Archive for the Nature Category

Burrowing Owl – Burrowing owls are tricky; they break all the rules. They live in holes in the ground, instead of in trees.  When I see a family of owls standing near their ground burrow, I wonder how they dug it.  Owls have sharp talons for grabbing

Sideoats Grama – Sideoats grama is Texas’ state grass.  Grama doesn’t mean grandma.  Grama means ‘pasture’ grass.  I think it’s Latin.  The grama grasses are the best forage in the world for cattle…and buffalo. Sideoats grama is mainly a bunch grass which makes great dove and quail

Mexican Hats – Mexican hats look just like their name.  The long hat top, then the fan of beautiful orange, yellow, red, and brown colors.  Each one has five petals. The top is where the seed head grows.  The seeds are lined up in perfectly symmetrical rows.

Barn Swallow – These cute birds make nests of mud and straw.  Their nests are not all that different from early homes of the pioneers, and some Indians, who made homes out of dirt.  Those “people nests” were called adobe, sod, and dugout. Barn swallow nests can

Scorpion – Scorpions have a wicked design.  They have two huge crab claws out front to grip prey with and then – WHAM – a venomous stinger slams prey from directly overhead.  Then the predator eats the paralyzed prey alive. The stinger is on the end of

Indian Paintbrush – Indian Paintbrush is another wildflower with a sweet name. The name comes from the look of the leaves – they look half-dipped into red paint.  If you look close you can see the circular red blooms, but also that half of each green leaf