Wildlife Refuge
When my family first moved to our ranch in the early 1980’s, the woods surrounding our home were practically empty. The deer population was very small. We had no feral hogs. Even the squirrel population was down. For years people had been poaching on our land.
Creating an environment where cattle and native wildlife could co-exist was very important to Kenton Holliday, my father. He set to work immediately to remedy the problem. First he built and/or repaired all the perimeter fencing as well as post ”No Hunting” signs. These let others know that this was private property. He surveyed our property finding a pool of natural spring water in the woods. It is a beautiful and peaceful spot with thick brush surrounding a cool watering hole. To encourage our existing wildlife to stay, he decided to completely let it be. We began calling it the “wildlife refuge.”
In addition to the wildlife refuge, we have not clearcut any of our pastures. There are buffer zones throughout the pastures of brush and trees which enable the native animals to feel more secure. More buffer zones follow the creeks that cross our ranch. Keeping these zones also helps with erosion. The roots keep the soil from washing away in the creek. We also keep our deer feeder filled with corn all year long. The deer, birds, and squirrels enjoy the easy food.
As a result the deer population has grown considerably. Kenton and Cathey enjoy seeing them at the feeder most mornings. Kenton manages the buck population with responsible hunting. In addition to the State of Texas’ hunting laws, Kenton has his own rules to ensure the population is healthy: not too sparse and not too heavy. There has to be enough room and food for everyone.
Since we have lived on our ranch, the population of native animals has greatly multiplied including the return of several species. In addition to deer, squirrels, and birds, we see raccoons, skunks, armadillos, roadrunners, snakes, red and grey foxes, bobcats, and coyotes to name a few. We have two different panthers in the area. We also have feral hogs.
While some of the species are a pleasure to host, others are less desirable. Regardless, we are so excited to see the wildlife refuge working. It is something near and dear to the hearts of us living on Cross Creek Cattle Company.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Very interesting article and many ways to look at this subject. Many are closed in their thoughts and need to open up a little.