Prairie Dog Town in Lubbock, TX

Last week we arrived at our new home in Lubbock, Texas. Taking a break from the work of moving in, a few days ago we visited one of the local landmarks, the Prairie Dog Town.

One of the residents

Lubbock's Prairie Dog Town is a large enclosure located in Mackenzie Park, that is the home to hundreds of black-tailed prairie dogs. It was established in the early 1930s by Kennedy N Clapp, a prominent Lubbock resident who was concerned that a government-run poisoning program would drive the black-tailed prairie dog to extinction. As explained on the sign pictured below, Clapp and a friend trapped two pairs of the prairie dogs as the original residents of the town. Mr. Clapp oversaw the operation of the refuge until he died.

In addition to prairie dogs, numerous other animals either live in or frequent the Prairie Dog Town. This is just as true in the wild, where prairie dogs are a "keystone" species whose presence is vital to the plains and prairie ecosystem. The prairie dog's presence is important to many other species, such as the black-footed ferret, which feeds almost exclusively on prairie dogs, and the burrowing owl, which uses abandoned prairie dog burrows for shelter. Burrowing owls are common in the Lubbock area, seen anywhere that prairie dogs are found.

During our visit we saw this 13-lined ground squirrel going about its business....

and this great-tailed grackle surveying the scene from the top of a shelter...

and, of course, many black-tailed prairie dogs!

Squirrels of Texas: The Rock Squirrel

As we get ready for our move to Texas this summer, here is another of the squirrels that we might see in the Lone Star State.

The rock squirrel is a large ground squirrel, about 17-21 inches in length, with a moderately bushy tail, mottled brown upper parts and a buffy white underside. It lives in central and far-western Texas, and also in much of the southwestern United States including New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.

I wanna rock!

As its name suggests, the rock squirrel is most at home in rocky environments: cliffs, canyon walls, piles of boulders, even rock fills along highways. They usually make their dens in burrows at the base of the rocks or cliff, although they will sometimes make nests in the hollows of nearby trees. Rock squirrels live in colonies. Females will often have two litters in a year, the first in April-June and the second in July-September, with each litter consisting of 2-5 babies. The young appear outside of the nest at about 6-8 weeks of age.

Although they are classified as ground squirrels, rock squirrels have amazing climbing ability. They are perfectly at home in the steepest, craggiest terrain. In canyon regions such as along the Pecos River in west Texas, they can be seen quickly and skillfully scaling what appear to be smooth, vertical canyon walls, using the tiniest of cracks and fissures for footholds.

They are also adept at climbing trees. They will climb juniper and mesquite trees to collect the fruits and seeds, and often will scale the 15-20 foot tall stalks of agave plants to feed on the flowers and buds. This squirrel has a varied diet that includes nuts such as acorns, walnuts and pine nuts, mesquite seeds, cactus, juniper berries, saltbush, wild gourd, sumac, various cultivated fruits and vegetables, and insects, especially grasshoppers and crickets. Rock squirrels will also eat carrion and even will catch and eat birds.

Squirrels of Texas: The Mexican Ground Squirrel

In a few months we will be moving to Texas--specifically, my hometown of Lubbock--where the job opportunities look better than here in North Carolina. So I thought I would take some time to look at the squirrels that make the Lone Star State their home.

The Mexican ground squirrel is a small ground squirrel, 11-15 inches in length, that lives in brushy and grassy areas throughout much of western and southern Texas. It has a brown back and sides, with nine rows of squarish white spots running down the length of its back. The underparts are whitish or buff. Its ears are short, and its medium-bushy tail is about two-fifths the length of its body.

"Mexican ground squirrel" sounds like the name of
a spicy ethnic dish, but don't even think about it!

Although Mexican ground squirrels live in burrow systems, unlike many ground squirrels this species is not social. Individuals, preferring privacy, do not allow intruders close to their burrows except during breeding season. One squirrel may dig several burrows, one for its residence and the others for temporary refuge from predators. The burrow has two entrances, and the deepest part of the residence tunnel is used for giving birth and caring for young. The birth chamber is lined with mesquite and grass, and houses a litter that averages about five--but sometimes as many as ten--babies.

Their food is mostly green vegetation, including mesquite leaves and beans, agarita leaves and berries, johnson grass, clover, various roots and bulbs, nuts, and cultivated grains when available. These squirrels will also eat insects, especially in the summer when they may make up half their diet, and sometimes mice and birds' eggs. They will often store seeds and grains in their cheek pouches so that the food can be eaten later in the burrow.

Get off my property!

This Man Is Not the Texas That I Know

I have posted several times now about Rick Perry, and I feel that I need to try to explain in more why I find his candidacy for the presidency particularly disturbing and threatening to the values and principles that I and many others hold as important.

I grew up in Texas, specifically in Lubbock, a medium-sized city surrounded by seemingly endless miles of cotton fields, out on the high plains of the northwest part of the state, approximately at the base of the Texas panhandle. I lived in Lubbock from the age of eight until I started college in San Antonio, and after that off-and-on until I finally moved for good to Charlotte, North Carolina at age 33, in 1997.

As I was growing up in the 1970s, I was very much aware that I lived in a conservative area, where Protestant Christianity was the dominant faith and "old-fashioned family values" ruled... probably all the more acutely aware being raised with my sister by a single mother who is an atheist and a liberal democrat. While there were certainly times, particularly in elementary school, when I felt somewhat out of place and self-conscious, I can honesty say that rarely if ever was I genuinely threatened or excluded because of my family's structure, attitudes, or beliefs. Looking back, I have to say that with few exceptions, the prevailing philosophy that I recall in Lubbock was one of political conservatism with regard to fiscal or economic issues, and a general "mind your own business" attitude toward most social issues. The social climate was certainly not one of genuine openness or tolerance, but on the other hand I recall few instances of true hatred, intolerance or bigotry. It's possible I could be wrong about this--time and distance can affect our memories and perceptions--but this is how I remember it.

I know that the description I've given must sound like damningly faint praise, and there are certainly reasons why I am glad I'm not living out the rest of my life in West Texas. But the point is that the toxic aura of radical intolerance and bigotry that I see surrounding Governor Perry is something truly ominous, much different from the more dignified conservatism that I remember from my time in Texas. When I see a man with Perry's popularity, who promotes policies and attitudes that directly exclude and demean anybody who does not share the governor's religious beliefs; who deliberately denigrates science and knowledge when it conflicts with his narrow interpretation of Biblical "truth" and suggests that the children of his state be indoctrinated with his beliefs; who pursues policies that are actively hostile and destructive to the health and well being of the people of his state and beyond... I find it abhorrent that this man might have the chance to do to the United States and the world, what he has already done to his, and my, home state.

Apparently Rick Perry Hasn't Been Praying Hard Enough

More than 90 percent of the state of Texas is under either "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions. A wildfire currently burning west of Dallas has destroyed twenty homes and forced evacuation of over a hundred others.

I thought that prayer rally in Houston earlier this month was supposed to take care of all this.

Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if the Texas drought is God's punishment on the state for inflicting Rick Perry on the world.

Texas Tragedies

As I have noted before on this blog, I grew up in Texas, and after reaching adulthood I lived there on and off until I was 33 years old. I grew up in Lubbock, out on the flat high plains of West Texas, where if you drive just a few miles out of the city you can get an uninterrupted 360 degree view of the horizon. I spent my undergraduate years in San Antonio, in south Texas, where I enjoyed the Mexican culture and food, and trips with my friends to the border towns and the state parks of the central Texas hill country. It has been well over a decade since I last moved away from the state for the last time, it is extremely unlikely that I will ever live there again, and to be honest I have no desire to move back. However, I have very good memories of the part of my life that I spent there, and I know that Texas is and always will be a huge part of who I am, ultra-liberal politics and all.

This is why it is so hard to read the news that comes out of Texas these days. Governor Rick Perry, who could be our next President, is possibly the most loathsome political figure that I have seen in my lifetime. More so than his predecessor, in my opinion. More so than Bachmann or Palin, if only because more people seem to take him seriously. This is a governor of the second biggest state in the union who seemingly every day, with every utterance that he makes, spews contempt of science and learning, of anybody or anything that differs from his narrow fundamentalist view of the world, who surrounds himself with radical religious rightists who resemble more than anything the Taliban... just replace the word "Islam" with "Christian."

On another front, the state's environment, wildlife and agricultural industry is being decimated by the most severe drought in recorded history. I heard this story on NPR this morning while I was waiting for Starbucks to open. The bats that the article mentions are an iconic symbol of the city of Austin; the huge colony that nests under the Congress Avenue bridge can be seen every evening at dusk during the summer swarming out for their nighttime feeding. The loss of any wildlife population is a tragedy, but if this bat colony dies out it would also kill off part of the soul of an awesome city.