Managing grazing lands for the good of wildlife — as well as for livestock — is more important than you might think. The health of our ecosystems depends on encouraging diversity of habitats and species.
Both can prosper with the right management. Here’s what to consider.
Ranchers should focus their land management decisions on the following five considerations to produce the most diverse wildlife populations.
Eavesdropping sounds like such an unacceptable thing to do. But that is exactly what researchers are doing to learn more about the living world. To be clear, we are not talking about listening to human conversations but rather to birds, frogs, insects, bats, whales and any other species that makes a sound. This is nature’s orchestra, known as “biophony.”
The northern bobwhite quail is an iconic species for many reasons. Depending on who you talk to, you may hear bobwhite referred to as a game bird, an indicator or an umbrella species, or a species of conservation concern.
If you are a land manager, you probably have encountered issues for which you need more advice than a Google search or a YouTube video can provide. Fortunately, land managers have access to several different nongovernment organizations as well as state and federal entities to assist them in solving issues from erosion to brush management.
Raising bees can be an extremely rewarding agricultural enterprise. Interest in beekeeping has increased drastically throughout much of the United States. Several factors have contributed to this increase such as the desire to produce backyard honey, provide pollinator sources and gain an extra source of income.
Should spike bucks be culled? It depends, but in most situations with white-tailed deer, the answer is no. There are two situations where the answer can be yes: in a penned-deer situation where a manager determines breeding pairings and in a few high-fenced populations where some buck harvest may be necessary when populations have more bucks than does. If a buck must be harvested in these uncommon latter situations, a spike suffices as well as any other buck.
There is a plethora of misinformation about white-tailed deer biology and management.
Understanding duck food preferences is important when managing impoundments and wetlands to attract migratory ducks. Dabbling ducks and wood ducks are the focus of most duck hunters and duck habitat managers in southern Oklahoma and northern Texas. Dabbling duck species include mallard, gadwall, American wigeon, northern pintail, northern shoveler, three teal species (green-winged, blue-winged and cinnamon) and a few other less common species. Diving ducks such as canvasback, redhead, ring-necked duck and lesser scaup tend to receive less management focus in Oklahoma and Texas.
