The Invaders

Mary and I attended a full-day class yesterday to become trained citizen scientists for the Texas Invasives program.

Texas Invasives is a operated by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and supported by partners such as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and others. The purpose of Texas Invasives is to manage non-native invasive plants and pests in Texas.

What is an invasive species? An "invasive species" is defined as a species that is non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. (Executive Order 13112).


An invasive species succeeds because in its new environment, it lacks predators, diseases, and competitors that would normally regulate its population. As it spreads and takes over ecosystems, it decreases biodiversity by threatening the survival of native plants and animals. Invasives are a significant threat to half of the currently listed endangered species. In addition, they have a large financial impact because of efforts to prevent, monitor, and control their spread.

Be sure to visit the Texas Invasives web page for more information and to see how you can get involved.

The class consisted of learning about the problem of invasives, some of the history, and identifying some of the common problem species in Hays County. We also learned how to record data for a report, including noting the GPS coordinates, taking a photograph for validating the identification, keeping field notes about the size or extent of the patch, and the local conditions. Our instructor was Travis Gallo, who is the Texas Invasives Program Coordinator.

The class consisted of lecture and field work, where we learned to do an actual report.

Travis Gallo, our instructor, discussing filling out a data report.

The report data is entered through a web page and after validation becomes part of the Texas Invasives database which is available to professionals who can assess the problem and decide on what steps are appropriate to manage or control the invasives. The database is accessible through a Google Maps interface so the geographical distribution is easy to visualize.

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Our local group is called the Hays County Invaders and we'll be concentrating on reporting in our county. Mary and I look forward to reporting our share of invasives.

Fixin' Leeks at Onion Creek

Earlier this year, Mary and I had the chance to work at Onion Creek and help remove an invasive species.

The Onion Creek property is managed by the Wildlands Conservation Division of Austin Water Utilities of the City of Austin. The conservation management program that WCD administers is known as the Water Quality Protection Lands (WQPL). These lands were purchased with funds from a 1998 bond election for the purpose of water quality protection for the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. You can read more about the WQPL here. The Onion Creek property is one of these and consists of 2500 acres located along Onion Creek in central Hays County.

Our project leader, Tom Watson, had previously flagged the location of many leeks, mainly along the creek. Tom’s experience includes being an Assistant Professor of Botany at the University of Montana, and a Lecturer at UT-Austin. He's also been the President of our Chapter and is currently our Chapter's State Representative. He is also an invaluable friend and a great resource for me. I frequently ask for his help in plant identification and he's always very glad to help.

He noticed the leeks while working on the property and conducted a survey to locate them for future removal. The leeks are invasive, having been introduced to the United States from Britain although they are originally Eurasian. Tom thinks the ones we removed were basically escapees from cultivated gardens. They're wild in the same sense that feral hogs are.

The species, Allium Ampeloprasum, is a member of the onion genus. They reproduce rapidly in the wild. This spring, before the native grasses grew too tall, was a good time to take them out.

Our crew, consisting of fellow Master Naturalists, walked along Onion Creek, found the flags, and dug up the plants. The soil along the creek was nice, probably due to many floods and deposits over the years. It was deep and easy to dig in. The leeks were also fairly shallow, typically less than a foot down, and easy to remove. There were often multiple plants at a single site.

Here's a photo Mary digging up a clump.

 There were actually five plants in the clump.

We gathered quite a few. They are edible and Mary reports they are quite good.

This was a great way to spend 3.5 hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The creek was running as you can see in the first photo because of all the spring rains we had.

More Feral Pigs!

Mary saw 5 feral pigs outside our east gate yesterday morning. They were all smaller than the one we saw in early June, and in the same area.

When she let our dogs out, they ran over to the fence near the gate, barking the whole time, and the pigs ran away. They're clearly not afraid of the house, but the dogs do keep them away.

It's somewhat disturbing that there were more of them, but I'm sure that their numbers on our property varies quite a bit. As I mentioned before, they can be very harmful to the environment and habitat, and we have seen signs of their rooting up the soil. I later walked over to where Mary saw them and there were no signs of rooting.

We'll just have to keep track of them and continue our efforts to control them. In addition to hunting, we also have a trap out, but so far, it hasn't caught one.

Spotted a Feral Pig

We saw a feral pig outside our east gate this morning.

It was about 7am and Beau, our Great Pyrenees, started barking. He was looking out our kitchen window. Our other dogs joined in and were frantically trying to get out.

Mary looked to see what they were so excited about, saw the pig, and called me over.

He was just outside our east gate and was mottled with brown and black. He looked pretty big - I estimate at least 200 pounds and almost 3 feet high. He didn't stay very long so I didn't have time to get my camera. He walked away heading south.

Feral pigs are non-native and very destructive to the environment because they destroy habitat with their rooting. You can read more about their impact at the USDA invasive species database here.

A friend of ours who hunts on our property has taken several in the last few years. Texas Parks and Wildlife has an information page here. Basically, they are always in season and there are no bag limits.