Serving Kerr County with a Conscience
Invasive Species
WHEN WILL TX PARKS & WILDLIFE STEP IN TO SAVE THE HILL COUNTRY’S WHITETAIL?
25/01/11 08:51
By Ann White for Kerr County Conscience
What I want to know is, since Texas Parks and Wildlife is supposed to be the agency that protects whitetail deer (they are owned by the state of Texas), when are they going to start protecting them? Anyone who owns property in this area should be able to see the writing on the wall: the day will come when there are no more whitetails in the Hill Country.
Like most greenhorns who move to Texas and buy a “ranch”--for us, 150 acres NE of Kerrville-- the realtor showed us a charming piece of land, with rolling hills, green grass dotted with live flowers, and majestic live oaks. All it lacked was bluebonnets to complete our art-gallery image of how beautiful it would be to live here.
When we saw our future ranch, it was lucky for the realtor that our viewing happened to be between droughts. We didn’t know then that the grass was momentary, that a development would be planned that would take all of our water, that all of our live oaks would eventually be wiped out by oak wilt, that we would soon succumb to “cedar fever,” and that our taxes would skyrocket. These are subjects for future articles! Now, in mid-winter and facing yet another drought, we are beginning to believe that perhaps the realtor’s greatest omission in his sales pitch was not any of the above, but his failure to mention a very serious problem facing all landowners—invasive species depredation.
One of the charms of our land was watching the wildlife, and for the first few years we were green enough to still exclaim over the elegant, plump, whitetail deer watching us from the meadow. Then one fall, some larger “deer” began to appear. These “deer” were often twice the size of our whitetails, and were much more aggressive. When cold weather came and forage for our whitetails was scarce, we began to put out a little alfalfa, a little protein, to help them make it through the winter. After all, someone had told us that whitetail live within 5 miles of the place where they were born, so these were OUR whitetail, and we felt responsible for them. But soon our deer began to look thinner and thinner and we started to find fawns, dead from starvation and exposure, on our road. We started watching our feeders.
Yes, all you Texas “Natives” out there already know about the escaped exotic, the axis, and the devastation they cause to land and native whitetails. But we didn’t know this, and no one told us. After a little research, we learned that “there could be over a million free-ranging exotics in the Hill Country alone” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, April 2007, page 38-39.) We discovered that axis reproduce at a much faster rate than whitetails (like rabbits!), and that they can eat grass, which whitetails cannot. So, after eating all of the whitetails’ traditional forage, they can switch to eating grass—therefore competing with cattle. And axis totally, in the slang of today, “kick ass” when it comes to feeding competition with whitetails. They will aggressively attack whitetails and run them away from the feeders, every time.
Soon, to our great consternation, we had HUNDREDS of axis exotics running roughshod on our land, eating everything in sight, and starving our native whitetail population. (Not only do they compete with whitetails--they also compete with all native wildlife that forages on rangeland here.) As our whitetails got skinnier, much teeth-gnashing followed. What was the solution?
Method #1: TRAPPING
We discovered that there IS no easy solution. Someone came to us with the idea of “trapping.” This involves draping a large, heavy net on poles, putting feed under it, then adventurous guys watch from a distance and when there are a lot of axis under it, “BOOM!” they let off a charge, the net falls, and—Voila!—they grab the axis, tranquilize them, and sell them to a ranch that is actually raising these beasts. Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t. First, it’s not only axis that go under the net to eat—whitetails go under it as well. Anyone who has observed the fragility of fawns’ legs and the whitetails’ overall propensity to be easily damaged can imagine the carnage that takes place after a heavy net falls on a whitetail and it struggles to free itself. How many whitetail deer are killed or mortally hurt in trapping? No one knows, because of course the trappers don’t talk about this—and the Game Warden usually isn’t around at these “drops”— or the landowner, either.
It wasn’t until later, after watching whitetail for some time, that we began to speculate about whitetail damage during trapping. But then one spring an incident occurred that stopped trapping for good at our ranch. It was a hot spring. The net had been hung, and the feed put out. Then we had one of those brief, but intense, Texas thunderstorms and a quick shower. The heavy rope net became wet, and sagged. The rack of a large whitetail buck snagged the sagging net, pulling it down over about 14 other whitetail. All this happened, and there was no one around. That afternoon, the sun came back out, and the temperature reached a steamy 100 degrees. Taking my early evening walk, I approached the net and was appalled by the sight of the tortured, mutilated animals entangled there. This experience put an end to “trapping” on our ranch.
Method #2: TRANQUILIZING
Another friend suggested someone who came out and shot tranquilizer darts into the axis, then gathered them up and sold them, giving the ranch owner a small stipend. I discovered that there were also problems with this method:
Since our goal was not necessarily to sell the animals and make money, but to GET RID OF ALL OF THE AXIS—to try to preserve the whitetails and our habitat--neither trapping nor tranquilizing were effective methods of control. At the same time that a few axis are being trapped and tranquilized (the axis soon know about the net and won’t go under it), mother axis are cheerfully having many, many more babies!
Method #3: HUNTING
As soon as we started talking to our friends about our axis problem, we were besieged by calls from people who wanted to come onto our land and “hunt” axis. Most landowners are particular about who they let on their land with a gun. Although sparsely populated, the area around us has other homes and businesses—easily within shooting distance. We have cattle roaming the entire acreage. We have farm buildings and parked vehicles. We had grudgingly come to the conclusion that the only way to rid ourselves of the axis scourge was to shoot them—before they starved. Then we planned on reinforcing all the fences and in the future planned to keep all deer, including whitetail, completely off of the property. We alienated about half of our acquaintances by picking one close friend whom we knew well, and knew that he was responsible enough to shoot on our property. One woman said to me, “Why won’t you let me hunt on your property?” My response was: “Why do you want to hunt?” Her reply: “For the sport.” I explained to her that hunting here was not for “sport,” that there was no “sport” involved. The animals were starving. They could be shot from the front porch. This was exactly the type of person that we didn’t want on the property: anyone infected with “buck fever.” We didn’t want anyone who was a poor marksman, or who would shoot without a clear shot, and wound the animal, and therefore extend its suffering. Exterminating the axis was a nasty, brutal, bloody, job. It had to be done, but that didn’t mean that we liked it.
Hunting has not worked, either. Our friend has been diligent and careful. But how many axis can one person shoot and give away? After shooting about 15, the job of gutting them became an interminable chore. Let’s face it; everyone likes the idea of walking to their freezer and pulling out an axis steak for dinner. But when it comes to having to gut, skin, and cut up a 500-pound animal—this is a job reserved for the real die-hards, the non-faint-at-heart. How many freezers can one person own? Now we are beginning to feel guilty about burdening our friend with this chore. On any given afternoon, he comes and shoots and fixes the fences—and a few hours later, by the time we put feed out for the whitetails, there are 50 axis that appear from nowhere and have it all eaten in 15 minutes. It’s hopeless!
We are beginning to resign ourselves to the fact that we can’t feed the whitetails without the axis stealing the feed—so we are going to be seeing our whitetails starve this winter, and our land totally devastated. While this is going on at our personal, micro-cosmic level, we are imagining what is occurring at the 2000-acre ranches. It’s a simple fact: the State of Texas needs to step in NOW and pass regulations dealing with the scourge of escaped exotic animals. These animals are devastating our state’s natural habitat, and the small, private landowner is simply not equipped to deal with the problem. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a good thing that Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace who introduced these animals into Texas in the 1930s, has passed on—otherwise, he just might get sued.
ANN WHITE can be reached by email at our web site, kerrcconscience@aol.com. You are also welcome to leave a comment on this blog.
What I want to know is, since Texas Parks and Wildlife is supposed to be the agency that protects whitetail deer (they are owned by the state of Texas), when are they going to start protecting them? Anyone who owns property in this area should be able to see the writing on the wall: the day will come when there are no more whitetails in the Hill Country.
Like most greenhorns who move to Texas and buy a “ranch”--for us, 150 acres NE of Kerrville-- the realtor showed us a charming piece of land, with rolling hills, green grass dotted with live flowers, and majestic live oaks. All it lacked was bluebonnets to complete our art-gallery image of how beautiful it would be to live here.
When we saw our future ranch, it was lucky for the realtor that our viewing happened to be between droughts. We didn’t know then that the grass was momentary, that a development would be planned that would take all of our water, that all of our live oaks would eventually be wiped out by oak wilt, that we would soon succumb to “cedar fever,” and that our taxes would skyrocket. These are subjects for future articles! Now, in mid-winter and facing yet another drought, we are beginning to believe that perhaps the realtor’s greatest omission in his sales pitch was not any of the above, but his failure to mention a very serious problem facing all landowners—invasive species depredation.
One of the charms of our land was watching the wildlife, and for the first few years we were green enough to still exclaim over the elegant, plump, whitetail deer watching us from the meadow. Then one fall, some larger “deer” began to appear. These “deer” were often twice the size of our whitetails, and were much more aggressive. When cold weather came and forage for our whitetails was scarce, we began to put out a little alfalfa, a little protein, to help them make it through the winter. After all, someone had told us that whitetail live within 5 miles of the place where they were born, so these were OUR whitetail, and we felt responsible for them. But soon our deer began to look thinner and thinner and we started to find fawns, dead from starvation and exposure, on our road. We started watching our feeders.
Yes, all you Texas “Natives” out there already know about the escaped exotic, the axis, and the devastation they cause to land and native whitetails. But we didn’t know this, and no one told us. After a little research, we learned that “there could be over a million free-ranging exotics in the Hill Country alone” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, April 2007, page 38-39.) We discovered that axis reproduce at a much faster rate than whitetails (like rabbits!), and that they can eat grass, which whitetails cannot. So, after eating all of the whitetails’ traditional forage, they can switch to eating grass—therefore competing with cattle. And axis totally, in the slang of today, “kick ass” when it comes to feeding competition with whitetails. They will aggressively attack whitetails and run them away from the feeders, every time.
Soon, to our great consternation, we had HUNDREDS of axis exotics running roughshod on our land, eating everything in sight, and starving our native whitetail population. (Not only do they compete with whitetails--they also compete with all native wildlife that forages on rangeland here.) As our whitetails got skinnier, much teeth-gnashing followed. What was the solution?
Method #1: TRAPPING
We discovered that there IS no easy solution. Someone came to us with the idea of “trapping.” This involves draping a large, heavy net on poles, putting feed under it, then adventurous guys watch from a distance and when there are a lot of axis under it, “BOOM!” they let off a charge, the net falls, and—Voila!—they grab the axis, tranquilize them, and sell them to a ranch that is actually raising these beasts. Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t. First, it’s not only axis that go under the net to eat—whitetails go under it as well. Anyone who has observed the fragility of fawns’ legs and the whitetails’ overall propensity to be easily damaged can imagine the carnage that takes place after a heavy net falls on a whitetail and it struggles to free itself. How many whitetail deer are killed or mortally hurt in trapping? No one knows, because of course the trappers don’t talk about this—and the Game Warden usually isn’t around at these “drops”— or the landowner, either.
It wasn’t until later, after watching whitetail for some time, that we began to speculate about whitetail damage during trapping. But then one spring an incident occurred that stopped trapping for good at our ranch. It was a hot spring. The net had been hung, and the feed put out. Then we had one of those brief, but intense, Texas thunderstorms and a quick shower. The heavy rope net became wet, and sagged. The rack of a large whitetail buck snagged the sagging net, pulling it down over about 14 other whitetail. All this happened, and there was no one around. That afternoon, the sun came back out, and the temperature reached a steamy 100 degrees. Taking my early evening walk, I approached the net and was appalled by the sight of the tortured, mutilated animals entangled there. This experience put an end to “trapping” on our ranch.
Method #2: TRANQUILIZING
Another friend suggested someone who came out and shot tranquilizer darts into the axis, then gathered them up and sold them, giving the ranch owner a small stipend. I discovered that there were also problems with this method:
- The animals don’t drop immediately, and they have to be followed through often rough terrain. If there are holes in the fences, there’s a good chance that the animal will escape onto adjoining property and then cannot be retrieved. And there’s always the chance that the tranquilizing guys won’t be able to find the animal after they have shot it.
- The men that do this focus on trophy animals or well-fed, healthy animals that will contribute to another ranch’s breeding stock. They don’t want ALL of the animals.
- It takes time and effort for someone to tranquilize these animals, and it is hard work. The only way it pays is if there is a large population of trophy animals. Otherwise, the time consumed is just not cost efficient.
Since our goal was not necessarily to sell the animals and make money, but to GET RID OF ALL OF THE AXIS—to try to preserve the whitetails and our habitat--neither trapping nor tranquilizing were effective methods of control. At the same time that a few axis are being trapped and tranquilized (the axis soon know about the net and won’t go under it), mother axis are cheerfully having many, many more babies!
Method #3: HUNTING
As soon as we started talking to our friends about our axis problem, we were besieged by calls from people who wanted to come onto our land and “hunt” axis. Most landowners are particular about who they let on their land with a gun. Although sparsely populated, the area around us has other homes and businesses—easily within shooting distance. We have cattle roaming the entire acreage. We have farm buildings and parked vehicles. We had grudgingly come to the conclusion that the only way to rid ourselves of the axis scourge was to shoot them—before they starved. Then we planned on reinforcing all the fences and in the future planned to keep all deer, including whitetail, completely off of the property. We alienated about half of our acquaintances by picking one close friend whom we knew well, and knew that he was responsible enough to shoot on our property. One woman said to me, “Why won’t you let me hunt on your property?” My response was: “Why do you want to hunt?” Her reply: “For the sport.” I explained to her that hunting here was not for “sport,” that there was no “sport” involved. The animals were starving. They could be shot from the front porch. This was exactly the type of person that we didn’t want on the property: anyone infected with “buck fever.” We didn’t want anyone who was a poor marksman, or who would shoot without a clear shot, and wound the animal, and therefore extend its suffering. Exterminating the axis was a nasty, brutal, bloody, job. It had to be done, but that didn’t mean that we liked it.
Hunting has not worked, either. Our friend has been diligent and careful. But how many axis can one person shoot and give away? After shooting about 15, the job of gutting them became an interminable chore. Let’s face it; everyone likes the idea of walking to their freezer and pulling out an axis steak for dinner. But when it comes to having to gut, skin, and cut up a 500-pound animal—this is a job reserved for the real die-hards, the non-faint-at-heart. How many freezers can one person own? Now we are beginning to feel guilty about burdening our friend with this chore. On any given afternoon, he comes and shoots and fixes the fences—and a few hours later, by the time we put feed out for the whitetails, there are 50 axis that appear from nowhere and have it all eaten in 15 minutes. It’s hopeless!
We are beginning to resign ourselves to the fact that we can’t feed the whitetails without the axis stealing the feed—so we are going to be seeing our whitetails starve this winter, and our land totally devastated. While this is going on at our personal, micro-cosmic level, we are imagining what is occurring at the 2000-acre ranches. It’s a simple fact: the State of Texas needs to step in NOW and pass regulations dealing with the scourge of escaped exotic animals. These animals are devastating our state’s natural habitat, and the small, private landowner is simply not equipped to deal with the problem. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a good thing that Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace who introduced these animals into Texas in the 1930s, has passed on—otherwise, he just might get sued.
ANN WHITE can be reached by email at our web site, kerrcconscience@aol.com. You are also welcome to leave a comment on this blog.
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A QUARRY NEIGHBOR'S QUANDARY
28/05/10 12:19
A Sunday morning drive along Center Point’s River Road ain’t what it used to be.
The drive from east to west still begins beneath the stunningly beautiful canopy of old pecans, oaks, elm and cypress. The undergrowth opens up in a few places to give the driver a few peeks at the Guadalupe River—just teasers leaving you wishing for more. Trouble is, the bigger view opening up on the other side of the road is a quarry neighbor’s nightmare. Thistles, thistles, thistles. Everywhere, musk thistles.
And what have our neighbors, the gravel quarries, done to stop the explosive proliferation of these awful weeds?
Martin Marietta Aggregates has made no attempt to control thistle growth on their property that adjoins River Road and Sutherland Lane. White seeds are drifting in the wind to all parts of the county. And beyond.
Drymala Quarry seems to be mounting a late poisoning of their thistle forest on Sutherland Road. Probably a high-powered chemical since Roundup® won’t kill thistles that are that tall. This quarry neighbor guesses they have a license to purchase those potent, federally regulated chemicals in large quantities, since Drymala obviously used a lot of whatever noxious chemical it is.
Do the quarries’ neighbors have a right to know what chemical compound Drymala has sprayed?
The runoff from whatever they are, those herbicides or herbicide, seeps directly into the river and is undoubtedly detrimental to the downstream neighbors as well as to fish and to river plants.
Could there have been some drift onto neighbor’s property or onto the roadway as they sprayed…?
Let us return to our tour.
Take a turn back onto River Road and you see the backside of Drymala’s quarry.
Oh, no!
While county crews have mowed their side of the fence, the right-of-way, the quarry’s neglect presents a stark contrast.
Musk thistles run amuck on this part of Drymala land.
A monumental travesty will undoubtedly unfold next spring. These thistle seeds are already drifting across River Road. They drift, spreading hundreds of thousands of seeds, each one eager to bloom into a tall stalk of sharp thorns. Thorns that injure livestock and wildlife, while ruining the land, be it recreational, agricultural, or residential.
I see the wedge of ground that has been scrapped and gouged into an ATV-motocross facility. All the vegetation has been removed from the surface, leaving bare dirt. Prime river bottom dirt.
Can a thistle seed ask for more?
I know there is relief ahead. I am almost to TEXAS MONTHLY Magazine’s #3 swimming hole in Texas, the Brinks-Reese-Guadalupe crossing. But there’s no relief for me. This popular recreational spot, a haven for man since the days of the Native Americans, has not been spared. Musk-thistle seeds have made their way to the riverbank.
Thankfully, those weeds have not germinated in huge numbers. Not yet. Were they seeded from the unattended quarry berms a few feet above the river?
A return to Highway 27 is encouraging. Martin Marietta has removed thistles along this heavily traveled roadway. Well, maybe not so encouraging. Neighbors wonder why this international corporation controls the musk thistle at their high profile front fence that runs alongside the highway, but ignores the infestation beyond the view of Highway 27 motorists.
Then there is Wheatcraft, situated on the river bank.
Neighbors suspected the berms along Highway 27 were strategically located to hide the dismal reality inside the pits. These berms have now become a seedbed for the musk thistle. Wheatcraft Materials Incorporated has also made a sloppy attempt at control with herbicides.
Do neighbors have a right to expect more appropriate thistle control, given the high risk of chemicals soaking into the soil, the river’s alluvial system and the main river stream?
Quarry neighbors also suffer from unattended quarry thistles, and nearby farmers and ranchers lose the productivity of their land, since these weeds aren’t suitable as agricultural feed and they are sharp and tall, poising injury to livestock and wildlife.
Removal is impossible with the annual seeding from the quarries as well as the seed bank lying dormant from previous years. Any method of control is labor intensive, time consuming, expensive and frustrating. Neighbors can attempt to pop a few out of the ground but this is impossible when faced with a blooming bumper crop. Do we spray and kill everything in site? Do we mow and destroy the wildflower seed bank forever? Unfortunately, the musk thistle blooms and seeds in sync with our native wildflowers.
The quarries are not operating on this Sunday but thistle seeds are still blowing in the wind, soon to land and germinate.
Wouldn’t it all be better, if gravel quarry owners would simply make concerted efforts to control thistles on their property, before they morph from seeds to weeds?
~Frances Lovett
The drive from east to west still begins beneath the stunningly beautiful canopy of old pecans, oaks, elm and cypress. The undergrowth opens up in a few places to give the driver a few peeks at the Guadalupe River—just teasers leaving you wishing for more. Trouble is, the bigger view opening up on the other side of the road is a quarry neighbor’s nightmare. Thistles, thistles, thistles. Everywhere, musk thistles.
And what have our neighbors, the gravel quarries, done to stop the explosive proliferation of these awful weeds?
Martin Marietta Aggregates has made no attempt to control thistle growth on their property that adjoins River Road and Sutherland Lane. White seeds are drifting in the wind to all parts of the county. And beyond.
Drymala Quarry seems to be mounting a late poisoning of their thistle forest on Sutherland Road. Probably a high-powered chemical since Roundup® won’t kill thistles that are that tall. This quarry neighbor guesses they have a license to purchase those potent, federally regulated chemicals in large quantities, since Drymala obviously used a lot of whatever noxious chemical it is.
Do the quarries’ neighbors have a right to know what chemical compound Drymala has sprayed?
The runoff from whatever they are, those herbicides or herbicide, seeps directly into the river and is undoubtedly detrimental to the downstream neighbors as well as to fish and to river plants.
Could there have been some drift onto neighbor’s property or onto the roadway as they sprayed…?
Let us return to our tour.
Take a turn back onto River Road and you see the backside of Drymala’s quarry.
Oh, no!
While county crews have mowed their side of the fence, the right-of-way, the quarry’s neglect presents a stark contrast.
Musk thistles run amuck on this part of Drymala land.
A monumental travesty will undoubtedly unfold next spring. These thistle seeds are already drifting across River Road. They drift, spreading hundreds of thousands of seeds, each one eager to bloom into a tall stalk of sharp thorns. Thorns that injure livestock and wildlife, while ruining the land, be it recreational, agricultural, or residential.
I see the wedge of ground that has been scrapped and gouged into an ATV-motocross facility. All the vegetation has been removed from the surface, leaving bare dirt. Prime river bottom dirt.
Can a thistle seed ask for more?
I know there is relief ahead. I am almost to TEXAS MONTHLY Magazine’s #3 swimming hole in Texas, the Brinks-Reese-Guadalupe crossing. But there’s no relief for me. This popular recreational spot, a haven for man since the days of the Native Americans, has not been spared. Musk-thistle seeds have made their way to the riverbank.
Thankfully, those weeds have not germinated in huge numbers. Not yet. Were they seeded from the unattended quarry berms a few feet above the river?
A return to Highway 27 is encouraging. Martin Marietta has removed thistles along this heavily traveled roadway. Well, maybe not so encouraging. Neighbors wonder why this international corporation controls the musk thistle at their high profile front fence that runs alongside the highway, but ignores the infestation beyond the view of Highway 27 motorists.
Then there is Wheatcraft, situated on the river bank.
Neighbors suspected the berms along Highway 27 were strategically located to hide the dismal reality inside the pits. These berms have now become a seedbed for the musk thistle. Wheatcraft Materials Incorporated has also made a sloppy attempt at control with herbicides.
Do neighbors have a right to expect more appropriate thistle control, given the high risk of chemicals soaking into the soil, the river’s alluvial system and the main river stream?
Quarry neighbors also suffer from unattended quarry thistles, and nearby farmers and ranchers lose the productivity of their land, since these weeds aren’t suitable as agricultural feed and they are sharp and tall, poising injury to livestock and wildlife.
Removal is impossible with the annual seeding from the quarries as well as the seed bank lying dormant from previous years. Any method of control is labor intensive, time consuming, expensive and frustrating. Neighbors can attempt to pop a few out of the ground but this is impossible when faced with a blooming bumper crop. Do we spray and kill everything in site? Do we mow and destroy the wildflower seed bank forever? Unfortunately, the musk thistle blooms and seeds in sync with our native wildflowers.
The quarries are not operating on this Sunday but thistle seeds are still blowing in the wind, soon to land and germinate.
Wouldn’t it all be better, if gravel quarry owners would simply make concerted efforts to control thistles on their property, before they morph from seeds to weeds?
~Frances Lovett
Thistle Control
20/05/10 21:01
It’s not often that a kindred spirit comes along, but one did in TV and radio personality Bruce Deuley, when he and his friend and kin, Chuck Meadors, stopped in on May 18 to visit KCC member Mary Matthews.
Mary fights a continuing, uphill battle to preserve her historic 1940s ranch’s original charm. Sitting high on a rise between two floodplains that feed into the Guadalupe River, the property is under constant attack from the ravages of time, not to mention water runoff from the airport, from pollution caused by area quarries, and from the kudzu of the 21st Century, MUSK THISTLE.
The invasive musk thistle, in Mary’s estimation, serves no purpose beyond problems. (The Vikings could attest to that, when they tried, barefooted, to invade Scotland in the Middle Ages. Ouch!) Livestock and wildlife can’t eat it. It ruins farm and range lands, and quickly. Once they have made their purple flowers, those accursed plants spread hundreds of thousands of seeds, far and wide. There seemed to be no answer beyond strict attention to the tedium of a large job, removing thistle at just the right moment. Yet Bruce Deuley, well-known expert and author in organic gardening and living, pointed out that goats can actually eat those thorny stalks. “It’s free food for goats. I know of a man who rented out his goats for that purpose.”
Oh, those goats.
Would it be giving one’s age away, to mention how housewives used to berate those bearded nuisances as the scourge of clotheslines?
Truly, goats will eat anything!
But if you’re not in the market to buy or rent a few goats, you can still stymie the spread of thistle seeds. Carefully cut the flower from the stalk—be sure to wear protective gloves and clothes—and then dispose of the flower in an airtight container.
Mary and Deuley further chatted on other conventional ways to get rid of thistle. Herbicides are NOT the answer. Remedy®, atrazin, and picloram are very damaging to the environment. While they do kill thistles, they also kill needed and wanted greenery, and they seep into water supplies, such as the Guadalupe River, Kerr County’s important source of drinking water.
According to Deuley, there’s a fellow over in Georgia who is an expert on thistle control, and Steven Bissonet markets a non-selective MSDS, EcoSmart. Visit Bissonet’s homepage.
And, of course, there’s the vinegar cure for thistles. Add 1T to ½ ounce of molasses to vinegar, then spray the plant. One of our KCCers, Jessie P, swears by pouring molasses-laden vinegar down the center of the thistle stalk. Deuley says both methods work.
Thistles weren’t the only topics of conversation. KCC learned that Bruce Deuley, also a herpetologist, hails from Valdosta, Georgia, but he went West early on, to study a rare reptile at Canyon Lake. While he spent years in this area and has kinfolk hereabouts, he evidently left the area for a while, recently returning. This man can talk Rolls Royces to rattlesnakes. He is truly a kindred spirit with our Mary Matthews
Be sure to catch Bruce Deuley’s programs. He’s on Kerrville’s HCTV, Saturday mornings from 9 to 10. Follows is his first Saturday radio broadcast, on KGNB, 1420, from 10 to noon. His final Saturday program is on San Antonio’s KTSA (550 on your dial). This last show of the day runs from 5 to 7 in the afternoon.
Martha Hix
For KCC
Mary fights a continuing, uphill battle to preserve her historic 1940s ranch’s original charm. Sitting high on a rise between two floodplains that feed into the Guadalupe River, the property is under constant attack from the ravages of time, not to mention water runoff from the airport, from pollution caused by area quarries, and from the kudzu of the 21st Century, MUSK THISTLE.
The invasive musk thistle, in Mary’s estimation, serves no purpose beyond problems. (The Vikings could attest to that, when they tried, barefooted, to invade Scotland in the Middle Ages. Ouch!) Livestock and wildlife can’t eat it. It ruins farm and range lands, and quickly. Once they have made their purple flowers, those accursed plants spread hundreds of thousands of seeds, far and wide. There seemed to be no answer beyond strict attention to the tedium of a large job, removing thistle at just the right moment. Yet Bruce Deuley, well-known expert and author in organic gardening and living, pointed out that goats can actually eat those thorny stalks. “It’s free food for goats. I know of a man who rented out his goats for that purpose.”
Oh, those goats.
Would it be giving one’s age away, to mention how housewives used to berate those bearded nuisances as the scourge of clotheslines?
Truly, goats will eat anything!
But if you’re not in the market to buy or rent a few goats, you can still stymie the spread of thistle seeds. Carefully cut the flower from the stalk—be sure to wear protective gloves and clothes—and then dispose of the flower in an airtight container.
Mary and Deuley further chatted on other conventional ways to get rid of thistle. Herbicides are NOT the answer. Remedy®, atrazin, and picloram are very damaging to the environment. While they do kill thistles, they also kill needed and wanted greenery, and they seep into water supplies, such as the Guadalupe River, Kerr County’s important source of drinking water.
According to Deuley, there’s a fellow over in Georgia who is an expert on thistle control, and Steven Bissonet markets a non-selective MSDS, EcoSmart. Visit Bissonet’s homepage.
And, of course, there’s the vinegar cure for thistles. Add 1T to ½ ounce of molasses to vinegar, then spray the plant. One of our KCCers, Jessie P, swears by pouring molasses-laden vinegar down the center of the thistle stalk. Deuley says both methods work.
Thistles weren’t the only topics of conversation. KCC learned that Bruce Deuley, also a herpetologist, hails from Valdosta, Georgia, but he went West early on, to study a rare reptile at Canyon Lake. While he spent years in this area and has kinfolk hereabouts, he evidently left the area for a while, recently returning. This man can talk Rolls Royces to rattlesnakes. He is truly a kindred spirit with our Mary Matthews
Be sure to catch Bruce Deuley’s programs. He’s on Kerrville’s HCTV, Saturday mornings from 9 to 10. Follows is his first Saturday radio broadcast, on KGNB, 1420, from 10 to noon. His final Saturday program is on San Antonio’s KTSA (550 on your dial). This last show of the day runs from 5 to 7 in the afternoon.
Martha Hix
For KCC