If you‘re a lecture junkie like me, you won’t want to miss WOWE! Fortunately WOWE is back for its 21st year, after missing last year for convention center renovation on South Padre Island. WOWE is the Winter Outdoor Wildlife Expo. Its original purpose was to let Winter Texans get a glimpse of all the outdoor…

Rodents are really destructive this time of year. Texas has nearly 50 species of rats and mice. Whether you’re in town, the country, along a river, or in an RV park, you’re not safe — from rats and mice, that is. I’ve learned to tolerate a number of different critters since becoming a Texas Master…

Is terminology important? After all, I’m a Master Naturalist, not cramming for a Ph.D. in botany, ecology or zoology. The first thing they taught in journalism school was that every word has its own distinct meaning. They said don’t rely on the vocabulary you grew up with. Look it up, even if you think you…

Remember! It’s still tree-planting time in the Valley – November through February. The first criteria for planting anything in my gardens is, “what can it do for me?” Selfish, but payload is important. I want wildlife in my yard but not be a slave to it. Planting what nature wants gives me endless hours of…

I welcome January — Ordinary Time. The hustle and bustle of Hallowe’en-to-New-Year run now behind us. Now it’s time to plan new ideas, and refresh old ones – get out a new note pad, select new pen colors for 2016 and jot down ideas. Some of my ideas are: 1. What to write about next…

As the year wraps up, our 2015 new members end their first year, here’s a recap of what they may have learned: January – Not all debris should be cleared. Many now know to leave rotting logs and fallen branches no matter how tempting it is to make a nature preserve look as neat as…