Monthly Meeting

Interesting, relevant topics make our meetings meaningful.

Each month we host speakers from nature-related professions who tell us about fascinating subjects and share remarkable experiences. Please join us – there’s always something to learn.

Meetings usually occur on fourth Mondays, excluding August and December, in the UGRA Lecture Hall near charming downtown Kerrville. Members and guests have time to chat beginning at 6:15p.m., chapter awards are announced at 6:45, and the presentation begins at 7:00.

Meeting Topics and Speakers 2003- present

Next Monthly Meeting >> Monday 24 February

Feral Pigs in the Hill Country: Confessions of a Novice Hog Trapper shared by Craig Childs

Feral swine continue to be a menace, from economic damage to the state’s agricultural interests to environmental destruction.

The speaker, after providing an overview of the problem from local, national, and international perspectives, will review management strategies such as whole sounder removal, targeted hunting, and insights on how to integrate the tools for hog management that would be appropriate for a given property and management goals.

A review of zoonotic illnesses and feral hogs will be followed by an interactive discussion with the audience on the role of hog toxicants.

Craig Childs is a retired pathologist and a graduate of Texas Tech University School of Medicine. Craig is a member of the Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program, and presently employed in his dream job by the YMCA of Greater San Antonio as program and ranch manager for Roberts Ranch in Kerr County. He uses his pathology skills as a volunteer supporting monitoring of chronic wasting disease for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He and wife Ruth live on a property on the Cibolo Creek in Kendall County where he used to hunt feral hogs for meat and sport. One day he discovered that his carefully maintained riparian zone had been completely destroyed by feral hogs and realized that we are not going to barbecue our way out of the problem.

The monthly meeting of the Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program is free and open to the public. Please join us in the Upper Guadalupe River Authority Lecture Hall, 125 North Lehmann Drive in Kerrville. Members and guests have time to chat starting at 6:15 p.m. Monthly awards are presented at 6:45. Speaker begins at 7.

View UGRA Lecture Hall, Kerrville Tx in a larger map

March

Reintroduction of Native Species of Wildlife at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area: The Hows and Whys.

Reintroduction of native species are attempted for a variety of reasons but often because we need more information about the process.
Reintroduction efforts at Mason Mountain WMA have involved the collared peccary, the black-tailed prairie dog, and the Texas horned lizard.
We will discuss the reason for reintroducing each of these species, the methods used, and the outcome or status of each.

Jim Gallagher has worked at Mason Mountain WMA for more than seven years and spent ten years at the Chaparral WMA. In between he was an assistant professor and extension wildlife specialist for Texas AgriLife Extension. Jim has an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Science and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University.