The number of people buying and managing rural property for wildlife recreation is increasing exponentially – and so is the need for information on managing ponds or land, according to a Texas Cooperative Extension specialist.
A new calendar, “Wildlife and Fish Management Calendar for Texas and the Southeast,” may help meet that need.
The calendar, produced by Texas Cooperative Extension, is designed to help land and water managers attract and maintain wildlife and fish resources, said Dr. Billy Higginbotham, Extension wildlife and fisheries specialist and author.
The calendar offers monthly management recommendations geared to specific wildlife and fish species. The calendar is not printed for a particular year, so a land manager could begin using it at any time, Higginbotham said. Space is provided for notes which will help compare management done over years.
“The idea was to pack the essential need-to-know management information and the timing of application of those techniques in a user-friendly calendar format,” he said.
Through one year’s cycle, calendar users will become better at managing fish in ponds, deer, ducks, quail, mourning doves, squirrels and other wildlife species, Higginbotham said.
No two species have exactly the same habitat requirements at exactly the same time, he noted.
“The savvy wildlife manager will create a mosaic of interconnected habitats to target species they are interested in managing,” he said.
The key is knowing what type of habitat each wildlife species favors and what can be done to create those conditions, Higginbotham said.
In March, the calendar states, squirrels may need nest boxes placed 20 feet above the ground in trees that are at least 10 inches in diameter, if not enough mature cavity trees are available. Quail, the calendar notes in June, need 50 or more clumps of prickly pear or bunch grass per 300-foot transect for abundant nesting cover. Pond owners are told not to start stocking fish in September unless the weather has cooled. And turkeys might benefit from supplemental feeding in December, according to the calendar.
“Anyone interested in improving wildlife and fish habitat on their property will benefit from this publication. Space on the calendar provides for notes the landowner can refer to and track progress toward management goals,” Higginbotham said.
In addition to the 12-month calendar, the publication provides extra information such as a fish management section that describes how to properly collect and interpret angler catch data, how to handle and release caught fish, and the top 10 mistakes pond owners make.
A deer management section depicts white-tail bucks from 6 months to 7-1/2 years old to help hunters and managers determine age – an important criterion when selecting bucks for harvest, Higginbotham said. This section also describes how to conduct a deer population census using spotlight counts and remote-sensing camera counts.
The publication concludes with a partial listing of supplemental forages and a breakdown of which wildlife species benefit from which plants.
The wildlife and fish management calendar is available from Texas Cooperative Extension Bookstore, for $7.95 or by calling toll free 888-900-2577. Orders of 50 or more are $3.50 each.
