Here in The Woodlands, I have seen this spider of the family Araneae several times before. It is the Black & Yellow Argiope, or Argiope aurantia. It is very big and scary to many people. Go to swampy areas in Southest Texas and you might find these in abundance. These were found on plants next to a pond in a Woodlands park. This large one is the female. Although like most species of the family, its bite is venomous but not dangerous to a human. It eats small insects captured in its web. 
The small one is the male.
After photographing a park, I started home. On crossing the Bear Branch Creek bridge on Research Forest Drive, I spotted a beautiful buck down on the creek along with several does. Since I had the camera on this outing, with all the necessary gear, I decided to park and walk back to the creek. On doing so, as soon as I could see the area below the bridge the buck also spotted me. He ran; I hit the shutter button. Then he paused for a second, as if to satisfy a curiosity. "What was that noise?" I clicked again. He ran again. So you have the story behind these two photographs. I rarely have my cameras with me on these occasions, but this time yes! 
When I used to take my daughter to the Woodlands High School, we would see deer grazing, usually on foggy mornings. Last night, we had a full moon early. I suspect that the deer wanted to feed late in the morning because it turned dark fairly early as well. Notice the ribs showing on this beautiful creature. The drought has been tough on their lives, but there is plenty of grass. Water may not be so abundant however. I noticed a few weeks ago that water was indeed much less abundant than in the past when I was on the creek. My brother, a hunter, tells me that a rack like this indicates a healthy deer. Perhaps there is a lack of protein due to the green grass it is eating. Bambi is alive and well here in The Woodlands.
The Long Leaf Pine is more susceptible to disease than its brother the Loblolly. Jesse Jones National Forest is populated with the Long Leaf. The forest is "fire maintained". That is, the density of the forest is controlled with planned clearings to enable the sun to reach the ground, a necessary condition to maintain the natural native ecology. Various species of creatures depend on the natural ecology and native plants which thrive within the boundaries of this forest. It is believed that there were many frequent fires in the forests which continuously reconstructed the ecology that is now maintained through a forest management process within Jesse Jones.
One such creature is the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW). It is one of eight native species of woodpeckers in our East Texas forests. It shares its habitat with the Red-Headed Woodpecker and other woodpeckers we see right here in The Woodlands. It is unlikely but possible to see the RCW in The Woodlands, since Jesse Jones Forest is so close. The bird is found on private lands and in some areas along Spring Creek. However, there are no places for the bird to nest here. Each year, there is a formal national bird count conducted in December to watch and mitigate extinction. It's range in Texas was the entire East Texas forest system. Today, only 13 counties report significant sightings of nests; 15 counties no longer have the birds at all. This woodpecker is found and protected in several southeastern states. Some 6500 birds survive the wild today.
This woodpecker species is on the endangered list. In past centuries, it inhabited all the East Texas forest. Then, forest consisted primarily of Long Leaf pines, with an understory of grass on the forest floor. There were not many hardwoods in the forest, primarily due to frequent fires. RCW (Red-Cockaded Woodpecker) requires a mature pine tree with a disease that comes in that maturity. It does not nest near a hardwood. The disease is "red heart disease, a fungal infection that causes the core of the tree to rot. In Longleaf pines, trees do not begin to suffer from red-heart fungus until their age averages 80 - 120 years old. Once a suitable, mature tree is found, it generally takes an RCW 1-3 years to construct a cavity. Generally these birds will excavate groups of cavity trees in an area (called a cluster)."1 The disease softens the core, enabling the bird to carve out a cavity for its nest.
This photograph was taken of a nesting tree in Jesse JOnes Forest right after a family of the birds fledged from the nest in 2009. This Longleaf at this location is found among several of one cluster in the park. Note the holes about 30 - 35 feet high on the tree. Only one of the holes was the nest of a family this season. All of the baby birds have left the nests but will be building new ones for next year. Sap produced by the tree is released by the excavation of the cavity and said to be a natural barrier to the birds' enemies. If a hardwood is nearby, there is danger of a Rat Snake climbing up into the nest, discouraging parents from raising a family in the tree.
So we see a little bird with a specific ecological need, being protected in Jesse Jones Forest, right next door. Hopefully I will acquire a photo of this shy little bird in the near future and expand on this subject.
References
1 The Long Leaf Alliance, "A Family of Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers Makes a Home in a Mature Longleaf Pine Tree",
This little guy is a Kinglet but not sure of exact identity.
This colorful little fellow is a Rufus-sided Towhee.
Another colorful bird I saw plenty of but got few photos, was this Red Breasted Nuthatch above. It was nesting near the cabin. in the BBQ pit. Notice the food it brought to feed its babies.
Here was one of the brightest Cardinals one can ever find. You can see that it was nesting time. Already the birds here in The Woodlands are looking a bit shabby from raising their young.
We have seen this bird time after time in the piney forest. They are also common in Tennessee - the Carolina Wren. This was found near the cabin, feeding in the front yard.
This is a nest of three nuthatch chicks (one flew out). They other two flew out when the flash went off but returned to the nest the next morning.
Like most forests, one can find some incredible character in the Tennessee forests. Although there is limited and diminishing space containing natural virgin forest, we find many small connected tracts of land sustaining wildlife and ancient timber. Wildlife, as we know it in America, requires considerable space to thrive. Deer, antelope, turkey, and many other creatures will naturally move about seeking mates, food and water, in different seasons of the year. They can't be constrained to a small farm space. I was fortunate recently to stay a couple of nights on a 40 acre private tract near the Kentucky border, connected to other private tracts where the wildlife is highly valued. My observations were from the eyes of a lover of forests, wildlife and trees.
Unlike our pine forests in Texas, this is definitely hardwood country. It has a smattering of oaks, hickory and many other species to form a canopy. Underneath that canopy is a diverse life of trees and bushes, some of which we are familiar with here, such as the Flowering Dogwood. The dominant Dogwood is the white bloomer, but the pink is also found among its canopy trees.
A casual visit to this land is just not enough time to soak it in. Each time I ventured out to photograph, I would see something totally new. From a photographer's view, what you see has everything to do with the light - angle, intensity, color. Early morning is dramatically different than late evening and mid-day with the sun shining, presents the forest "in a totally different light". At times, I ran across varied bird species that I wanted to photograph but could not, because they usually were too shy and elusive to capture with any quality.
This waxwing was one of hundreds feeding on fresh spring seeds in this tree.
Configurations of trees in the forest make interesting scenes. This one caught my eye as I was looking for birds. This place was full of birds, but my eyes met up with the tangled limbs and fauna on the trees and the ground.
To get to these little farms, one often must find the small lanes through the countryside. However, be warned. Everyone participates in informal neighborhood watches. Land owners all have guns and are willing to use them on trespassers. 
Deer are plentiful and often large, much larger than our little ones. These were grazing behind the cabin and I photographed them through a window of the cabin.
Turkey are also plentiful. This was during hunting season and we were watching four hens and a gobbler on the slope of this hill.
They have left the nest! Still nearby, but now enjoying their new-found freedom over the forest. Today, I came up on one perched on a tree limb fairly low to the ground. He was a little rustled by the strong winds, gripping the limb tightly with his talons. His sibling was flying over part of the forest nearby while he seemed to be just resting for the day. No parents were flying nearby for the short time I was observing them. 
I did catch the first view of him flying but did not capture it well with the camera lens. He was flying at a very fast speed with the wind. I am presenting the photo anyway. Both young birds were enjoying their mobility and showed signs of advanced training by soaring through the tree tops. They will be hunting soon.
First be safe outdoors. When gardening, wear gloves when working in in and among vegetation. For clothing, wear long pants and shoes. Don't allow children to play outside barefooted. These are practical safety tips for everyone irregardless of what we do outside. Stepping on a rusty nail is probably more apt to occur than running across a snake. Snakes do bite and they can hurt but most of the time, that is all there is to it. Still, be safe and if you or your child is bitten, go to the clinic. Don't panic, just casually go there to have it looked at. The staff will want to know what the snake looked like. If you know your venomous snakes, you already know whether the snake is venomous or not. Chances are even if it is venomous, there is no venom in your wound.
Speaking of risk, do you know how many fatalities we have each year in Texas as a result of a snake bite? We average less than one per year for the entire state. Those usually occur in the hill country or in West Texas or on the coast. (Be careful in the dune grasses of Galveston or Padre Island - rattle snakes there are very dangerous). I don't believe we have had any deaths in east Texas. But people do get bitten. Many times when people are bitten by a venomous snake, the snake releases zero or only a small amount of venom. They are known to conserve their venom for catching prey. They know you are not food and they need to eat! A baby snake may be more apt to hurt you, because he probably has not learned yet to conserve his venom. 
Courtesy of Troy 1. Click on photo for detailed view. Copperhead.
Let's take a look at the venomous species. It behooves us to learn to identify these three common snakes. The most likely one you are to encounter is the Southern Copperhead. This one is the most populous of the venomous snakes in this area. The key identifying marks are the clear dark patterns that look like Hershey Kisses on the side of the snake, with the tip of the kiss on the top of the back, often touching the kiss on the other side. Another way to look at the markings is to envision an hour glass with the center of the hour glass on the top of the back. Hershey kisses are easy to remember. Characteristically, the snake will be light colored underneath, a light brown base on its sides and top, with fairly sizable kisses on the sides. Our first lesson - Don't kiss a Hershey Kiss snake! In fact, stay clear of it. They will not harm you unless you corner it or otherwise threaten it in some way. Let it be - all snakes have value in the forest. This snake might climb up into a bush looking for food.
Courtesy of Troy 1. Click on photo for detailed view. Adult Cottonmouth.
The next likely problem snake would be the Western Cottonmouth. This one is less populous but very wide-spread and likely to be found on or near the water. This one is a little more difficult to identify. The head is the key to this snake. At some distance, you might see a fully black snake, or a very dark snake with barely visible brown rings or if a young lad, it might have irregular dark rings around a brown body. The rings fade as the snake ages. To confirm your sighting, you would examine the head.
Courtesy of Troy 1. Click on photo for detailed view. Juvenile Cottonmouth.
Courtesy of Troy 1. Click on photo for detailed view. Coral Snake. The only other possible dangerous snake is the Timber Rattlesnake. If you see rattles on the end of the tail, it is dangerous. Always! And the rattlers do make noise.
Other non-dangerous snakes you may see here include: nocturnal Milk Snake (every other band is black), Buttermilk Racer (also known as the Blue Racer), Rubber Snake, Eastern Hognose, Texas Rat Snake, Rough Green Snake, Texas Brown Snake, Rough Earth Snake, Yellow Belly Water Snake (raccoon mask on head 4-4.5 ft), Blotched Water Snake (black with some white), Diamondback Water Snake (5 ft checkered pattern), very common Broad Banded Water Snake (Black and white bands), Western Mud Snake (reds on it with rectangles underneath), Speckled King Snake (looks like small white dots all over it).
Other trivia to know: all snakes can and will swim in water. They know how to survive in bogs and swamps. Mothballs are good to repel snakes from an area.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Mike Howlett of Houston Herpetology Supply for presenting this material to us. He sells snakes and snake supplies at www.houstonherp.com in Spring, Texas.
1Thanks to Troy Hobbitts for providing his 2006 copyrighted photos of the venomous species to help you visually identify snakes here in The Woodlands.
And thanks to several others who also shared their knowledge of snakes in this part of Texas.
This is an interesting video of a "land snake" swimming in water. A Rattle Snake!
I recall one year watching the Eagles teach their two fledglings to fish. They had a nest near Woodlands Parkway and people would stop at the bridge over Lake Woodlands to watch. I saw one parent swoop out of the sky and grabbed a fish on the surface of the water. One of the babies swooped right behind following the parent. As the parent came off of the water, he dropped the fish. The youngster dived and plucked the fish out of the water, right behind the parent. Lunch was served and lesson taught.
Those days are gone. These days, the birds nest in more remote locations. It is better that way. They need their privacy and will stop nesting here if they are disturbed.
Additional reading: American Bald Eagle - nesting and young
Human behavior should be different when it comes to a dog or to a Coyote. This is especially important in teaching our children how to behave in their presence. Humans should not be aggressive with dogs. A dog will be threatened and will protect itself or its human master if attacked. A Coyote will be intimidated and run. Therefore, it is recommended in various literature that a human not move in the presence of a growling dog, but let the animal calm down and slowly remove yourself from its presence to avoid being bitten. That behavior may entices the Coyote to approach the human.
As I write this article, the Coyote is at the beginning of its breeding season. This is the time one can hear the famous Coyote howl on very dark nights. We will see more of them during the day as well. This will continue through February into March.
Please allow me the opportunity to first tell you why I looked into this and why I want to share what I discovered. One day, a friend and I were on Spring Creek, on a Kayak fishing expedition. We came upon some children playing in the creek with adult supervision, so we said "hello" and after a few introductions, proceeded to hear a story they all wanted to tell. It was about this young Coyote they would see every morning when they came to the creek. That group traveled in a little two-wheel trailer pulled by a four-wheeler. We were interested and listened intently, asking questions. The adult instantly could tell that we had an interest in wildlife. The adult asked, "do you want to see this?" Our immediate response was "sure". We got in the back with the kids and rode up the trail with them. At some point, we turned around in the vicinity where they had last seen the Coyote. As we proceeded back, sure enough, the youngster suddenly appeared bouncing along beside us, some 100 feet away. This sure was a novel situation. I could see the fascination of viewing a wild animal of the forest as I looked into the eyes of the children. I was seeing the Coyote in a similar light as the children. I got this strange sense of a wild camaraderie between young humans and a young animal. There was no fear evidenced by either.
In retrospect, I understand now how I had felt that age-long connection between man's best friend (dog) and man. Perhaps that was in error. The children really do not have a grip on the difference between a dog and a Coyote, except the Coyote is found in the wild, and the dog is typically found in the home. We live in a society that wishes to retain all the wildness of nature that it can. That desire is currently packaged in a neat little box of "Green" and "Animal Conservation". The adult supervising the children was also in touch with the outdoors and felt a natural connection to nature by this close proximity to such a wild creature. This harmless dog-like animal maintained a distance of about 30 yards, running parallel with our 4-wheeler and did not threaten us, or so it seemed.
I have since had one other encounter. That was with a family of Coyotes about 5AM, just before daybreak. Standing only 40 feet from me next to the tree line, they were curious about me and appeared to be calmly studying me. They were not at all spooked. This was in The Woodlands proper, near a golf course. I froze and studied them also. They finally got bored and disappeared into the forest. They never made one move towards me nor did I take one step towards them.
Then one day I heard that our community was relocating our wild Coyotes before they could "turn urban", like those in California. Although that did not set well with me, I acquiesced and just let it all pass by without challenging the strategy. Recently, a new wave of concern surfaced with new but daylight sightings. So I researched the issue and asked an expert. This is what I found:
The number of threatening incidents in Texas is almost non-existent. Although we live amidst a forest where the Coyote thrives, we see little of them, and no one gets attacked. He eats small animals such as rabbits or rats. Tree rats are common here and provide a staple diet. Any small animal would be considered food by the Coyote. He will eat feral cats (domesticated also) and small dogs. He often hunts alone but may take his prey with the help of several members of his family. They also eat fruit, berries and insects. 5
He can be lured to a hunter with a caller that sounds like a squealing rabbit. I have witnessed the success of this tool in bringing a Coyote right into the back of a pickup truck! The only time this happened to me was with a friend of mine one time when he dared me to go. In west Texas, we waited for an animal to appear as we called. Nothing happened for a couple of hours. When we got tired, we waited a few minutes and a Coyote then jumped suddenly into back of the pickup. My friend and I were so startled that we jumped over the side to the ground, but we also saw the Coyote leave the bed of the truck on the other side. Neither he nor us wanted to have anything to do with each other. A close encounter, yet it proved nothing about the behavior of the animal. He did enter a human scent area, but he was only chasing what he thought was a normal meal.
Recently one local resident told me that the remains of her lost cat had been found nearby. Apparently a Coyote killed and ate it. This was disturbing, but we all know that our cats are at risk when outside during the night here. The cats are not supposed to be outside without a leash. Personally, I would never want to leash a cat. I have been through a thrashing machine before and don't want to experience that again.
We do have the coyote in our midst right here in The Woodlands. Do you respect his potential aggressiveness for the sake of your child's safety? Do your children know about this animal? If the statistics show a very low threat, why would I even ask? Urbanization of the Coyote habitat took place in the western area of our country long before it occurred here. We are in the early stages of habitat change. There are lessons to be learned from urban Californians and other western residents.
From studies there, over time, some of these creatures have learned not to fear man. There have been a number of threatening encounters out west and even small children dragged as apparent prey. "In some cases, our provision of ample resources to these urban coyotes (particularly in the form of intentional feeding) has resulted in their losing almost all fear of humans, and in some cases a few coyotes will become aggressive enough to attack pets and people." 1
New York state recommends: "People should never try to get close to a coyote. Any coyote that shows unusual boldness or acts tame should be avoided. Coyote attacks directed towards people have occurred in the western United States, and aggressive coyote behavior has also been reported in the eastern United States and in New York State."2
In Texas, we need to understand the North American trend towards increased Coyote aggressiveness. While studies in other areas continue to to be conducted, we must not lay back and be complacent. We must take precautionary measures to keep our children safe, yet not be overly aggressive ourselves toward removing one of the inhabitants of our forest. Here are some practical measures that we as residents can take:
So you can see that I do respect the Coyote. He is not my enemy. If he can stay on his diet of rodents and leave human flesh alone, he is welcome at my home, outside my fence. I regard him as a very minor threat to both my pets and my family. There have been no deaths in Texas or the southern part of the United States as a result of a Coyote attack and very few human incidents. Texas had two deaths in 2008 from dog attacks. There has already been a dog-related death for 2009 in Houston. This comparison is similar for every state of the nation. Let's cohabit the forest with the Coyote or even better yet, the Red Wolf. I am not optimistic that we will see any effort to being back the wolf however.
References
1 Statement by known Coyote expert, 2009, Bob Timm.
2 "Bad Dogs: Why Do Coyotes and Other Canids Become Unruly?" http://www.coyotebytes.org/urban_symposium.html
3 "Prevent Encounters with Black Bears and Avoid Conflicts with Coyotes" June 2006, http://www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/18907.html
4 "More Isle Coyote Sightings",Galveston County Health District, 2008 - http://www.gchd.org/press/2008/02Coyotesight.htm
5 "Behavior of Coyotes in Texas", undated, WILLIAM F. ANDELT, Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University http://texnat.tamu.edu/symposia/coyote/p2.htm
6"Coyote Mammals of Texas", Texas A&M, 1994, http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/canilatr.htm
7"RESPONSE TO COYOTE PREDATION ON PETS, Dorinda Pulliam City of Austin,TX, USA, 2007, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=icwdm_wdmconfproc
8"Coyote, Canis latrans", Texas Parks and Wildlife, http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/coyote/
Well, if you noticed what I noticed last year, then there is a clue for you as well. We had a bumper crop of acorns last year. My White Oak produced so many that I thought I was going to go crazy with the acorns hitting the roof and lying all over the patio. Then too, the squirrels were burying the acorns all over the yard, so grass was damaged by their need to save the food for a "rainy day". The acorns were everywhere last year, all over the street, driveways, ... just everywhere and varying species of Oak all contributed to the abundance. There are zero acorns this year. The only ones I have seen were on a few limbs that were toppled by Hurricane Ike but had been in the tree all year as broken limbs, unable to break lose to fall to the ground. Those were all rotted out and useless for food.
So did the hurricane knock all of the acorns off the trees? No, that would be very doubtful. Actually, this is a cyclic pattern of Oak Trees. They usually produce a small amount of acorns in the off year cycle, but this year it appears to be nil. So what to do? Feed the little guys or just let nature do its thing? We will lose some to hunger I think, if we do not feed them. Yet this is the way nature takes care of its own. The birds will have to seek alternate food (worms for example) to continue their trek north in the Spring. They will compete for the berries in the winter, but I have not seen any Robins yet. Where are they? I heard that some of them are staying up north but winter looks pretty harsh this year, so I expect to see them soon.
I am going to provide them and the birds with some seeds in my feeder, but they will have to fare on their own for most of their food.
This little creature moves so fast that you may not know what it is. Is it a
bug? Is it a bumble bee? No! It is a Hummingbird! Darting hither and thither, one
can become crossed-eyed trying to follow its movement. Then suddenly, you see it
perching on the tiniest of twigs. It has to rest between feeding binges.
Watching these birds for several hours, one can see patterns emerge. This little male has several favorite perches. He prefers a tiny twig that is fairly long relative to his body size. The twig must give him a clear view of his domain. He is very possessive of his space. So he stays very busy chasing off would-be dinner guests. Thus the darting behavior.
Then came the female. She was allowed to feed when he was not in the neighborhood. It is my suspicion that he was out visiting his other girlfriend next door when I was able to catch some photos of this little lady. 
For the next couple of days, she was running off the others until the guy returned and chased her off. She fed more inside of the Hummingbird plants than did the male. She did not get up on the perches and monitor the area like he did. She would just attack everything that came to the table while in the backyard, then would disappear for as long as an hour. The female tended to catch more insects than the male. She would be high in the air at times, obviously catching something about 20-30 feet off the ground. That could have been flies or mosquitoes.
These are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They are the dominant and possibly only one of two species in this area. The other species is the Rufous. These Ruby-throated nest right here in our backyards. I suspect this one has a nest near here and is feeding her brood now, but she managed to keep me unaware of her nest. According to my bird book, she can be nesting as far away as 1.3 km and feeding here in my backyard. I noticed that each time she arrived, I could hear her chattering as if to say, "if there is anyone else here, you'd better leave".
Don't think that the little lady is dull and only gray with white wing tips. She has the iridescence on her feathers that is typical of Hummingbirds. When the light hits her just right, you see these green and blue colors. As the sun reflects off of the bird in the flowers, her colors become very evident. The female is quite beautiful in fact.
So the next time you go outside and have the opportunity to observe these beautiful and interesting creatures, try to see where the male is watching and if there are any females lurking around. Keep an eye for a family, maybe two youngsters and their mama. The male does not play a role in the upbringing of the brood. The female will protect them, but after a couple of weeks out of the nest, she will run them off to fend for their own well being, unlike the broods of other backyard birds.
Montgomery County had two observers participating in the 2006 Texas Hummingbird Roundup, reporting two species of Hummingbirds in the county.
Video:
References
