Columns

The weatherman forecasted a decent chance of rain last week several days in advance and upon hearing the good news, I began making plans. I’ve got a corn feeder located close to a remote pond and my trail camera had evidenced the coming and going of several ‘eater’ size hogs for the past month. By the look at the pictures, it was clear they came as much for the water as they did the corn my feeder disturbed daily about sunset, they were usually wet from their ‘dips’ in the pond. Wild animals have the innate ability to survive and without sweat glands to help keep them cool, wild hogs naturally gravitate to water when it’s hot and dry. My supply of spicy breakfast sausage was in short supply and the stage seemed set for a hog hunt that was long overdue!

Monarch butterflies have long graced the skies of Texas during their annual migration. However, their population has been in steady decline, and recently the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, placed the monarch butterfly on its Red List of threatened species, classifying it as endangered.

As the summer heat and dry conditions persist, so does the danger of wildfire. The Texas A&M Forest Service reported 10 active wildfires across the state as of Sunday. The largest fire at 3,323 acres in Throckmorton County was 90% contained. The Big Sky Fire in Gillespie County had consumed 1,459 acres and was also 90% contained.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has received and distributed 14,780 doses of the monkey pox vaccine to local health departments and DSHS regional offices. Another 27,000 doses could be made available by the Strategic National Stockpile.