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This Month's Features
12 Great State Park Walks
Whether you’re a tenderfoot or a trekker, state parks offer nature walks to soothe the soul.
By Allan C. Kimball
Everybody wants an adventure, and you can have one today. It’s an adventure for young or old and will cost you next to nothing: Go for a walk. The state parks of Texas are full of them, from easy strolls to rugged ramblings to strenuous hikes. Whichever you choose, every walk is an adventure. Even if you walk the same path every day, it’s never exactly the same. You encounter different weather, different people; you notice different things; you have different thoughts; your body reacts differently. Your walk can be the adventure of your day.
We humans walk upright on two legs. We don’t run everywhere we go, we don’t amble on four legs like most mammals, and we don’t use our knuckles on the ground for balance like other primates. We don’t have a tail to aid in jumping like a kangaroo, we don’t swim like a dolphin, and we don’t crawl around on our bellies like a reptile. We walk at a leisurely pace, around 2 to 3 miles per hour.
We may spend the majority of our week bound to a desk at work or school and much of our leisure time in sedentary pursuits like surfing the Internet or watching TV. We can pull our weight, climb every mountain or paddle our own canoe. But none of that is what we’re made for. We are made for walking.
Jewel of the Marsh
The legendary diamondback terrapin’s survival depends on a little help from its friends.
By Artussee D. Morris
Way back in a coastal marsh’s upper reaches lurks a creature that few encounter, and whose mysterious existence is seldom documented. Treasured by epicureans _ nearly to extinction _ the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin ssp) is considered to be an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. While these terrapins are creatures of legend, their mere presence often eludes us.
Diamondback terrapins get their name from the concentric, diamond-shaped scutes (plates) on their carapace, ranging in color from light brown to gray or black. Their skin usually is a pale gray, flecked with dark spots, blotches and/or stripes. Each color pattern is unique and can be used to identify each individual terrapin.
There are seven subspecies of diamondback terrapin, found from Cape Cod to South Texas. The Texas subspecies (M. t. littoralis) inhabits the back marshes from western Louisiana to Nueces Bay near Corpus Christi. The diamondback terrapin is the only “sea turtle” that spends its life in brackish coastal marshes, tidal flats, lagoons and creeks.
Tarantula!
Texas’ most fearsome-looking spider is actually a gentle giant.
By Dale Weisman
Misunderstood and maligned by many, tarantulas — like bats, scorpions and snakes — often get a bum rap. After all, they’re big, hairy, creepy-crawly spiders that are stealthy nocturnal predators. For arachnophobes, they’re bug-eyed monsters from our worst Halloween nightmares.
From Texas to Timbuktu, tarantulas suffer from bad press. Blame it in part on sensational movies like the 1955 sci-fi flick Tarantula, in which Clint Eastwood, playing a fighter pilot, napalms a giant, rampaging mutant spider, or the mega-hit Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which menacing tarantulas crawl across Indiana Jones’ back in the opening scene. Real-life tarantulas, of course, bear no resemblance to the malevolent creatures portrayed by Hollywood. Despite their fearsome looks, tarantulas are gentle giants, reclusive by nature, harmless to humans and an essential part of our ecosystem.
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As you read some of the articles in this issue, you will find related TPWD videos embedded with the stories. |
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