When we wrote last month’s blog, Texas Trees and Shrubs: Leaf Out, little did we know what lie in store just a week later when a historic freeze plunged Texas, and its flora and fauna, into days of single-digit temperatures. Along with the devastating toll the seismic weather event took on the people of the state, what impact did it have on wildlife? During the freeze, there were anecdotal reports from friends and family of finding dead birds. Immediately after, as the days began to warm, the sight of formerly robust cactus and century plants now turned to mush were commonplace. And for anyone who had initially held out hope that their live oaks had made it unscathed, battered brown leaves clinging to increasingly barren branches quickly became hard to ignore. But nature—and Texas—is nothing if not resilient so recovery is no doubt already happening deep in the soil, stirring in roots, and being built in nests. The following highlights just some of the impact sustained by wildlife during the Texas freeze and when (and if) we’ll see recovery.
Trees and the Texas freeze
For those who take pride in their mighty Texas oaks, who have battled against oak wilt and engaged in thoughtful brush management to best foster their growth, seeing them now, post-freeze, can be disheartening. But the experts encourage to not lose hope. We’re currently on a “sit back and wait” timeline. In the Texas Monthly piece, “How to Care for Plants Damaged by the Texas Freeze—and Prep for Spring,” the mantra is, in short, leave the trees alone. Interviewed for the article, certified arborist Maggie Ambrosino provides this insight:
“We should see new growth return to leafless limbs around Easter, unless the branch has been completely damaged. Live oaks that may appear to have oak wilt disease could just be frost-damaged: though they usually drop some nonviable leaves this time of year (to make way for better-performing foliage), many will drop 90 to 100 percent of their leaves, Ambrosino guesses, thanks to the freeze. You may also notice splitting bark on tree trunks—another form of frost damage, particularly on mountain laurels. Again, give them time to heal naturally.”
How the freeze helped wildflowers
You may have already heard more than one person say that the freeze will be good for wildflowers this year. While it may not be the case for all wildflowers, at least in the Central Texas area the timeline of the freeze may have been a boon for bluebonnets. In “Texas bluebonnets are not reacting to the state’s winter storm the way you might think,” the Austin-American Statesman checked in with the director of horticulture at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center who said the snow “acted as an insulator” for bluebonnets and other wildflowers “that adapt to colder temperatures.” Further, while she was concerned that, before the freeze, “things were moving too fast due to all of the warm weather,” the cold weather did a “reset” so the flowers should bloom now “during their normal time.” Of course, any that had begun to bloom before the freeze were likely “knocked back by the historic storms.”
Impact of the Texas freeze on birds, bats, and other wildlife
“We’re receiving reports of large bat fatalities under bridges due to winter storm.”
That was the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s post on social media on February 24, 2021, accompanied by a heartbreaking photo of dozens of dead bats. Many of you probably happened upon at least one dead bird. Many of us broke the ice on bird baths, refilled with hot water, and supplied bird seed to our “backyard birds” until that ran out and then it was nuts, crumbled crackers, and whatever we could get our hands on. But what about those much farther afield, fending for themselves without human intervention? Watching deer try to graze on frozen ground, we had to wonder how would they survive?
“Bats, birds among wildlife pummeled during Southern freeze,” is an interesting round up of the impact but, as the article notes, “scientists say it might take weeks or months to determine the extent of the harm.” There was a mix of good news and not-quite-sure-yet news in the report. On the good side, it appears the whooping crane “weathered the storm.” About 500 of the birds were spotted “feasting on dead fish floating on the Gulf waters.” But, as reported, biologists “are concerned about monarch butterflies,” particularly those that spend winters along the Gulf coast and, for others, the potential for “stunted” growth of milkweed, “which provides spots for female monarchs to lay eggs and food for their larvae.” The article further notes that, “in South Texas, bur clover, a winter weed crucial for deer in spring, was showing freeze burn.”
How our native whitetails fared may not be known quite yet, but exotic species like axis that now run wild in the Texas Hill Country were reportedly “devastated” by the freeze. From a Texas Monthly report that looked at the impact: “Introduced to Texas about eighty years ago, axis deer do not handle freezing temperatures well…axis suffered from the freeze throughout their range but primarily in open grasslands where they couldn’t bed down in thick cover. The timing was particularly bad for axis. About 70 percent of the species reproduce in February, so the cold snap hit when they were at their most vulnerable. Most of the axis carcasses belonged to newborn fawns and pregnant does. The deer were reduced to skin and bone.” The article notes that “axis are notably wily creatures and are less likely to visit game feeders and watering stations than native whitetails.” Even those dedicated to controlling axis populations were impacted by the mass death. Said one rancher, “No matter how much you don’t like to see exotics, nothing should die that way.” For more, read “Axis Deer Had Overrun the Hill Country. The Winter Storm Devastated Them.”
This year’s spring breeding and winter bird surveys, as well as deer surveys, may ultimately tell the tale of the freeze’s impact on our native wildlife.
Fire ants (yep, they’re still here)
As the freeze took its toll physically and emotionally on many folks, some were clinging to rays of hope like one Texan on Twitter during the freeze who was elated to recall “that fire ants can’t survive prolonged periods below 10°F” and the freeze “may have killed billions of fire ant mounds #SilverLings.”
Oh, if only that were so, dear tweeter. The snow had barely melted and we were just emerging from our winter forts when fire ant mounds began to appear. Our hopeful tweeter was right, however, in his reading recall; the premise that fire ants cannot survive freezes below 10 degrees (which, of course, we had for days) is widely shared. Indeed in “Texas Primer: The Fire Ant” written in 1986, the author reports that very thing (“fire ants are unable to survive freezes below 10 degrees”) and that decades ago the fire ants’ march across Texas was supposed to stop thanks to inhospitable conditions like deep freezes. But that did not happen. As the author notes, “fire ants adapt and disperse fanatically… Fire ants have adjusted to cold winters in Lubbock by forsaking their mounds for the insulated warmth of partly buried walls.”
As we adapted during the freeze to survive, so did the fire ants. We’re still here and so are they.
