Critters
Stories and updates on some of the state’s many animals
Critters
May 31, 2023
All Hail the Alligator Gar, a Giant and Primordial River Monster
Anglers used to dismiss it as a “trash fish.” Now fishermen (and scientists) are recognizing the gar for the amazing creature it is.
Critters
May 30, 2023
The Hell Pig, the Texas Titanosaur, and Seven Other Outlandish Beasts That Once Roamed Big Bend
West Texas is home to some of the world's most spectacular fossils, from the gentle moose camel to the fearsome tusked swamp beast.
Critters
May 29, 2023
In Wichita Falls, Airport Officials Are Waging War on Egrets
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a bird crashing into a plane!
Critters
May 23, 2023
In Pursuit of Texas’s Rarest Bird, the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken
Fewer than 200 of the birds remain in the wild. Every spring, they put on a vibrant mating display.
Critters
May 22, 2023
Turkey Trouble in Sun City
Aggressive birds are ruffling feathers in an over-55 Georgetown neighborhood. Residents have fended off the gobblers with decorative pillows and golf clubs.
Texas Country Reporter
May 19, 2023
Release the ‘Toads’! A San Antonio Zoo Program Aims to Restore the Texas Horned Lizard Population
Dr. Andy Glusenkamp of the zoo's Center for Conservation & Research leads volunteers in a hands-on experience to preserve the beloved state reptile.
Critters
May 18, 2023
Meet Your New Nightmare, the Hammerhead Worm
If you try to kill it with a shovel, it’ll just split into two.
By Rose Cahalan![Rose Cahalan's Profile Photo]()
Best Thing In Texas
May 11, 2023
We Salute Buddy Holly, Westminster’s Prizewinning Pup (and an Honorary Texan)
He's from California, but we're still proud of him and his namesake.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Critters
May 9, 2023
Definitely Don’t Touch the “Blue Sea Dragons” Washing Up on Texas Beaches
This bizarre species has a more potent sting than a Portuguese man-of-war.
Critters
April 24, 2023
Move Over, Snake Farm: Reptilandia Is the Hill Country’s Classy New Reptile Zoo
Ghostly axolotls float, sausage-fat skinks dive, and snakes slither in thoughtfully designed, naturalistic habitats at the new Johnson City zoo.
Critters
April 18, 2023
The Ringtail Is Texas’s Nighttime Ninja
Count yourself lucky if you catch a glimpse of this common but shy nocturnal mammal.
Critters
April 10, 2023
Apocalypse Sow: Can Anything Stop the Feral Hog Invasion?
They’ve overrun nearly the entire state, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage annually in spite of widespread attempts at eradication—including traps, contraceptives, and a heavily armed Ted Nugent.
Critters
April 6, 2023
Purple Martins Are on the Wing in Texas
The majestic birds nest only in houses built by human “landlords.”
Critters
April 4, 2023
It’s Hummingbird Season in Texas. Here’s How to Bring Them to Your Yard.
The tiniest of Texas birds are also some of the most marvelous, reaching speeds of up to fifty miles per hour.
Critters
April 3, 2023
All the Ways Ben the Bear Is Plotting to Bust Out of the Brownsville Zoo
A serial escape artist, he’s coming to Texas after the Saint Louis Zoo couldn’t handle his wily ways.
Art
March 31, 2023
A Fine-Art Photographer in Beaumont Focuses on the Beauty of Bugs
Lyne Raff gets up close and personal with moths, cicadas, and other intricate insects.
Critters
March 28, 2023
UT Scientists Discovered a Beaver Fossil and Named It After Buc-ee’s
Collected in 1941, A. buceei languished in a drawer for decades.
Critters
March 27, 2023
Did Your Wedding Even Count if There Were No Goats?
The new party VIPs are beer-drinking goats, beer-toting donkeys, and the occasional giraffe.
Best Thing In Texas
March 22, 2023
Congratulations to Mr. Pickles, the Houston Zoo’s Elderly Tortoise, on Becoming a Dad
He and Mrs. Pickles are the proud parents of three new hatchlings.
Critters
March 22, 2023
Mosquito Hawks Are Flitting All Over Texas
Favorable weather led to scads of the insects this spring. (And no, they don’t eat mosquitos.)
Critters
March 18, 2023
Meet the Texas Tech Researcher Who Broke the Beavers Story
Garret Langlois explains how he first stumbled upon, then dove into the exciting discovery that beavers had returned to the Llano Estacado after thousands of years.
Critters
March 17, 2023
This Texas Couple Helps Hatch Hundreds of Baby Wood Ducks
Bob and Donna McFarland have handed out 177 nest boxes for the colorful species.
Critters
March 13, 2023
The Hunt for Wildcat Fossils in Central Texas
In a dark corner of Natural Bridge Caverns, near San Antonio, wildcat bones lay undisturbed for thousands of years. Scientists are just beginning to unlock their mysteries.
Critters
March 3, 2023
What’s Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas?
Two ’roos recently went walkabout, calling attention to the fact that in Texas it’s legal to keep them as pets—but that doesn’t mean you should.
Critters
March 2, 2023
Texas’s Biggest Coastal Wildlife Rescue Center Is Now Open in Corpus Christi
Visitors can watch injured sea turtles and dolphins recover at the state-of-the-art facility.
Critters
February 27, 2023
West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country
Scientists are using GPS collars to gather surprising data—including on one bear that walked 35 miles to dumpster dive.
Critters
February 13, 2023
Beware the Mighty Mantis Shrimp
It’ll punch you with a tiny spear that has the force of a .22 rifle.
Critters
January 31, 2023
What the Heck Is Going On at the Dallas Zoo?
After a leopard escape, the suspicious death of a vulture, and the theft of two monkeys, Texans are anxiously awaiting an explanation.
By Rose Cahalan![Rose Cahalan's Profile Photo]()
Critters
January 23, 2023
After a Long Saga, a Weird Little Texas Cave Critter Is Staying on the Endangered Species List
The blind, elusive Bone Cave harvestman was at the center of a right-wing attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act.
Critters
January 17, 2023
I Wrote a Book Called ‘The Leopard Is Loose.’ Then a Leopard Got Loose in Dallas.
An escape in 1950 inspired my novel. The wildly different public reactions show how much our relationship to animals has changed.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades.
It’s easy to forget that fire ants are actually an invasive species.
Critters
January 12, 2023
Pray for the Predator
Proposed regulations have prompted an intense backlash from hunters, trappers, and landowners.
Energy
January 12, 2023
Drilling in the Permian Is Lonely Work. A Rig Dog Can Help.
When Bruno went missing, Alex Reyna lost a key member of his oil-field crew.
Critters
November 22, 2022
Please Do Not Touch the “Toxic Toupee,” a.k.a. the “Mortal Mustache,” a.k.a. Texas’s Most Venomous Caterpillar
It’s furry and cute, but it can cause intense, throbbing pain for up to twelve hours!
Meanwhile in Texas
November 21, 2022
Why a Houston-Area Emergency Room Has a “Snake Bucket”
From the man responsible for emptying it.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Critters
November 11, 2022
Where to Watch Thousands of Sandhill Cranes Storm the Texas Skies
Each winter, a wildlife sanctuary near the Panhandle hosts one of the world’s largest gatherings of these beautiful birds.
By Rose Cahalan![Rose Cahalan's Profile Photo]()
Hunting & Fishing
September 21, 2022
Meet the Patron Saint of Texas Game Fish
Years ago, Kenneth Henneke helped develop a feisty catfish, and now he stocks a variety of species for anglers across the state.
Texana
September 20, 2022
The Legend of Old Rip Was Pretty Unbelievable
I’m not sure I ever bought the story of the Texas horned lizard that survived thirty years in a courthouse cornerstone, but it’s a tale that reminds me why I love storytelling.
Critters
September 6, 2022
5,000 Years Later, Beavers Return to the High Plains of West Texas
Thousands of years after they were wiped out from the area, an obsessed wildlife ecologist has found evidence that the bucktoothed critters are beginning to recolonize.
Critters
August 24, 2022
Inside the Fight Between Texas’s Most Infamous Prison and Almost One Million Bats
The Huntsville penitentiary wants to tear down the abandoned warehouse where a massive bat colony spends half the year. Locals and conservationists have banded together to find an alternate solution.
Critters
August 18, 2022
The Texas “Moth Man” Is Retired But Still Clicking
Stuart Marcus has spent years identifying and photographing hundreds of species of moths near the Trinity River, but he still has more to go.
Sports
July 28, 2022
The Night That Grasshoppers Killed Texas League Baseball
Fifty years ago, a minor league game in Midland was postponed for the rarest of reasons—a swarm of grasshoppers biblical in its proportions.
Texana
July 21, 2022
This Quirky Hog-Callin’ Champ Was 100 Percent Herself
In 1998, Texas Country Reporter did an episode about Roxanne Ward, a champion hog caller who was quirky, kind, and so unapologetically herself we’ll never forget her.
Best Thing In Texas
June 28, 2022
The Little Turtles That Could: 45 Endangered Sea Turtles Hatch in Texas
“It really is one of the greatest wildlife-conservation successes of our time here in Texas.”
Critters
May 25, 2022
My Lifelong Dream Came True at South Padre’s Sea Turtle Inc.
Texas Country Reporter paid a visit to the world-class wildlife preservation center, where a rehabilitated Kemp’s ridley turtle made a return to the sea.
Critters
May 18, 2022
After the Big Year: What Came Next for the Texan Who Broke a National Birding Record
After taking her thousands of miles across 48 states, Tiffany Kersten’s adventure led her right back home.
Critters
May 18, 2022
Twelve of Texas’s Most Stunning Birds
The elusive bat falcon, the raucous chachalaca, and the luminous violet-crowned hummingbird belong on your life list.
Critters
May 18, 2022
A South Texan’s Wild, Life-affirming Quest to Break a National Birding Record
When she began her year-long bird-spotting adventure, Tiffany Kersten was lost and lonely. She ended up achieving a major milestone—and finding her way.
Critters
May 16, 2022
It’s Easy to Buy a Snake in Texas. Maybe Too Easy.
Almost anyone can walk out of an exotic reptile and pet show with a snake, scorpion, or tarantula. But should you?