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Texas
Animals
UNBRANDED
ANIMALS OF TEXAS |
What's
not to like about animals? They don't borrow money - they don't ask for a ride
to the airport and they'll never ask you to help them move. If you want to bring
their food bowl - well, that's your decision.
On the flip side: they
don't help out with chores, they run around naked all the time and they couldn't
care less about world peace - as long as their immediate territory is under control
- preferably theirs.
Animals bring out the best in humans - even Texans.
So we're including this feature where we can read stories of how animals improve
our lives, lower our blood pressure and attempt to pay us back (in their own simple
and mysterious ways) for those midnight runs for pet food. - Editor
|
NEW
White
Buffalo by
Mike Cox
11-18-08
The
rifle roared, a .50 caliber hunk of lead smacked into the side of the buffalo
and the huge animal tumbled to the ground. That happened all across the plains
of Texas during the 1870s, but this was no ordinary bison – it was all white,
one of only seven known to have been killed on the North American continent...
Little
One-Hearted Stock Tank by Clay Coppedge 8-12-08
This
is a glimpse of what 20th Century American literature might look like if Ernest
Hemingway had grown up on the south plains of Texas instead of the Michigan woods.
Trivia
by Mike Cox 8-7-08
Especially
during times of drought, animals turn to woody plants instead of grass as forage.
This is called browse. Heavy browsing impacts the land... With
A Pit Bull On My Knee by Clay Coppedge
7-24-08
My first dog was named Cisco
in honor of a popular television hero of the day, the Cisco Kid. The Cisco Kid
and his trusty sidekick Pancho rode the frontier fighting evil and injustice.
In his own way, Cisco did the same thing...Old
Pecos by Mike Cox 7-17-08
She didn’t have a particularly feminine sounding name, but the old heifer they
called Pecos sure came branded with a good story.
Mary
Ann Goodnight and the Texas State Bison Herd by Linda Kirkpatrick
7-11-08
Their story began many, many years ago and when you know it your heart will fill
with the same pride that you get at you watch Old Glory waving in the breeze.
The
Unholy Catfish by Clay Coppedge 7-10-08
During an otherwise somnolent Sunday sermon put forth many years ago when I was
but a wee lad, the preacher jolted me and at least a few others from our respective
reveries with this pronouncement: “The catfish is an unclean animal.” ...The
Legend Of Bone Hill by Bob Bowman 7-7-08
Bone Hill, a landmark standing about four miles northeast of Center, reportedly
got its name from a herd of cattle who died atop the mill, leaving their bones
to whiten in the East Texas sun... Fly
Fishing Is Not Always Pretty by Clay Coppedge
6-23-08 Longhorn
Branded Murder 1889 by Murray Montgomery 6-2-08
To the cowboys who rode the range in West Texas during the [1890s] there was one
longhorn steer that was always an object of dread. He was a big, white fellow
with “Murder 1889” branded in huge letters on his left side. His appearance among
their herds brought a chill of terror to the superstitious...Bats
by Clay Coppedge 5-5-08
Bats are coming back to Texas for the summer, which isn’t news because bats have
spent their summers in Texas for the past 10,000 years. Only their failure to
return would rate a banner headline... |
General
- Trivia
by Mike Cox 8-7-08
Especially
during times of drought, animals turn to woody plants instead of grass as forage.
This is called browse. Heavy browsing impacts the land...
- More
News of the Odd by Mike Cox
Buggy horse, rabid dog, raccoons... from various
19th century Texas or Southwestern newspapers... -
Eagle Eyes
of Texas by Johnny Stucco
Series
of photo essays
-
Aliens Amongst Us by C. F. Eckhardt
No, this is not about space aliens, illegal immigrants, or terrorists. It’s about
some plants and animals that are entirely foreign to Texas—indeed, to the US...
- Feeding
Frenzy by Peary-Perry
It dawned on me that we feed cats, squirrels, raccoons,
possums, deer, many birds and Lord only knows what else. Which gets me to thinking… - Country
cures tame pesky farm critters by Delbert Trew
Most western people have
heard that placing a lariat rope on the ground around your bedroll will keep snakes
away... - The
Quadrangle - As you step inside the stone walls, you immediately discover
the perfect place for families to gather. Inside the fortress deer, ducks, rabbits,
and other small animals run free, as do the thousands of children who visit there
every year.
- Muleshoe,
Texas
Muleshoe
National Wildlife Refuge - 20 miles south of Muleshoe on Hwy 214, you'll come
to the oldest national wildlife refuge in Texas. Wintering spot for Sandhill Cranes.
Prarie dogs live year-round. No hunting. |
Horses
- Yalgo,
the legendary horse by Clay Coppedge
"Even when involved with outlawry
and banditry, the horse is always blameless… In that blameless way of horses,
Yalgo is linked to King Fisher's first foray into a life of crime." - Last
Cavalry Horse by Mike Cox
"That cold winter morning, Dec.14, 1932, was
a sad one for old-time horse soldiers and civilians alike at Fort D.A. Russell
in Marfa -- they both realized they were witnessing the end of an era." - Bold
CSA Vet Thomas Evans Riddle, & Man o’ War by Mike Cox
"Thomas Evans Riddle bet on a dead racehorse. He lost.
The
horse was Man o’ War..."
- Racing
Parson by Mike Cox
How a preacher held a horse race and build a church - Find
Two Willies and a Max In Hall of Fame, At Tracks by Bill Bradfield
Texas
ranches and stables have been closely linked with the sport of horse racing for
generations. Just consider the string of great racehorses developed by the King
Ranch alone... For another kind of horseracing royalty, however, turn to two men
nicknamed Willie, and another man better known as Max at the tracks.
- Two
Braids by Mike Cox
More Texans owned horses than automobiles in 1910,
but when the middle-aged man rode into Eagle Pass that summer, people noticed. - That
Old Steer by Archie
P. McDonald, PhD
- Meant
for Each Other by Maggie Van Ostrand
Certain living things are meant for
each other, whether it be a caballo and a canine, or a lady and a lake.
- Primadonna's
Birthday
Miniature horses and Monastery of Saint Claire - First
Horses by Delbert
Trew
- Assault,
Texas' only Triple Crown Winner
Cartoon by Roger T. Moore 4-24-08
- Mustang
Sculpture - Texas Memorial Museum, Austin (photo only) 6-12-08
|
Cows
/ Cattle / Oxen
- The
Texas Longhorn: Shaped By Nature
by Clay Coppedge
- Old
Pecos by Mike Cox 7-17-08
She didn’t have a particularly feminine sounding name, but the old heifer they
called Pecos sure came branded with a good story. - The
Legend Of Bone Hill by Bob Bowman 7-7-08
Bone Hill, a landmark standing about four miles northeast of Center, reportedly
got its name from a herd of cattle who died atop the mill, leaving their bones
to whiten in the East Texas sun. But, as with all legends, there’s more to the
story... - Longhorn
Branded Murder 1889 by Murray Montgomery 6-2-08
To the cowboys who rode the range in West Texas during the [1890s] there was one
longhorn steer that was always an object of dread... His appearance among their
herds brought a chill of terror to the superstitious... - A
Conversation With The Family... (of Longhorns)
3-3-08
- Bull
in the Brush by Mike Cox 3-20-08
If you’re tired and ready to hit the beach at South Padre, the 120-mile drive
from Corpus Christi can seem like it’s going to take forever. But imagine walking
that distance. And in a time before convenience stores, Dairy Queens or any other
places to get water or something to eat. That is what it was like in the late
winter of 1846 when Gen. Zachary Taylor started his Army on its march from Corpus
Christi to Point Isabel (now Port Isabel) and the nearby Rio Grande... - Suddenly
Silly by Mike Cox 1-3-08
Fuss over a Cow at Snow Hill... - ‘Mysterious
Cattle Deaths’ Not So Mysterious by C. F. Eckhardt
In the news over the
past several years there has been a rash of ‘mysterious’ deaths of livestock,
most notably cattle. Apparently the animals have been sucked dry of blood, as
a general rule the genitals have been cut out, apparently surgically, the eyes
are usually gone, often the tongue is gone, and the rectum has been removed. These
have been blamed on everything from UFOs to Satanic cults. Apparently, they are
the result of neither. - Disappearing
Cows by Mike Cox
"...But at night, especially when the moon bathed
the landscape in a light far cooler than day, the energy level rose. Not only
did the animals move, many believed that unrested souls flitted about. Strange
things were said to happen..." - Kaiser
Cows - Bovine Saboteurs of WWI
by Mike Cox
- "Don't
Shoot the Bull" by N. Ray Maxie
This is a post WWII story when I was about
eight or nine years old and written here to the best of my memory... - The
"Killer" Cows
by George Lester
- "A
Field Guide to Cows" by John Pukie. A book review
Fifty-two breeds
are featured with their identifying characteristics, vital statistics and even
cow demographics. Humor is abundant...
- A
Cow Tale by Tonya Roberts
Me and an old boy went down to Brady several
years ago, to a cow sale. When we walked in, we were offered a mixed drink, free.
Well, we ain't never been to an auction before where they served alcohol and thought
that was a good idea.... - Belle
the Cow AKA Doris of LaGrange
Belle, sometime spokescow for Bluebell Creameries
... - Life
on the Trail by Murray Montgomery
The cowboy legacy is very much alive
in Texas ... - Oxen
'Spares' needed pairs by Delbert Trew
Many historical journals kept by
travelers using wagon trains pulled by oxen describe the herds of extra oxen driven
along for "spares." |
Buffalos
- White
Buffalo by
Mike Cox
11-18-08
The
rifle roared, a .50 caliber hunk of lead smacked into the side of the buffalo
and the huge animal tumbled to the ground. That happened all across the plains
of Texas during the 1870s, but this was no ordinary bison – it was all white,
one of only seven known to have been killed on the North American continent...
- Mary
Ann Goodnight and the Texas State Bison Herd by Linda Kirkpatrick
7-11-08
Their story began many, many years ago and when you know it your heart will fill
with the same pride that you get at you watch Old Glory waving in the breeze.
- Buffalo
slaughter had benefits by Delbert Trew
Animals' remains provided needed
items for early settlers - Buffalo
Man by Mike Cox
Hollywood has seldom – if ever – portrayed buffalo hunters
as civilized, erudite men. Screenwriters and producers of Westerns usually have
their buffalo hunters play the role as coarse, scruffy men ready to drink or kill
anything. But as the story of one time buffalo hunter John Cloud Jacobs demonstrates,
reality is not always that simple. ... - Last
Buffalo by Mike Cox
In the 1500s, when Spanish
explorers first came to the Southwest, buffalo ranged over almost all of Texas.
In 1850, the shaggy beasts still could be found in roughly half the state. Twenty
years later, their range had decreased to the high plains even though hundreds
of thousands of them still thundered across the landscape. Only a decade after
that, in 1880, the buffalo remaining in Texas could fit into a very small circle
on the map in the Panhandle.... more - Buffalo
Herds by Delbert
Trew
|
Coyotes
& Foxes
- Fox
in the Pickup Bed by C. F. Eckhardt
When the Burnham brothers of Marble
Falls first created the varmint call, back in the '50s, the devices were nowhere
near as sophisticated as they are today... - Coyotes’
Story by Stephen Osmon
Coyotes’ Story of the Great Spirit, from "TUMBLEWEEDS'
TALES: Ghost Towns and Town Ghosts" |
Dogs
- With
A Pit Bull On My Knee by Clay Coppedge
7-24-08
My first dog was named Cisco
in honor of a popular television hero of the day, the Cisco Kid. The Cisco Kid
and his trusty sidekick Pancho rode the frontier fighting evil and injustice.
In his own way, Cisco did the same thing... - Unsung
heros at the Battle of Adobe Walls
by Delbert Trew 5-29-08
- Roby's
Voting Dog Cartoon
by Roger T. Moore 11-13-07
- The
Short Yet Semi-Happy Life of Zip the Dog
by Mel Brown 10-15-07
Ever since seeing an old movie long ago titled “The Biscuit Eater”
I have been enamored of coon dogs. Something about their especially soulful faces
and incredible voices has always touched me deeply, perhaps the result of some
fifteen or so generations of Southern heritage... - Hot
Rabbit Sets the Woods on Fire by N. Ray Maxie
Ark-La-Tex area sportsmen
often enjoy hunting wild brush rabbits. Some even make a specialty of it. Often
folk are so ‘into it’ they get themselves a couple of Beagle hounds... - Pet
Loss, or, Have Ashes, Will Travel by Maggie Van Ostrand
Markus, my beloved
canine companion who had been with me for over 14 adventure filled years, had
passed away two weeks ago. It was the worst time of my life, and I was so busy
suffering that I wouldn't answer the phone or the doorbell to allow kind friends
to comfort me... - Bull
Dogs and Strays by N. Ray Maxie
I recall one warm summer afternoon very
near the end of WW-II; my family and I were visiting with the Stewert family...
- Coalie
and the Speeding School Teacher by N. Ray Maxie
My Dad always kept pets
for us and for a few short years, I had a big black dog named "Coalie"... -
Encountering an East Texas Mad Dog
by N. Ray Maxie
"Get in the house, quick", dad shouted loudly as he drove
up in the yard and jumped out of his old 1939 Chevrolet pickup... - True
to Breed by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
"On Wednesdays when I am driving
home from work I like to listen to a program on the radio (KROU) called "Calling
All Pets." It is hosted by Trisha McConnell who is a zoologist and animal behavior
specialist. People call her from all over the country for advice on training their
animals."
- "Shadow's
In the Moonlight" by N. Ray Maxie
"Living in a city with strictly
enforced animal control laws is really hard on some of our "best friends", our
pets... - My
Night at Bessy and Bud's House by N. Ray Maxie
An East Texas Tale of Puppies
and Mosquitoes - Sadie’s
Christmas Angel by Kathleene S. Baker
Sadie of Corpus Christi, sometimes
it takes a dog to bring out the best in humans. - Jesus
by Mike Cox
When old “Hay-sus” died that winter afternoon, just about everyone
in Eagle Pass mourned. - Greenies
by Peary Perry
My source is late; he’s never been late before. ... I can’t
leave without the package. My dog will never forgive me if I come home empty handed....
- Ninotchka
by Maggie Van Ostrand
She was a blue-eyed creature
of enormous beauty, so beautiful that she was named after a Greta Garbo film heroine.
You'd be proud to take her anywhere, as she was always perfectly attired. She
was a magnificent Siberian Husky.
- Dogs
figure in life's fondest memories by Delbert Trew
- Meant
for Each Other by Maggie Van Ostrand
Certain living things are meant for
each other, whether it be a caballo and a canine, or a lady and a lake. - Tuffy
the East Texas Chow by John Troesser
The "Junk Yard Dog" as Teddy-Bear - Dogs
in Church by Murray Montgomery
Vintage Wit from Gonzales County - Rusty,
The Panhandle Chihuahua
- Sugar,
The Friendliest Dog on the Red River
- "Please
Don't Kill Brownie." Excerpted from The Kountze News
Like they say in
East Texas, this might just make your eyes sour up a little. |
Elephants
- The
Day the Elephant died in Flatonia
Told to the Editor by Flatonia Historian
George Koudelka
"Sometime way back when the 20th Century was spanking
new, a circus stopped in Flatonia..."
- Elephant
by Mike Cox
A wild cowboy tale. - Elephant
by Mike Cox
"Someday, perhaps, a work crew laying cable or pipe will
unearth a large set of bones near a busy Wichita Falls intersection..." - Elephant
Stampede by Murray Montgomery
In Gonzales, Texas
- "Little
Butch" Comes to Gonzales by Murray Montgomery
The adventures of “Butch,”
the smallest elephant ever seen in the United States |
Fish
- Little
One-Hearted Stock Tank by Clay Coppedge 8-12-08
This
is a glimpse of what 20th Century American literature might look like if Ernest
Hemingway had grown up on the south plains of Texas instead of the Michigan woods. -
The
Unholy Catfish by Clay Coppedge 7-10-08
During an
otherwise somnolent Sunday sermon put forth many years ago when I was but a wee
lad, the preacher jolted me and at least a few others from our respective reveries
with this pronouncement: “The catfish is an unclean animal.” ... -
Fly
Fishing Is Not Always Pretty by Clay Coppedge
6-23-08
- The
700-pound shark in Galveston Bay From Mike Cox's "Texas Tales"
|
Dinosaurs
- The
Plight of the Pleurocoeleus by Clay Coppedge
3-17-08
We don't usually think of dinosaurs when we think of Texas. We might think about
the state's officially designated large mammal, the Longhorn, or the state small
mammal, the armadillo... Seldom is heard a word, discouraging or otherwise, about
the state dinosaur, the Pleurocoeleus... - Dinosaur
- Texas Memorial Museum, Austin (photo only) 6-12-08
|
Horned
Toads
- Ol'
Rip, The Entombed Horned Toad of Eastland County
The story of Ol' Rip,
the horned toad entombed in the Eastland County Courthouse for 31 years. - Horny
Toad Hypnosis by Clay Coppedge
"Regardless of what you call them
- horned lizard, horny toad or horned frog - you probably don't see many of them
these days. Once an almost ubiquitous part of the Texas landscape and psyche...: |
Alligators
- Gator
by Mike Cox
By the time Robert L. Phillips settled in Hays County, a person
would be hard-pressed to find an alligator anywhere in the area. Not that Phillips
would have wanted one. After all, an alligator had nearly turned him into a murderer...
- Alligators
by Peary Perry
"...I do know enough to stay out of the way of alligators,
which is a lesson some folks might have missed. In case you might have forgotten
here is the definition of an alligator:..."
- Phantom
Alligators by Clay Coppedge
"It's easy
to forget how thick with wildlife the prairie around here was when the first settlers
arrived. Deer, wild turkeys, wolves, bear, buffalo, antelope, wild horses, ducks,
geese and wild hogs were plentiful. So were alligators." - Dances
with Alligators by George Lester
|
Insects
- Tick
trouble takes 30 years to terminate by Delbert Trew 3-13-08
Texas Tick Fever, aka Spanish Fever, Texas Fever and Poisonous Halitosis was first
noticed in 1814 in South Carolina. Little attention was paid to the disease until
Texas trail drivers began driving herds of Longhorns from south Texas to Kansas
railheads for marketing... - The
Boll Weevil by Archie P. McDonald
Tex Ritter
sang this lament decades ago:
“Oh, the boll weevil is a little black bug,
come from Mexico they say, come all the way to Texas, just looking for a place
to stay, just looking for a home, just looking for a home.” And the weevil, actually
a beetle, found it, much to the chagrin of East Texas cotton growers. - Bugs
provided hours of entertainment by Delbert Trew
- Bug
Huntin' by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
- Mosquito
Hawk (Photo only)
- Centipede
(Photo only)
|
Rabbits
- Hot
Rabbit Sets the Woods on Fire by N. Ray Maxie
Ark-La-Tex area sportsmen
often enjoy hunting wild brush rabbits. Some even make a specialty of it. Often
folk are so ‘into it’ they get themselves a couple of Beagle hounds... |
Raccoons
- Uncle
Lee's Got the 'coon and Gone On. Gone On! by N. Ray Maxie
10-1-07
"A pack or family of 'coons could
come in the field nightly and destroy a field of corn in two or three nights.
And that is exactly what would happen if it were left unattended too long and
not watched closely until harvest time..." |
Mythical
Creatures
- Chupacabra
by Mike Cox 10-24-07
Does a zoologically
unknown, blood-sucking creature prowl the South Texas mesquite? |
Pictures
of Texas Animals |
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