Named for their use of “masonry” such as mud to build their nests, mason bees are not to be confused with carpenter bees. Though both are, undoubtedly, busy bees. Unlike…
The holidays are over, the Christmas lights are put away (or at least you’ve rationalized by now how it’s really quite cheery to have them up year round), and football…
You may have noticed the large, wrinkled, green “oranges” recently, littering the ground around big barren trees or, almost impossibly, still tenaciously clinging to scraggly, leafless limbs. As a kid,…
Ah, the willow. It’s elegant, elongated branches gently swaying in the breeze is the stuff of children’s books and poetry. Ah, willow baccharis. It’s elegant, elongated branches gently swaying in…
Not too long after you leave the city limits of Fredericksburg, Texas, heading west toward the town of Harper, you see it—long stretches of trees devastated by oak wilt. Completely…
“Fox with rabies enters Texas home, attacks woman” That succinct headline from earlier this month told most of the story. Rabies is a zoonosis, a disease that is transmitted from…
Between 2008 and 2015, 1,610 people were killed during animal encounters. Based on sensational news reports that tend to cycle through, particularly during the summer months, one would think sharks…
There’s a particular thrill at the sight of a fox here in Texas. Darting across a country road, long, lush, hirsute tail trailing just behind. Even if their range is…
Talk to any Texan who spent time out in the country—and who’s been around for more than a few decades—and they most likely can remember a time when checking for…