Essays

Wild On The Prairie: Habitats

The number of species of animals on the Llano Estacado is increasing
March 26, 2000

The politically correct environmentalist says, “The Southern Llano Estacado is a mesquite and cactus-choked travesty, a ruin of the buffalo prairie, which is the proper ecosystem of that region.” Doomsaying is a favorite human sport.

The changes that have occurred on the Southern Llano Estacado are life affirming. New species rush in following the disruption of a climax ecosystem to fill up vacated niches, creating new warp and woof of the ecological tapestry. Twice as many bird species live here now than did in the buffalo prairie, while seven new species of mammals have replaced the three extirpated species. A hundred new species of plants have moved in, as well as untold numbers of insects.

The buffalo prairie has become brushland. In south Texas, this brushland ecosystem has a name: the Brasada. For a naturalist, the particulars of the change are fascinating. For example, the most recent emigrant mammalian species to Midland County is the cacomixtle, or ringtail. St. Ann’s School had one move into their attic about 5 years ago. Another was sighted climbing a building at Midland College building two years ago, while a third was found at an oil company storage facility out at Sprayberry. This year, a visiting child told of one that took up residence under his mobile home.

Cacomixtles prefer trees and rocky cliffs. Often campers in the Southwest tell stories of one visiting and rifling through food bags. Did the mesquites become tall enough for cacomixtles to escape predatory coyotes hot on their trail? Will they become established in town, away from the coyotes? Will they survive in the mini-forests of soapberry and hackberry in the draws? Cacomixtles have lived for years along the eastern breaks of the Llano Estacado, as far north as Palo Duro Canyon.

Early in the 1990s javelina became established in Midland County. Salt Cedars lining Monahans Draw provide dense hiding places in their new home range. The largepad prickly pear thickets on FM 1788 down toward Pegasus Oil Camp supplied the food needed for the javelinas to travel north from King Mountain and Castle Gap. Do the mesquite beans of June provide a substantial portion of their diet? Do they raid Packrat nests for mesquite beans as do coyotes?

Why did the White-tailed Deer and Mule Deer come to the Southern Llano Estacado in the early 1980s? Was the mesquite brushland now dense and tall enough to provide cover? Most local deer stay near the sandy soils along Midland Draw where shinoaks (Havard’s Shin Oak) grows in order to feed on the mast (acorns). White-Tails came up the draws from the east. Did Muleys wander up from the south, and if so, how? Or did they come east from the sand dunes?

In the early 1990s, local naturalists saw Mountain Lions along Monahans Draw. Do they still visit regularly? The big cats can have a hunting range that is described as a 100 mile long circle. Did they come to the Llano Estacado with the deer, their preferred prey?

Raccoon, opossum, and porcupine are also emigrant residents of the brushland. Buffaloes, wolves, and ferrets are gone from the landscape, but there is more diversity among those that suckle their young. This same theme continues with birds.

A number of brushland species are common in Midland County. Curve-billed Thrashers, Cactus Wrens, Lark Sparrows, Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Bobwhite Quail, Canyon Towhee, Pyrrhuloxias, House Finches, Cardinals, and even our state bird need to have their nests off the ground. All these species may have nested here in the buffalo prairie days, but could only have done so in the draws where soapberry, mesquite, and hackberry forests grew. Now they can easily be found away from the draws and away from the comfortable urban forest of town.

Today Mississippi Kites, Blue Jays, Monk Parakeets, Lesser Goldfinches, a few Robins, Inca Doves, White-winged Doves, a few Carolina Wrens, possibly a few Carolina Chickadees, Common and Great-tailed Grackles, English Sparrows, Starlings, and Pigeons (Rock Doves) all nest in the urban forest. It is irrefutable that there are more bird species living on the Southern Llano Estacado now than in the buffalo days. (Documentation to support this statement is readily available from the hundreds of lists recorded by local birdwatchers.)

We have not mentioned marsh birds that may have been present at the marshes of Mustang Springs during the buffalo prairie days. Before Midland County was settled by people of non Native American descent, Mustang Draw featured cattail marshes and occasional open water ponds. Irrigation wells dried up the springs in the 1950s. Bird species that lived here at that time returned when Odessa sent a majority of its sewage wastewater down Monahans Draw in the 1980s. Virginia and King Rails, Red-Eared Turtles, and Red-winged Blackbirds are all species that like marsh habitat. Possibly present 120 years ago, they are definitely present now.

Doomsayers who condemn the present state of the Southern Llano Estacado do not have their eyes open. By their own tenet of “biodiversity is paramount” how can they condemn the present-day Llano Estacado as an ecological travesty? We can provide documentation about the increasing diversification of plant and insect species locally as well.

The creation of the mesquite brushland ecosystem is ongoing, with more and more species continually vying for more niches than were present in the buffalo prairie. This process fills an observer with awe and a respect for the way living organisms respond to opportunity. Why is the buffalo prairie considered an Eden by the politically correct? They rush to castigate modern man because it is easier to condemn than to seek understanding. The changes to the ecology of the Llano Estacado were indeed caused by human endeavors, but so what?