Little Miss Mary or Along Came a Spider

Mary captured this photo of a Texas Brown Tarantula on her cell phone camera recently.

It was evening and dark outside. The tarantula was on the rock step at the the entrance to our kitchen. It's not the best photograph, but the opportunity to write about it was too good to pass up.

You can see the corner of the door frame and the black rubber sweep at the door's bottom. I estimate it was about 4 inches in diameter, at the legs, and the body was about 2 inches long.

We've seen them before, but not often, usually in the evenings when we're walking our dogs. Texas browns are the most common species of tarantula thriving in the southern United States. They don't make a web like most spiders, but rather live in the ground and line the burrow with their silk. I think I've seen a tarantula burrow once, but I'm not sure that's what is was. The female lays up to 1000 eggs and then guards the burrow until they hatch. Females have been known to live up to 30 years.

They eat beetles, cockroaches, crickets, and pinky (newborn) mice.

They are very docile and can be kept as pets. I ran into a woman at the pet store recently who was buying crickets for her pet tarantula which she found in her yard.

No, Mary didn't kill it. She gave it its space and it just wandered off. Even if we'd found it in the house, we would just carry it outside. They're a native species and an important part of our habitat. They help to control insect and mouse populations and won't bother you if you leave them alone.

Wildlife Rainwater Collector

Part of the restoration work we've done on our property involves removing Ashe Junipers. We leave the cut junipers which provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. We're also interested in providing supplemental water for wildlife.

We have a wet-weather creek that runs along the south edge of our property. I previously posted about the creek flooding. It feeds two ponds which hold water for a while after a heavy rain, but eventually dry up. When the ponds have water, we frequently see cows and deer there, as well as birds.

One way to provide water for wildlife, without drilling a well or running plumbing over long distances, is to collect rainwater. We built this rainwater collector, modeled after one we saw at the Patsy Glenn Refuge in Wimberley. The Refuge is operated by the Wimberley Birding Society.



The collection surface is 8 ft. X 8 ft. of corrugated metal roof and the frame is built from treated 2X4s. A vinyl gutter and PVC pipes direct the water to a 550 gallon tank. The black plastic tank keeps light from reaching the water and prevents algae growth. An automatic pet-watering dish with a float valve provides the drinking water. There is no filtration, although there is a drain-like debris-catcher at the entrance to the downspout. This is definitely not potable water, but it's fine for wildlife.

An inch of water falling on a square foot of area results in 0.6 gallons of water. That translates into about 38 gallons of water per inch of rain for this one. The collector was operational for about 1.5 years and peaked at about 1/2 full or 275 gallons.

The collector is now dismantled and sitting in my driveway as I try to figure out a way to rebuild it. The problem is that the I didn't anchor the collecting surface. I wanted to be able to move it around the property and didn't want it permanently attached to the ground.

I knew that the shed roof is essentially a kite and a strong wind could tip it over, but I decided to try it anyway. It never blew over, but it did walk and creep when it was windy. It's not visible from our house, but I noticed it was moved whenever I went out to check it. I would reposition it and keep hoping for the best.

Eventually, during a heavy wind, it moved so much that the vinyl gutter was ripped away from the frame.

I plan to strengthen the frame with more cross-bracing and to add members along the bottom to provide points to weigh down the structure, perhaps with sandbags, or anchor it with rebar stakes.

Got Any Good Grass?

No, not that kind of grass! I'm talking about native grasses.

Around here, they're our favorite kind, for several reasons.

First, they're well-adapted. They evolved here and are adapted to the soil types, rainfall, temperatures, diseases, herbivores, competitors, and periodic wildfires. This means they're hardy, disease-resistant, and don't need any supplemental water.

Native grasses also play an important role in ground water absorption and help to recharge our underground aquifers. They have deep root systems - typically the roots extend about the same height into the ground as the plant is tall. The Indian grass pictured below, near our house, stands over 5 feet tall. The deep roots allow rainwater to percolate into the soil and eventually reach our aquifers. Aquifers are an important source of our drinking water.

Here's a closeup of the seed head.

Native grasses also help to minimize soil erosion. They typically grow in thick clumps and because of their height, they slow rain drops down enough so when the drop reaches the ground it has lost most of its energy and does not disturb the soil when it impacts. The slowly moving water also has a chance to soak into the ground and does not just run downhill, taking soil with it.

There is an evolutionary process known as plant or ecological succession. The idea is that plant communities evolve in a particular sequence, continually altering the local environment. As the environment changes, other plant communities take hold and the original ones may disappear. The culmination of this process, over a long period of time, is known as the climax community. Climax communities typically show a great deal of diversity and are relatively stable.

Central Texas was part of a great prairie which encompassed most of the Great Plains of the United States. There are four climax grasses in a prairie in this region: Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), Big bluestem (Andropgon gerardi), Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum).

In addition to Indiangrass, we also have Big and Little bluestem on our property. The only climax grass we haven't seen is Switchgrass and we probably won't because it requires lots of water.

I guess your homeowner's association might frown if you decided to let your lawn's turfgrass die and replaced it with 5 foot tall native grasses, but you might consider them as accents or ornamentals in a suburban neighborhood. The Dallas Morning News recently had an article about a Plano man who converted his yard into a wild prairie.

Maybe that's the wave of the future.

6th Annual Naturescapes Contest Exhibition and Winners

We held the Naturescapes Reception and Awards Ceremony on September 11th. It was a great event and I had several people tell me how nice the exhibition was. It was a pleasure working with the juror, Adolfo Isassi, and all the contestants. I'm truly impressed by the quality of the entries and the winners.

The San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance has published the results of the 6th Annual Naturescapes Photography Contest. The exhibition is at the San Marcos Activity Center and runs through October 29th. Please make sure you visit and view the exhibition in person, but if you don't get a chance, check out the images at the SMGA's Flickr page.

Remember to keep your eyes and cameras ready! You never know when you might capture next year's winning image!

Best in Show

• Longhorn Grazing, Lucy Durfee, Dripping Springs

Best in San Marcos Area

• Rubyspot #8, Scott Mitchell, San Marcos River.

Awards of Excellence

• Winter Sunrise, Herb Smith, Blanco River
• In Flight, Paul Keese, Aquarena Springs
• Roadrunner, Carolyn Whiteside, San Marcos
• Doe (Infrared), Winifred Simon, Wimberley

Awards of Merit

• Best Depictions of San Marcos Fun and Life:
  
  • Toobin' Fun, Jane Guerin, Wimberley
  • OMG!, Linda Keese, San Marcos River
• Intriguing & Evocative:
  
  • What is It?, Lois Schubert, Aquarena Springs
• Creative Interpretation:
  
  • Down River, Herb Smith, Wimberley
  • Vintage Skyride, Carol Serur, Aquarena Springs

Munchin' on the Wafer Ash

Wafer Ash (Ptelea Trifoliata) is a small native shrub or tree. It grows about 12 to 36 feet tall, although the only ones I've seen on our property are on the short end of this range. The flowers are small and green/white. The fruit is a very distinctive paper-like wafer. The wafers act like wings and help distribute the seeds. The tree provides food and shelter for birds and mammals and the nectar attracts butterflies. All parts of it are aromatic.

While researching for this post, I learned that's it also known as a Hop Tree, but I've never heard it called that. The name is a reference to using the bitter fruit as a substitute for hops in beer brewing.

The Wildflower Center entry says it's widespread, but I've only seen 3 on our property and 1 other tree in our neighborhood. When bearing fruit, the tree stands out and cannot be missed. One of ours was near the house but did not survive last year's drought. The Wikipedia entry says it grows on rocky slopes, which is a good description of our land. It prefers moist soil and can be found in seep areas.

These photos were taken on July 3 earlier this year at our place. This tree is only about 5 feet tall. It may not be very old or is growing in poor soil.

This tree had many fruit on it, reflecting the plentiful rain we've had this year.

It apparently also provides food for grasshoppers. This photo is currently on display at the Naturescapes Exhibition in San Marcos. I call it "Munchin' on the Wafer Ash". The grasshopper was methodically stripping the tree of its leaves, but didn't touch the fruit.

Munchin' on the Wafer Ash