Photo: a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) next to a chicken food bowl in our chicken yard. It’s still spring with calendar summer almost two months away, but here on the farm, 2019 has already seen its third rattlesnake, a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). The first ... Read More
Farm Fauna
Early Dewberry Warning System
Photo: Blondie with purple dewberry stains from rolling in dewberries. Note the purple patches behind her shoulder and on her upper haunch.Every early summer, we go dewberry picking on the farm. Susie makes jam and cobbler from the berries. We have large patches of dewberries, but they are a bit ... Read More
Official Start of Summer on the Farm
Photo: A male Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our backyard. The sure-fire indicator of the beginning of summer on the farm happened March 27th this year. This was a full month earlier than last year. For comparison, read my blog from last year, ... Read More
Cold Weather Snake
Photo: A female Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri) on a cold early March day in South Texas. This afternoon our three dogs (German Shepherds Oso and Maya and rescue mutt Sunshine), Susie and I took a hike through our south pasture. This afternoon wasn’t a typical early March day. It ... Read More
Drought, Flood, and Mosquitoes
Photo: Author and mosquito swarm. One annoying aspect of climate in this part of Texas is our drought/flood cycle. While we average 34 inches of rain a year, much of that falls in a few large rains. Last year Hurricane Harvey dumped 14 inches of rain on us. Then we entered drought, which was ... Read More
South Texas Collecting Trip
Photo: A pair of mystery footprints in shallow water on the margins of a pond on a South Texas ranch. At the bottom is the shadow of the author's I-phone for scale. The first week of March this year I got a message from our nephew Darin Rokyta, an Associate Professor of the Department of ... Read More
Signs of Summer on the Farm
Photo above: The farm's first sign of summer, a rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our yard. We know the beginning of summer on the farm not by calendar, but by nature. The clearest sign of summer is snakes. Specifically, rattlesnakes and copperheads. The ... Read More
A Weird Short Ecotour Offer
Photo: A young copperhead in our yard. Photo by Carl Clapsaddle. For three years now I’ve been toying with offering an ecotourism venture at our farm during our copperhead season. This evening cinched the idea for me. Susie and I got home from our volunteer fire department meeting (yes, on ... Read More
It’s Going to be a “YUGE” Snake Year
Photo: A large female Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after capture and prior to relocation. No, this is not a political post. It appears that we are in for lots of snakes this year, hence the “Yuge!” We usually see lots of snakes; after all we’re in the country and ... Read More
Update on Fingernail Clams, Sphaerium corneum
Photo: Closeup of three Fingernail Clams, Sphaerium corneum, on a finger. Okay, I thought I could get away with a short blog (see my previous blog: http://goliadfarms.com/fingernail-clams-sphaerium-corneum/), but right off the bat its shortness and lack of natural history led to a question from ... Read More