They seemed to tolerate each other most of the time and were more worried that people were nearby.

This image shows the first appearance of an adult male with what appeared to be a fair sized set of antlers.

I was able to follow this individual and his consort to a shady spot where they were resting and doing a little cud-chewing. If you you look closely at his antlers, you can see that they are not symmetrical.

Here is another view from the front, notice that his right antler does not have as many tines as his left antler.

In talking with my friend Walter, I learned he was worried about this animal becoming the father of a whole generation of weird antlered deer since our region was going to be placed under a four year restriction on mule deer hunting to help improve the age and sex structure of the regional population which has been skewed due to hunting pressure. (See this article from the Caprock Courier Website)

At that point, I confess, I thought he had a reason to be concerned that he or some other hunter would be unable to eliminate this “aberrant” individual from the breeding population which would put more “weird antlered” deer into the local population.  However in preparing this post, I discovered that there were many nongenetic ways for mule deer, white-tailed deer, and elk to wind up sporting goofy antlers. In Antler Asymmetry by Elyse Henshaw (10-27-2014) on the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History website, she points out that injuries, infections, environmental stressors like food quantity and quality, pollutants, population density, and parasites as well as genetics can act to create asymmetry in the antlers of deer. On the Buck Manager website, the author discusses how leg or other bone fractures can interfere with the proper development of antlers. They also discuss how damage to the pedicle on the skull of the deer which produces the new antlers each year can produce malformed antlers during the rest of the buck’s life but can’t be passed on to offspring.

In the article on the Quality Deer Management Website by Gabe Karns, Mr. Karns addresses the tendency of hunter’s to attribute malformed antlers to genetic causes when there are many other non-genetic causes for antler malformation. His study of 71 specimens of asymmetrical white-tails tended to confirm that weird antlers came more from environment related injuries to the animal and not genetic mutations.

Check this one out in Colorado Outdoors Magazine which shows some radical elk antlers that are not due to genetic mutations!

As a result of my inquiries into deer biology, I am happy that I can put to rest my concern about mutant mule deer taking over the region where I live. I suspect that my friend Walter and any other concerned hunter-conservationists will also be relieved by the issues raised in this post. Needless to say, food quality and availability, and pollutants are things landowners can help control to support the health of the deer populations and the other species that share the space.  Good stewardship of the land means we will have mule deer and all the attendant species now and in the future.

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Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Cynomys ludovicianus, live in a small colony inside Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, Texas.
They share this park with people and buffalo. You can see in this image, they like to eat grass.

In this image, you can see the black tip of the tail for which this species is named.

Prairie dogs live in burrows. At the surface they will build conical or crater-like mounds that rise above the surrounding plain. This helps keep water out of their burrow. It also provides an elevated site for watching for predators that may be looking for an easy meal of unsuspecting prairie dog.

When they are far from their home burrow and the warning bark sounds, you can see them scamper for safety.

Prairie dogs eat some kinds of plants besides grass. They also trim and remove plants that get too tall and obstruct their vision or give hiding places for predators. This image shows a prairie dog engaged in pruning.

Sometimes, the ground is wet and soft and the prairie dogs will dig for plant roots to eat. This little fellow has been busy in the muddy ground looking for treats.

This image was taken in February and shows that late winter in the Texas panhandle provides dry grass for hungry prairie dogs. Poor fare, indeed.

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Once upon a time, Texas had herds of buffalo and elk that wandered the great plains and the western mountains.

Elk like to spend their summers in the forested mountains and migrate to the plains during the winters.

Current land use practices prohibit this kind of behavior, and as a result, limit the presence of large numbers of elk in Texas. In modern times, buffalo and elk are found only in public or private sanctuaries within the state. In my little part of Texas, there are buffalo in Caprock Canyons State Park, and not far from there is a ranch that has a small herd of elk.

The smaller size of the mule deer and white-tailed deer and their ability to exploit the local range land year round makes them able to inhabit smaller, more patchy environments than the elk.

Elk ranching is an expensive proposition because these animals require a lot of space and very tall fences. Elk are the second largest member of the deer species found in North America and they can jump fences up to 7 feet tall. Elk have a four chambered stomach that helps them process the grass, forbs, leaves and bark they consume daily. Male elk can weigh over 700 pounds while females average near 500. The size of these animals requires 9 to 15 pounds of forage per day.

Elk in Texas occur mainly on private ranches in the Hill country and in West Texas where they encompass enough acreage to provide the habitat needed by these animals. Free range herds exist on ranches in Pecos and Brewster counties where hunting privileges are sold to help support these operations. Elk in these parts are considered a competitor for resources for the Bighorn Sheep and are an unwanted species in local wildlife management areas. Read more about this issue in Texas Monthly.

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In the first image you see a young specimen of Ulmus crassifolia, also known as the cedar elm tree. Visible on this tree are places where the bark has been stripped away down to the white wood underneath. In some parts of Texas, you can see activity like this on small branches and twigs due to the activity of rats. Obviously, something larger has been busy here.

In this image, another young tree has been nearly stripped of bark along its trunk.

Closer inspection of the trunk shows places where large teeth have been at work and have scored the trunk. Porcupines range into western Texas where they feed on various kinds of herbaceous plants during the year. They will also eat the inner bark of some types of trees. From the looks of the trees in these photos, they enjoy young cedar elm bark considerably.

In this last image, you can see where the porcupine was able to feed close to the ground and avoid having to climb for his dinner. Porcupines are largely nocturnal, but they can be seen about in the daytime. I have yet to encounter a live one of these large rodents and I am looking forward to seeing one peeling tree bark one of these days.

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I recently spent part of a morning with a young coyote who appeared to be just old enough to be out hunting on its own. What was strange to me was her willingness to let me walk in her vicinity as she scavenged along a roadside. This usually indicates the animal is ill or possibly rabid. But, I believe this was not the case.

Coyotes in these parts are often heard but not seen since they are targets for cattle ranchers. Coyotes are known to prey on calves and have become problems, as a result, for stockmen. Thus, I felt very lucky to be able to be as close as I was to this animal and spend time observing her hunting grasshoppers and whatever other edibles she could find. From her condition, I suspect that meals have been few and far between since being weaned.

She looks to be very thin, almost emaciated. She has a fair number of ticks on her, but her eyes are clear and not showing the green mucus that comes with distemper. Nor, was she showing the staggering or salivating that indicates rabies. Other than being thin, she appeared healthy.

She covered about a half-mile during the time I spent with her and seemed oblivious to all the automobile traffic. I whistled a time or two when she was looking away and was able to verify she wasn’t deaf, just intent on finding food.

Nature can appear very cruel by human standards, but it points out, albeit harshly, that ecosystems have limits on the resources available to support its members. Exceed the numbers of coyotes that the system can support, starvation and death are the possible outcomes. This youngster’s willingness to eat whatever it could find or catch will hopefully keep her alive.

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In the first picture you see a male and female chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, family Hominidae. This species is found in central and west Africa north of the Congo River.  Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus, the Bonobo chimpanzee, are our closest living relatives in the primates. You can find more about their habitat and natural history on the University of Wisconsin website. Wikipedia also provides a general treatment of this species and the Bonobo.

If you are interested in the genetic relationships between humans and the chimpanzees, there is a journal article from Nature that discusses the research. Be advised it is written for people well versed in the science of genetics.

Our closest relatives in the primate community have readily identifiable expressions to which we can relate. In the image above, it appears that she is asking him for a bite of orange.

In the third, she becomes more insistent and he glares at her.

In the final image, she appears to complain while he guiltily eats his orange. Chimpanzee means mock man in the Bantu language and these pictures show how closely their behavior resembles our own. Like all of us, I enjoy observing them and I hope they can be kept from extinction but that requires habitat preservation and wise management. Thankfully, there are established parks and preserves in the African countries where they live. Perhaps, we will be wise enough to coexist with our closest relatives and enrich our future with these remarkable creatures.

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I live in West Texas and wild hogs are a fact of life. Their size and habits can make significant changes in the countryside. On a recent hike along a county road near my home, I encountered the above scene.

The ground has been disturbed by something. Notice in this image in the bottom right what the grassland looked like before it was rearranged.

In this image you can see the deep tracks of wild hogs that were made when this patch of ground was wet. So, I think it is fair to conclude all the rooting around occurred in damp or muddy soil. Great for the pig’s nose, not so great for the prairie.

Here is another shot showing disturbed ground along a fenceline and what undisturbed pasture should look like on the other side of the fence.

Finally, you can get a sense of how deep these animals will dig in search of food. Also, note the proximity to the county road. These animals can be very destructive to crops and countryside. Their only natural predator is man in these parts. They are an example of a destructive invasive species and what happens when people introduce a species into an ecosystem without consideration of the consequences.

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On a cool morning in March 2017, I was traveling towards home after a productive photo safari. I chanced upon three Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus, in a field of winter wheat. The morning was cool and the wind was blowing. All three deer were bedded down in the wide open space of this field. Naturally, I was struck by this opportunity, I parked near by, and began to approach these deer. The older female pictured here was the first to jump up, she studied me closely as I approached. She didn’t look too pleased to see me.

The eight-point male was the second to arise and begin browsing the winter wheat. In this picture, the younger female is bedded down where they were when I first saw them. The male looks like he is sticking his tongue out at me but he had just been grazing on the winter wheat.

Throughout my years in the field, I had always encountered deer droppings in neat little piles. I have seen cattle do their business and I figured that deer did theirs the same way, and it always made me wonder how they got theirs to land in such neat little piles. As you can see, their method of delivery is much like I’ve seen many a dog or cat use. Needless to say, I am no longer curious how they make those neat little piles of droppings.

The size of the male and young female is relatively smaller than the older female seen above. These could be a breeding group, or the younger two may be related to the older female. The two younger animals acted as a pair while the older female acted more like a parent supervising younger animals.

The last picture shows the young buck with all four feet off of the ground as he and the females left my vicinity because I had broken their fight or flight barrier.

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This image shows a European Wild Hog in sedges near a marsh. Sus scrofa is the parent species to the domestic hogs we raise and consume for food. Pigs belong to the order Artiodactyla which means even-toed ungulates. These creatures walk on their third and fourth digits which are flanked by the smaller second and fifth digits. Artiodactyls include camels, hippopotamuses, deer, giraffes, sheep, goats, cattle and antelopes. Sometimes this group is called the cloven-hoofed mammals.

Wild Hogs are a nuisance species in Texas because they breed throughout the year and can produce litter sizes averaging between 3 and 12 piglets. Their long lifespan of 5- 20 years means that one female could add 15 to 240 individuals to the population.

Since they are omnivores, they feed on roots, nuts, grain, plant stems, insects and their larvae, other small animals and even carrion. Thus, they can become destructive to farmers when a large band decides to eat their crops.

Furthermore, they pose a traffic hazard along highways where individuals and family groups can be found crossing roadways. These large mammals can create serious problems for motorists because they are most active in the early morning and evening when the light conditions make them difficult to see.

Since there are few or no natural predators, wild hog populations expand. Some folks hunt these animals for food. Some landowners shoot them and leave them for the vultures. Wild hogs can pose a danger to humans who encounter them while on foot. Your best bet is to leave them alone and withdraw from where they are without upsetting them because they will attack when they feel threatened.

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Here we see an urban squirrel enjoying her pecan while sitting on the top bar of a chain link fence. These little creatures make use of whatever is available for moving about in their environment. The species pictured here is Sciurus niger, the Fox squirrel.

Most people think squirrels just eat nuts. Here we see another urban squirrel enjoying some grass from the lawn. Some folks have trouble with these little fellas raiding their bird feeders, too.

This squirrel is in the top of a pecan tree. If the tree had all its leaves, the color of her underbelly would make her difficult to see. From above, her fur makes it hard for a predatory bird to tell her from the branch she is on.

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