TOUR NARRATIVE
The purpose of this tour is to demonstrate how various techniques of woods and prairie management improve the health of the forest, promote wildlife and makes your home firewise.
PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP – THERE ARE STUMPS AND ROOTS AND OH, YES………THE OCCASIONAL SNAKE.
RED
Arrow “Stop & Look”
GREEN Arrow "Tour Path"
This area has been left in its natural state to act as a wildlife shelter and as a privacy screen for the home. The density and assortment of plants in this area is a little “slice of heaven” for our wildlife friends. Many species of birds use this under-story, or middle layer of vegetation, for nesting, feeding and shelter in winter.
You will notice that there are volatile juniper and yaupon growing in this area; otherwise, the island has good “defensible space” – the driveway and stone wall. We’ll talk more about defensible space later in the tour.
This is the largest Post oak tree on the property. It is 90” in circumference, approximately 38 feet tall, a 29” diameter and a 66’ x 63’ canopy spread. It is estimated to be over 100 years old. By looking at the top right of the tree you will see a portion broken off. This was caused by a lightening strike in 1990. The wounds created by fallen limbs often become homes to cavity-nesting animals like woodpeckers, chickadees, bluebirds, owls, and squirrels.
Also look farther over to the right and you will see Ancient Oak is a friendly tree wrapping its limb around its neighboring pine.
Note: You hear the word “mitigation” a lot in forest management. When used in this context, is means “to make milder, gentler”.
Further mitigation is planned for this area to remove the smaller yaupon which act as “ladder” fuel. Ladder fuels allow the fire to climb up into the trees just like a ladder. Not all will be removed so that a privacy screen will stay intact.
Look to the right of the path and you will see a cluster of mature Eastern Red cedars that are in close proximity to a structure. These are scheduled to be removed due to their volatile nature (they explode when they catch on fire) causing a major hazard to firefighters and buildings. Away from a home, juniper creates wonderful winter shelter for birds and the female trees produce a tasty berry.
Tree trimmings and wood waste are known as “slash”. The slash burning area has been located in a clearing away from buildings. The ground has been raked of dead leaves and pine needles. When burning, do not stack the slash pile high. Add limbs and debris as it burns to keep the flame low.
Slash piles can also be used as wildlife shelter, especially along the edges of woodlands and grasslands.
A prescribed burn was performed in this area in late January. A prescribed burn is a fire set to help thin the underbrush. Thinning the underbrush eliminates the low growing vegetation close to trees. During a fire the low growing volatile vegetation can catch the trees on fire and spread the fire into the tops of trees or “canopy”. These low-lying fuels are known as “ladder fuels.” Prescribed burns can also improve habitat by increasing plant diversity and returning nutrients back to the soil. Please notice, grasses already are starting to grow.
A fireline is “put-down” by firefighters to help contain a fire. In order to have an effective fireline, it is necessary to scrape down to the bare soil. Removing pine needles and leaves that act as fuel for a fire.
Please look down…The mulching mower was used to create the path. As the mower moves through the underbrush, it shreds and creates the mulch. Should you like to learn more, please stop by the Natural Texas Forest and Land Management table.
To the left, you will see what the area looked like before mitigation began. You can see the heavy undergrowth and several “snags”. “Snag” is a term referring to standing dead trees. Snags can be an extreme hazard when fighting wildland fires due to their instability. Snags have lost or are losing their supporting root system making them prone to falling.
However, snags play an important role in a wildlife habitat. They provide a feeding substrate for wildlife like birds and lizards. Additionally, they provide a good source of cavities, or holes, in which wildlife like to nest. These cavities are precious few in nature, and are highly valued by wildlife like woodpeckers, chickadees, and bluejays.
To retain wildlife habitat while maintaining fire safety, keep snags that are not near human structures or play areas, and make sure a potential wildlife snag will not be able to fall and create a fire bridge into volatile vegetation.
To the left, you will see several fallen pine and oak logs in varying stages of decomposition. Everything in Nature is recycled. Decomposing snags are a vital part to a healthy forest. The insects that start the decomposition process are food for birds. In time, the snag becomes part of the forest floor as compost and soil.
To the right of the path, you will see what appears to be an albino tree. It is actually a pine snag that has lost all of its bark. Even though the tree has died, it has still has great value in a wildlife habitat by providing food sources (insects, fungi) and shelter (cavities).
Snags that do not pose a threat to humans are actually a greater value to wildlife than a threat to trained firefighters.
Another word you will hear when describing a Firewise property is mosaic. In Firewise, application mosaic means “broken pattern”. The desired mosaic effect you are standing in resulted due to the mitigation. The canopy has been opened and the undergrowth has been reduced allowing sunlight to reach the forest floor. Seeds from native vegetation that have been lying dormant, will now grow. Many of these plants are excellent wildlife food and more fire resistant than the cedar that has been removed.
Joan and Horace chose this area that had fewer yaupons, making it the easiest.
The mosaic technique also serves as a firebreak. Removing the ladder fuels and thinning the trees, has reduced the “fuel”. This is a great advantage to firefighters when they are trying to control a wildland fire.
You may view diagrams of mosaic techniques at the Texas Forest Service table.
On the right, there is evidence on this oak snag that a woodpecker has been working on it. While the hole was originally created by a downy woodpecker, it will soon be used by other cavity-nesting birds that can’t excavate their own nests, like Chickadees and Titmice.
Also note, fungus has developed on the trunk. As fungus grows on the tree, it softens the trunk allowing more bugs to inhabit the wood, in turn, more food for birds.
There are a couple of Old Pineys we would like to draw your attention to in this area. On the right, you will see a large pine that is surrounded by Beauty Berry bushes, yaupon and cedars creating a “middle story” for birds. Not all birds prefer to nest in the penthouse (in the tallest of trees), they prefer a low-rise complex or “middle story”.
Look to the left, the scar down the trunk of this old pine is evidence it has been struck by lightening. You can see pine bore beetles have taken advantage of the weakness in the lack of protective bark by boring into the scar.
Look up, and you will see another example of ladder fuel. With the limb’s proximity to the ground and build-up of dead pine needles, it should be trimmed to eliminate this hazard.
Look to the right, this is the final resting place for the family pets. No, that headstone was not liberated from a cemetery it actually has a “typo” and was therefore discarded.
Also to the right, you will notice piles of branches or slash pile. A slash pile can be a wildfire hazard; however, this one is low profile (not piled high) and is not in close proximity to structures. Many animals take shelter in these areas such as: rabbits, songbirds, skunks, lizards, snakes and possums can all take advantage of this feature.
This is an abandoned ground wasp nest. You can see where an animal, possibly an armadillo dug in the hole looking for wasp larva.
Please notice the smaller, spindly pines mixed in with the larger pines. All these pines are close to the same age; however, pine trees prefer not to be crowded. To encourage healthier, larger trees, look up. The pines start feeling crowded when their tops start to touch. Remove the trees that are causing the overcrowding.
On March 29th a wild turkey hen was observed strolling down the path. This is only the third turkey Joan and Horace have seen in the twelve years they have lived here.
Look up and towards the house. Please notice the topography (land lay-out) in this area. The area we are in is slightly downhill from the house. Fire travels up-hill. But, look up, you will see breaks between the tree tops (canopy). Having a mix of types of trees, such as oak, pine and cedar, lessen the risk of a fire in the canopy or “crown fire”.
While you’re looking towards the house, please notice the “defensible space”. Defensible space is created to help firefighters defend your home. It is created by thinning the trees and keeping vegetation under control. Horace and Joan created this defensible space about a year and half ago. Look at the vegetation that has sprung up in this area. To learn more about defensible space, stop by the Texas Forest Service table.
This stone wall serves three different purposes:
Erosion control
Firebreak
Wildlife shelter
You might wonder how a wall can be home to critters, but look closely, the rocks are not held together with mortar, letting lizards, salamanders and frogs make a home here. Butterflies and other “cold-blooded” critters can also bask in the sun on the warm stones. Keep unmortared rock features away from entrances to your home, since the rocks might also shelter any of the many beneficial snakes found in our area (and some of the venomous ones, too).
The area we are now approaching used to be a gravel pit. With Joan and Horace being active wildlife enthusiasts, came up with the idea to create an ephemeral pond to help the endangered Houston Toad and other wildlife.
An ephemeral pond is only seasonally wet. The pond is only filled by rain runoff and therefore will fill up during our rainy season then dry up during the summer. The Houston toad requires these ephemeral ponds throughout their breeding season which is generally February through March.
We have representatives from U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Bastrop County Toad Conservation Plan to answer any of your questions concerning this project (especially Safe Harbor Program and the Landowner Incentive Program).
In this area, you will notice the pines are not big and healthy and appear to die once they reach a certain height. This has been caused by the gravel mining activity. By looking at the walls of the pit, you can tell about twenty feet of soil was removed. The mining procedure stripped all the organic material and topsoil making this “unfriendly” soil for the pines. Over the years, only a very small layer of organic material has been able to regenerate. This layer is enough for the pine trees to start to grow, but not enough to sustain growth. It will take hundreds of years for Nature to produce sufficient nutrients and topsoil for pines to flourish in this area.
Also, notice, there is an infestation of Ips beetle in this area. The Ips beetle has taken advantage of the weakened state of the trees. This is noticeable by the “pitchtubes” on the bark. The Ips beetle has been a real menace to the pine forest in Bastrop County. To learn more about the Ips beetle, visit the Texas Forest Service table.
Look up, and to the left one more time. You just might see Mrs. Owl in a home made by Horace. She is currently laying eggs, so please keep your distance. The nesting box was in place for three years, with no one taking up residence, then Mr. and Mrs. Owl found it. They have been coming back for the past five years.
Owls are an asset to your wildlife menagerie. They are essential elements in a healthy pine forest habitat and feed on insects, lizards, snakes, small mammals and other critters. If you are interested in making a birdhouse for this and other feathered friends, please stop by the Texas Parks and Wildlife table.
On your way out, look to the left. Joan is currently managing native grasses and wildflowers. There is some remnant coastal Bermuda from when this area was a working ranch, nearly 50 years ago. Native grasslands in this area once supported a rich diversity of life, such as wildflowers and songbirds, and are one of the most precipitously declining habitats in North America.
This concludes our tour. Please feel free to stroll through the gardens. Members from several organizations are on hand to answer any questions you may have.
This page was last updated on Monday May 19, 2003 10:08 PM