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That's me on the 40-Acre Lake Trail at Brazos Bend State Park (12/31/2007). I was waiting for an otter to show up. It didn't.
As I get pictures of other mammals at the park (and elsewhere), I'll be putting them here--except for Otters. They have their own page.

05/04/2024 At BBSP (which was celebrating its 40-year anniversary). A Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus, as far as I can tell) ate quietly at the edge of
the 40-Acre lake trail. ( picture 1) The remaining pictures are of 2 relaxed rabbits I encountered on the Spillway Trail a bit  East of the Spillway Bridge. The differences between
 a Swamp Rabbit  and a Cottontail are hard for me to see, so I could be wrong about which rabbits they are.  I'm also a bit curious about what  put those notches in the ears of
the rabbit in picture 1.
    

The morning was partially cloudy, and I thought that at first that at least one of the rabbits had a bare patch on its face. The rabbits were eating on both sides of the trail. As
they kept crossing back-and-forth, I couldn't tell them apart. When I took a closer look, I saw that the rabbits' facial fur had an odd pattern, giving me the illusion of baldness. 
   

On the morning of July 16, 2023, I was moving North on the East loop of the 40-Acre Lake trail (the North loop was closed off because of alligator nest  activity.)  
Near the middle of that section, this rabbit moved onto the trail from the right and began eating. I didn't want to interrupt its breakfast, so I paused for a while to
 watch.  The rabbit was also in front of one of our "alligator warning" signs, so I carefully moved enough to get an angle that would allow me to capture that rabbit and the
 sign in the same  image. These pictures were the best I could do.
   

 I'm sharing the series because it appeared that the rabbit "noticed" the sign, and decided to read it by the last image.  Did the rabbit read  the sign and think "Since I'm
not a dog, I can go where I want."? Or was the rabbit wondering how if it would be able to keep its dog on the trail after that experience last time when  the dog slipped the
 leash and made all that trouble. I have no idea what kind of dog a rabbit would keep, but that's their problem. I can say that I haven't seen any rabbits walking dogs on the
 trails since those signs have appeared (and even before the signs have appeared).
   

I believe this is a Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) and not an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus). Ever since I first  encountered the name "Swamp Rabbit" I've
 wondered a bit about why it's not a "Cottontail".  So I looked it up.  Swamp Rabbits and Eastern Cottontails are in the same  genus: Sylvilagus-Cottontail Rabbits.  
Besides living in swamps (ha, ha), Swamp Rabbits are larger than Eastern Cottontails (which also live in Texas). From the descriptions I've found, Swamp Rabbits' fur has
 more black and brown colors than Eastern Cottontails, and a "cinnamon colored ring" around the eye.  Eastern Cottontails have longer ears than Swamp Rabbits and
possibly a different head profile. I believe the rabbit on the trail was a Swamp Rabbit. Many sources described their ability to swim, but I haven't been able to see that. I
included the first image to also show how  much the appearance of the 40-Acre Lake Trail has changed during these months of low water(since last year!). I was half way
 up that loop, looking Northwest at the lake in the first image.

On 11/26/2021; I was at Russ Pitman park.  Squirrels were active all around me.  I see squirrels almost everywhere, and their antics and calls don't usually capture
my attention for very long. But today, I watched them running up and down tree trunks; up, down, and along branches. And then I noticed that they seemed to be running on the bottom of
horizontal branches! Along with that, they were also running in "corkscrew" paths along horizontal and vertical branches. They were running on the outside of these surfaces. Running, or bounding--
feet leaving the surface, with little or no contact with the surfaces they were moving along; in all directions. I decided to try to capture some of this movement with high-framerate video. I was
able to catch some of this activity at 240 fps (usually I try for 480 fps...but I hadn't reset the camera).  The images below show just one example from the video--but in this example the
squirrel had run under a branch, and temporarily lost contact with all four paws. It quickly recovered, as shown in the sequence.  The entire edited video is here 2min, mp4.   Squirrel Parkour!!
I'll try to capture more of this squirrel acrobatics.  By the way, both Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) were running around that day. The videos show
Gray Squirrels in action. The white fur on the undersides (and white spots by the ears) help with this I.D.  Fox squirrels have orange fur on belly, and mixed in a bit with the upper gray.

      
        Arrow shows direction of DOWN.                    Squirrel on the left was holding to the bark.          Piece of the bark peeled off at hind feet!                   Missed first grab with front paws.
 
     
            Both front paws still free .                                     Left front claws snagged the bark!                       Front left claws grab, and quick pull.                  Grab with the claws on the right paw.

      
              Rear legs were in free fall!                     Pulled back with front paws, brought rear feet up!                    Rear feet up to the bark.                         Pushed off with back feet to move forward.

On 10/17/2021; I was at BBSP near the tree where I'd seen the baby alligators a week before (10/11/2021). I've mentioned the busy squirrel that I saw then.
On the 17th, I went by the Oak Tree again, because I'd hoped to see the squirrel at work. I did see a squirrel come out of the tree!  So I shot video and hoped
for the best.  The images below are frame grabs from the video clips is got, which I've edited into this very short film.  
   
It came down the tree, and watched me. It moved by me taking a few steps, then pausing to watch. It was only about 3 yards away.  

   
When the squirrel stood, it made tiny squirrel fists with its front legs.  It appeared to be challenging me to a fistfight--but of course it wasn't. The squirrel finally took off, and
ran past me.  It didn't stop at the tree that was being used a week ago (that tree shows in the third picture above).   The squirrel kept moving (pausing occasionally).

   
The squirrel kept moving (pausing occasionally) until it ran around a bend in the trail.  I think that bend is about 140 yards from where I was standing. I'd hoped to catch a return
trip by the squirrel. I saw one appear at the bend down there, but a young park visitor scared it, so I didn't see the squirrel again.

 

05/02/2021  Even with more "spare time" it's taking me days to work on new material so I can post it. Part of the reason is that I get more new material before I've completed
editing of the previous new material--because I have more of that "spare time" to go get the new material. Oh, darn. LOL
So, here's how my morning went at Brazos Bend State Park on 05/02/21.  I have more photos (and some video) but I need to post this now before much more time passes (it's
already been a week today).  I'd just gotten to the edge of 40-Acre Lake (had just walked down the hill) when I noticed this set of animal tracks on the trail.  I'm a bit confused
on what made them. I think they're from a cat because of the short heel pad and outline; but it look like there are claw impressions and a single "lobe" in front and two "lobes" in
back--which would make them dog tracks.  Whatever they are, it looks lke they walked on top of the human tracks.  I'll alter this description pending any expert input. If they are
feline tracks, then they'd probably be from a Bobcat, which would be pretty cool.  (UPDATE)--Alas.  According to a number of experts, my second guess was correct. They were
dog tracks. Thanks to science twitter folks: Dr. Lisa Buckley (@Lisavipes) ; Dr. Anthony Martin (@Ichnologist); Zachary Wardle (@ZacharyMWardle).

   
  Animal tracks!  

04/14/2021   While walking Piper this morning, another Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) ran across the road in front of us. It crossed 2 lanes, a median, and 2 more lanes before crossing the sidewalk
on our side of the street.  Then it took cover behind a hedge and moved toward us.  It either heard Piper's tags, or me telling her to behave (though I tried to be quiet) or smelled us--but it tried to get through
the wall near us.  It had to pass us, and then moved away.  I thought that was the end of it.
A car passing on the other side of the street made a U-turn and came to talk to me. We'd started talking about the armadillo when I noticed that it was crossing the road again!
I uttered an expletive (sorry to the driver for that) and looked further down the street.  The streetlight down there had just turned green, and it looked like at least 5 cars were
heading our way--and they drive fast on this street.  I decided to run after the armadillo and chase it across the other lane before the cars got there. So I did. I had my phone out
and have shot video of the armadillo near the hedge, but I didn't film my chase.  I had to keep track of oncoming traffic, my location, Piper on her leash, and the armadillo--so adding
"manipulating phone to shoot video" to my list of tasks was not a good idea.  We all crossed safely, and I crossed back and continued home.  I hope the armadillo remained safe. The
images below are frames from the video clip, which can be seen here.
   

03/07/2021   I started as a Volunteer ranger/interpretive guide at Brazos Bend State Park in 2001. Starting then, I went to BBSP at least once a week--EVERY week; although
there were some periods where I had to go "on hiatus" due to occasional medical procedures. In a single day, I could interpret for over 100 people...or 10.  I feel fair average of contacts
would be 50 per week.   50 folks per week x 51 (weeks in a year)  would be 2550 folks per year.   2550 x 19years is.... a LOT of people (48,450 --but maybe take off about 6 months' worth
because of the medical stuff (that's about 1200 less)).  That still adds up to a lot of folks that I've experienced the park with.  It was great fun, and the park is a great place. And then
our viral visitor appeared. And I stopped going to BBSP in March of 2020.  There were many factors involved with this--all of us know the adjustments that were made. I missed the park.
I can't remember exactly, but I did go out to BBSP a few times during 2020.  I also went out a few times in 2021. I decided I should go once more while there was still some controls in place
so I volunteered on March 7.  During the 6 hours I was there I spoke with 100 people while wearing a mask and maintaining distance.  It was great as usual!  There is always a lot
to see at BBSP, but I think it will be a while before I go out there again.  If you live in Texas, you can probably figure out why after March 10.  What did I see today? Well, here we go.
There was a mother Coypu(aka Nutria-Myocastor coypus)  with at least 2 babies on a little mat that they made from Giant Cutgrass. They were at least 50 yards away, so I couldn't
see too much. I passed them again on my way back to my car, and pointed them out to a number of visitors then.  One of the babies went off to forage by itself, and I noticed the Ibis
behind it, so I tried to get some pictures with them both included. They were quite far apart, so it was hard to get them both in focus.  That is not a White Ibis, but either a Glossy
Ibis(Plegadis falcinellus), or a White-faced Ibis(Plegadis chihi).  I've seen people who can identify birds a lot better than I can arguining over identification of one of these.  I know
 it's one or the other. I can't really pick out the eye color, but the legs are more gray than pink or red.  From what I can find, grey legs would make it be Glossy Ibis. The last 3 images
 are frames from a video clip.
    
     Ibis is at least 20 feet away from coypu.               Three moments as the Ibis paused.                             Each view is a bit different.                           Just the Ibis Grey legs, not red or pink.
 
  
    Just pay attention to the sign, okay?

08/08/2020  Like almost everyone these days, I've been staying inside.  I have stopped driving too far... for purely recreational purposes.
I've also been avoiding parks that take much time drive to; since we are generally asked to limit travel.
So, today I finally went out to Archbiship Fiorenza Park (phase 2) and I was happy to see it wasn't crowded. I walked, but not far, since I wanted to keep an eye on my car. As in
many parks inside Houston, car burglaries are possible (it's happened to me, and to people I know). I shot some photos and some video, and then left--but I decided I'd revisit soon. 
I've always seen something interesting there. On this trip, I tried shooting video of a Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The trick is, I was 140 yard away (according to Google).  
If you'd like to see where I was--
I was at 29.720611, -95.626925 and I was shooting one of the islands at 29.721946, -95.627022  While filming the Spoonbill, I noticed something swimming across and filmed that.   
I'm pretty sure it was a Coypu (Nutria).  As I may have mentioned on one of my other pages, "nutria" in Spanish means "otter".  To avoid some confusion, I try to use both terms 
during conversation--especially pointing out that Coypu are not related to Otters at all. Coypu (Myocastor coypus) are in the order Rodentia, along with beavers, squirrels, rats, etc.
while Otters are in the order Carnivora (both animals are further separated in those orders into groups containing their closer relatives). "Myocaster" (myo - caster) is Greek for "beaver-rat".
The image below is from what I edited into this video clip (mp4). The video is not that good, but I'm posting it because of recent reports of Coypus being seen-and being a nuisance-at
a park in another part of Texas (Fort Worth).  There, people have been the Coypus and they are getting everywhere.  The park described in the articles (linked below the picture)
seem relatively small and without much cover.  These factors can bring the Coypus into contact with humans. Feeding these wild animals isn't helping...but the pictures show them eating 
food that was probably intended for the ducks (feeding the ducks isn't a great idea either).  Also, it's unlikely that there are any predators around (mostly thinking of alligators) to 
help eat some of the Coypus.  Brazos Bend State Park has 5000 acres, 7 lakes, lots of cover, and a number or predators (at least alligators, bobcats, coyotes) that can eat Coypu.
I've seen alligators eat them many times.  Here's one page that has images showing this.  Fiorenza park has a lot of water, islands, cover, and at least one alligator (I've seen it)
and I've talked to people who've seen coyotes there. I know Bald Eagles hunt there, too. (I've seen them there--but not hunting.) Today, I see that there are Coypu there, but due 
to these factors, Coypus are probably not seen very often.  To give some idea of the size of the park, I have some panorama shots on this page.

 Here are some links to the articles (which will probably go away over time):

Article 1   Article  2   Article  3   

05/15/2020  While walking with Piper this morning, I noticed an armadillo walking towards me about 50 yards away. I got out my cellphone and started shooting video. I was surprised to
find that there were actually TWO armadillos.  Piper and I watched as they moved towards us. Then, one of them turned and moved towards Piper!  I'm sure this was coincidental, since I
believe that the armadillos didn't know we were there.  I tried to keep the leash tight as the armadillo moved a bit closer. I don't know if Piper or the armadillo moved first, but in any case
it turned an ran.  After a brief pause, the other one followed. The  video is here (mp4).   Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) are described as generally "crepuscular and nocturnal" while feeding
( The Armadillo:Its Relation to Agriculture and Game, 1944, E.R. Kalmbach; page 15), though they can be oberved through the day. In fact, I've got examples of that on my pages here.
Today's observation was at 6:40 AM, with high humidity and heavy cloud cover.

     

02/23/2020  On this cool morning(60 F)  I found 2 sets of baby nutria.  The first ones were sleeping with their mother at about 8:30am.  Here they are, cuddled together
on a mat that they made from plant material.

    
                                   01                                                              02
I found another set of babies about 500 yards East of the first set. This time, just two babies were sleeping on a plant mat, at about 9:15am.  They were gone when
I came back at about 11:30am, but I got some good pictures of their bed. Compare picture 3 and picture 6 for before and after leaving their mat.

     
                                      03                                                                              04                                                                            05                                                                            06
The other babies were still with their mom when I got back to them at about 12pm. I shot some video as they shifted around. In the second clip, the babies are nuzzling the fur along their mother's
side, and one of the nipples can be seen for a second or two. I've edited the short clips into this video file.  Images 8, 9, and 10 are frame grabs from the video, with 10 showing the teat.

     
                                      07                                                                              08                                                                          09                                                                                   10

I don't have any printed literature that gives information about Nutria, but I've found data online.  One source that covered many aspects of the natural history of Nutria was:
"Nutria (Myocastor coypus) in Louisiana" for  Genesis Laboratories, Inc  2002  Link to the PDF.  or cut and paste :
 https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwdp/pdf/Nutria%20in%20Louisiana.pdf
This is where I've found most of the data in one place. Here is some information I got from that source that relates to the pictures above.
Nutria breed often, and are ready to breed a few days after birthing a litter.  Gestation takes about 4 and a half months and usually produces 3 to 6 babies. In Louisiana, high birth rates have
occurred in Dec, Jan, Jun, and July.  Babies are born fully furred, active, and with eyes open.  Nutria use vegetation make large mats which they use for feeding, groom, and resting.  Females
gave 4 pairs of mammary glands, but unlike most mammals, these are placed on the sides of their body.  This could allow the young to nurse with their noses above the water's surface while the
mom is swimming.

05/02/2019  and 06/10/2019  On 5/2/19 I was walking with Piper along one of our streets when I noticed that there were "excavations" in some of the
cultivated areas in some of the yards along the street. I wonded a bit about them, since it was pretty intensive in some spots--was it Feral Hogs? --was
it Armadillos?  On our way back, I had an answer.  A group of armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) were foraging in the leaves. Armadillos don't see very
well, and with the roadnoise covering any sounds Piper or I were making, we didn't disturb them.  I stopped Piper andwe watched the Armadillos...and they
continued getting closer to us. I had to hold on to Pipers leash and pull her back a bit.  Piper was very interested, and it appeared that she didn't know what
these creatures were. I bet that she's smelled traces of armadillos all along-but she'd never met one. I don't normally handle my phone while I'm walking
Piper (walking your dog requires all your attention) but I had to catch some of this. So, I shot some video. The images below are from this video clip. I
stopped filming to put the phone away so I could maintain full control of Piper. And...we left the armadillos alone.
   

On 6/10/19 I was just finishing up my usual workout at one of our local parks. A group of 4 young Armadillos casually moved out of the trees and
began foraging close to where I had been exercising. I went to my car and grabbed my camera. Photos didn't come out well, since the armadillos stayed
within cover, but the video didn't turn out badly.  The images below are from this video clip. 

  
  

According to various sources, including this web page:  http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/dasynove.htm  armadillos are a fairly recent addition
to the wildlife in Texas. They began spreading into the state about 120 years ago.  Follow the link for more information (ond/or look at
the video clip).  I will mention one thing here.  Armadillos usually have a litter of four "pups".  This is because once the fertilized
egg is implanted (and this can be delayed for months--apparently by choice) it develops into 4 identical embryos. This means that
4 identical quadruplets are born--that are identical to each other.  93% of an armadillos diet is "animal matter"-mostly insects and invertebrates.
7% is various plant matter.  A large portion of the invertebrates are beetles and beetle larva. Generally the armadillos dig for their
food, or push through loose litter to find it.

March  31, 2019  This morning, there was a group of nutria on another plant mat. This appears to be a set of 5 young ones.  
The report "Nutria (Myocastor coypus) in Louisiana A report prepared for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries By Genesis
Laboratories, Inc (2002) says that a litter of nutria is usually 3 to 6 babies; but can range "from 1 to 12 individuals."  I didn't see any larger ones
at this time.
           

July 01, 2012-- Today was overcast with sporadic bouts of wind and rain. With weather like that, I didn't expect to have any takers for my Creekfield hike, but one never knows.
It turned out that I had a few takers, so we toured the Creekfield trail.  
As we were coming around the last length--the portion nearest the Nature Center--I noticed a fawn walking on the trail about 50 yards ahead of us. We stopped, and I shot a few
pictures. Then, we slowly moved forward. I wanted to see if we could get closer to the fawn. We really could not, but it didn't run away from us either. We'd move a few
steps, and the fawn would move a few steps. As we crossed the wooden bridge, I lost sight of the fawn, and it was out of my mind when we got to the "sapsucker tree".
We got back to the trail intersection,  I turned right to go back towards the Nature Center...and there was the fawn.
It was near the road, to the left of the trail. We tried again to move slowly towards the road, but I took us off the trail and into the grass on the right to give the fawn room.
A few seconds later, I noticed a rabbit next to the fawn. For many of us, the image of a fawn conjures up the name Bambi--and the character. Well, I was not only looking
at Bambi, but apparently Thumper was visiting as well. As we slowly moved towards the road, some other visitors on the opposite side of the road also had noticed
the fawn and rabbit, and were moving towards them. This spooked the fawn a bit, and it moved deeper into the trees. We crossed the road.

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About 2 hours later, I was leaving the park because of the overcast weather. I decided to drive around the park a bit first. I turned the car towards the campsites,
and there-in the field by the Creekfield Trail-was the fawn. It was resting comfortably.  And off some yards to the left was a doe--most likely the fawn's mother. I drove by a few times
and shot some video and some photos. The doe wasn't close to the fawn, but I tried to get them both in at least one shot.
And then another patch of rain came, so it was time to go.
I enjoyed our visit with the fawn. I wondered at  the lack of  panic on such a young deer. But, its mom was nearby.

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April 24, 2011:  It was another busy Easter at Brazos Bend State park. However, before the big rush started, I got to hear a chorus of alligator bellows at about 8:30 am. I spent most of the day
riding around the lakes, and educating park visitors. I got word that a fawn was visible from one of the trails. A doe will sometimes leave a new fawn in a protected spot for a while. This fawn was
in a good spot, across the water from the trail. Today's RICKUBISCAM is cropped from one of the pictures I shot. While I was watching the fawn, the clouds moved away and the sun came out.
When it did, it shined through the trees onto the fawn, making this wonderful image. The fawn slept peacefully through the day, at least it seemed to be fine whenever I passed it (and I passed it
many times today).  Below is a larger version of the image.

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Some of you may have heard about the bobcat that we got to see by the Spillway Bridge at Brazos Bend State Park on March 12.
This is my story:
I met a couple walking on the North part of the 40-Acre Lake trail at about 9:00 AM. We talked for a while, and they mentioned
that they'd seen two bobcats fighting over by the Spillway Bridge, and that one was still over there. I hastened to the bridge, and
spent about 10 minutes walking back and forth on the bridge--scanning both sides of the bridge--and looking through the
undergrowth for a cat skulking in hiding. When I didn't see one, I was a bit disappointed. As I was resigning myself to this, two regular park
visitors came up on bicycles. As we were talking about various animals, etc.; I looked back towards the bridge, and UP.
I noticed a dark mass at the top of one of the trees. Scanning through my binoculars I identified the bobcat. My jaw dropped, and I
spoke aloud the term for the male offspring of a canid female; and then said,
"THERE'S the BOBCAT!"
We hustled over there.
...And I remained there for about 2 and one-half hours. Word of the bobcat spread like wildfire amongst the visitors and park staff.
I'd set up my video camera, and it has a pretty nice screen that people passing by can look into. The camera has a 25x optical zoom, so
that was ok. Other Park Volunteers brought out a spotting scope, and at that range (I doubt the cat was more than 50 feet away) you could
have counted its whiskers through the spotting scope. During those hours, the bobcat would lie still, apparently trying to doze; but occasionally favoring
us with baleful looks as if wishing we would all leave.
Bit by bit, it moved from one branch fork to another, lower one. It would try that spot for a while, then move to the next lower one. Finally, it made the
last leap, and was gone in the rice.

The series of images below were shot with my still camera. It's an Olympus C-770 which had a 1.7 tele-adapter on it.  The light was constantly changing, which is more obvious in the video
clips further below, and this made taking pictures and video a bit difficult. In a situation like this (one not likely to be repeated), I just shoot as many pictures and video clips as I can. Hopefully
some of them will come out. Even at the the relatively short distance involved (somewhere around 50 feet), my camera just doesn't have the reach to give large, clear images. However, I 
could have done far worse than the pictures I did get.  I can really clear them up if I present them at the small resolutions I use on these pages.  I could look at these pictures--and watch the 
video--over and over again (and I have!). What a beautiful animal!  Click on the images to see the 320 x 240 version of them.

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The series of images below are single frames from the video clips linked below them. Clicking the images will show a slightly larger one (320 x 240)
and clicking the links should show you the video clips.  The clips show how windy it was that morning. In fact, during one of the Bobcat's moves, a huge gust of wind blew my camera and tripod over,
and blew the sunshade covering it inside-out. The Bobcat dozing up there, propped in that unlikely position, seemed strange to many observers. I was impressed by the balance showed by the 
Bobcat both while sleeping (amazing!) and while it moved. I've left the audio track intact in most of these clips. The sound of the wind is evident, but it's also fun hearing some of the wonder in the 
voices of the other people watching the cat. This Bobcat was estimated to weigh about 25-30 pounds.

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                                  FIRST VIEW wmv 3760kb                                       FIRST VIEW, CLOSER 3766kbFROM ANOTHER ANGLE 1154kb                                  BIT OF A STRETCH 3404kb

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                             BIT OF A STRETCH 3404kb                                                                        THIS IS COMFY? 560kb                                                                 TIME TO MOVE 2504kb 

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                                A BIT LOWER 2604kb                                                                         A BIT LOWER, CLOSER 2673kb                                                               TIME TO GO 3448kb

Although many people (including me) find the sight of a carnivore hunting interesting, these moments of watching a predator in repose are also very special to me.  The Bobcat ( Felis (Lynx) rufus)
is one of three (according to the book North American Wildlife, by David Jones) native wild cats remaining in North America. The other two are the Mountain Lion (Felis (Puma) concolor), and the
Canadian Lynx (Felis (Lynx) canadensis). The Bobcat's size allows it to maintain its range more successfully than the larger Mountain Lion because this allows for a greater variety of possible prey
and habitat to hide in. I believe that the large number of Nutria in the area where we saw the Bobcat (with lots of young Nutria around) may allow the cats to feed well right there.  As I watched, I 
realized how lucky I was to spend a few hours near this wild cat; a species which has been able to continue to thrive in our changing environment.
As an environment changes, this can put pressure on animals and plants living there. Fortunately, when organisms reproduce, the offspring are not exact replicas of the parents.  Sometimes a 
"newer" model offspring may have characteristics that allow it to survive more efficiently in the changed environment than the "older" model (which would include some of its siblings and others in its
generation, as well as the parent generation). Surviving more efficiently means that less energy is expended on the basic survival needs--like finding enough to eat and not being eaten. This can 
leave more energy available for other tasks, like reproduction. More efficient organisms (the "newer models") would tend to reproduce more than the "older models" and eventually the "older models"
could be phased out entirely. Or, small populations of the older models could exist in areas that were still favorable to them (if any such areas can be found in time), while the "newer models" could 
exist at the same time, elsewhere, in the changed environment.  Organisms that can evolve new behaviors or physiological changes at a pace with their environment as it may change will survive. 
Those that can't change quickly enough--perhaps because of slow or reduced reproductive rates--will die off.  The Bobcats seem to be doing well so far. This was one of those really rare events at 
the park, and I was happy to see it. It was LOTS of fun seeing and hearing the excited visitors ,
park volunteers and staff.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Steven Orzack, of the Fresh Pond Research Institute (www.freshpond.org), for his editorial comments regarding this article and for our correspondence
in general.  He happened to be visiting BBSP for the first time on the 12th and also got to see the Bobcat "in person".  Talk about LUCK! Thank you for the support, Dr. Orzack!
One more thing. Any mistakes in spelling or grammar are mine. ALL mine.

August 24, 2003  This morning, I was at the park, and heading up towards the VC/NC (Visitor Center/Nature Center) from Elm Lake when I saw a small group of raccoons off to the side of the 
road. I stopped to take a few pictures, and when I did, they advanced towards the car. There were about six of them, and one stayed back off the road; but the others came right up to the car.  
One larger one (I assumed an adult, while the others were juveniles, but I'm not sure) not only approached my car on the open window side, but it stood up, and seemed to be reaching for the 
door handle!  Danged masked thugs! (see the picture, NOT A HAPPY TREE FRIEND, below.)
Folks, this is TERRIBLE behavior for animals that are supposed to be wild. It's dangerous for all life forms involved, and is caused by park visitors (or other irresponsible people) giving food to the 
raccoons. The raccoons could have easily been run over if a car came from the other direction. I had to beep my horn repeatedly to get them to move from under my car so I could drive on. These 
raccoons aren't tame, either.  Hand feeding them is only inviting a situation where a human can be bitten or attacked. If the raccoons become a nuisance they will be removed from the park (and 
NOT RELOCATED ANYWHERE!  GET IT? ). Here is how the term "nuisance" applies to raccoons:  Raccoons are dexterous and smart enough to get into ice chests, drop down on food hung up 
in trees, open tent flaps, or even work open screens or chew through wood frames of shelters. They run quickly, and also have a set of nice, sharp teeth. When cornered, a raccoon is a fierce 
adversary.  One could "corner" a raccoon by waking up and finding a live raccoon in one's tent or shelter (which, if they've lost their fear of humans, they could get into by a number of methods--
regardless of whether or not people are in there).  One could also "corner" a raccoon by opening an ice chest that might have closed upon a raccoon that got into it. It is a bad sign for raccoons to
brazenly approach a large, mobile object like a car looking for food--in broad daylight.  They could likewise approach people at picnic tables (with food already out in the open); and then suddenly 
realize that the humans at the tables have the raccoon's food; and suddenly feel threatened--with bad results. These are examples of how much of a problem raccoons can be. They forage everywhere,
most notably all the areas that people like to use; unlike almost every other animal in the park. Feeding raccoons; and any other animal, for that matter; doesn't do any of the animals any good at all.
DO NOT FEED ANY ANIMALS AT BRAZOS BEND STATE PARK OR AT ANY OTHER PARK!

On a different note, I have to relate an incident that happened at the VC/NC today. We've been gifted with the nocturnal appearance of a type of click beetle that has two spots that glow in the dark like
eyes. Evidently, the appearance of this beetle was exciting news for some local entomologists. They (the beetles, not the entomologists) are quite striking, and the glow from the spots is easily visible
in a lighted room with just a small amount of shading.  One of the park people had taken a beetle out to show everyone, and we were all being impressed. I turned my back for a second, and when I 
looked again, everyone was looking up.
"Where'd it go?"
"It went up towards the light!"
"There it is;  it---OOP! Spider got it!"
There were a few moments of silence....
Most beetles can fly. This species of click beetle can fly. It flew from the palm of the hand holding it to land on the upper edge of one of the fluorescent lights---where, we (and the click beetle) discovered,
a spider lived. When it landed, a spider immediately ran out, grabbed it, and disappeared back above the light.  End of beetle.  Fortunately, there are many, many more.
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                                                NOT A HAPPY TREE FRIEND

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Brazos Bend State Park   The main page.

Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer's Page  The volunteer's main page.
 

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