Where Moody Creek Meets Aransas River, Welder Wildlife Refuge River Walk – September 2011, by Anna Livia By Anna Livia (Walk on September 7th, article written over the past few days) September 10,  2011 Habitat. What is a habitat and why is it cool? My understanding of it is that it’s a “community.” It revolves around supporting a certain community of wildlife and offering certain conditions to live in with basic life needs being met by a certain set of animals for whom that set of conditions and… Read More →

U.S. Fish & Wildlife, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Director Dan Alonso Gets Volunteer Dan Started Dan Beckendorf Volunteers at ANWR: Placing Whooping Crane Decoys In Their Natural Habitat   September 14, 2011 By Anna Livia Last week a former Welder Wildlife fellow called Selma Glasscock here at Welder. He has recently been hired as the Biologist at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Austwell, about an hour from here. He needed some volunteers to help with a Whooping Crane counting experiment to take place on the Aransas National… Read More →

By Anna Livia September 8, 2011 Javelina, Feral Hog, Wild Pig, European Wild Hog… Which one does not belong? A, B. C or D? ANSWER: The anser is (A) Javelina. Javelina is the only one that does not belong in that list. Why? The Feral Hog is the same thing as a wild pig (it’s literally a domestic pig gone wild.) And the European Wild Hog (nick name “Boar”) is a true “wild pig,” native to Europe. One that has not been domesticated. They are ALL three pigs. A pig and a hog are the… Read More →

By Anna Livia   September 5, 2011 When I was a kid one of my favorite night time stories was “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. I remember the kid in the book had been misbehaving so he was sent to his bed without dinner. He went in his room and shut his door with a most ornery scowl. But soon his little room with its simple and scant furniture started to grow! The bed posts grew into trees, the floors grew up into grass and… Read More →

By Anna Livia September 2, 2011 Dan has loved birds since he was a kid. When I say he loves birds, well, it’s like this, he gets excited, I mean excited about birds.  So we’ve been here for over a week at Welder, living in the dorms. So we have this new found daily ritual that we have started to do every evening, about 30 minutes before dark. We take a nice little stroll, through the grounds and around the back of the lecture hall and student study… Read More →

Hello, We are pleased to announce that we have a new volunteer with the nature tourism program! Anna Livia. She will be reporting from “the field” on the Guide Blog http://agrilife.org/naturetourism. You can read about her in her first post. This is actually just one of many things she is helping to accomplish. Welcome Anna!

We are pleased to announce that the nature tourism program has a new team member. Dan Beckendorf was hired to assist with the Texas MarketMaker program for coastal fishing guides and support other nature tourism program elements. He is based in Sinton and the Welder Wildlife Refuge. Welcome!

August 23, 2011 Written by Anna Livia from Welder Wildlife Refuge (Sinton, Tx) INTRODUCTION to our Coastal Texas Wildlife Adventures (“The Miles Files”) We just left College Station and the office of Miles Phillips. Our mission for the day is to reach our destination, Welder Wildlife Foundation and get settled into the dormitory housing on the wildlife refuge where Dan and I will both be volunteering for an undetermined amount of time.   Before I tell you what Dan and I are doing for Texas A & M,… Read More →

Texas Parks and Wildlife is seeking input form the public. This news release explains the effort and includes a link to a survey you can use to provide your input until Sept 26 AUSTIN – What do citizens think of the park systems in Texas? What kinds of outdoor recreational opportunities do they want? The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is seeking input from local stakeholders about the future of park systems in the state. “We want to know more about Texans’ recreational habits, what’s working and areas… Read More →

Texas Parks and Wildlife is seeking input form the public. This news release explains the effort and includes a link to a survey you can use to provide your input until Sept 26 AUSTIN – What do citizens think of the park systems in Texas? What kinds of outdoor recreational opportunities do they want? The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is seeking input from local stakeholders about the future of park systems in the state. “We want to know more about Texans’ recreational habits, what’s working and areas… Read More →