Essays

Wild On The Prairie: Habitats

Introduction to the Grassland Habitat
October 22, 2000

A day without kids on the trail is like being in jail. I have no discoveries to report, research, or write about in detail. A question asked by a child for which I have no answer is wonderful stimulation. One day recently, a school group was slated to visit the Nature Center during both the morning and afternoon. That morning, however, the planned visit was canceled due to a scheduling conflict with another function.

So Brandon Young, Dick Hagelstein, and I stood around and chatted, before wandering outside. Dick, a retired range specialist for the old Soil Conservation Service, advised us that we should mow a particular patch of grass.

"But this is the only patch of grass in 100 miles that's tall and thick and lush. This is how a lot of the rangeland looked before the seven-year drought we are now enduring. We use this in our programs." Brandon was a little indignant. (Gee whillikers, boss!)

Dick bristled. "Now, that's good, but mowing it will help it. We will get more rain, and when we do, this grass will appreciate having been mowed."

I weighed in next. "Grass is designed to be grazed. Grasses have tillers. Tillers continually grow from the base of the plant, rather that from the tips of stems, like in most plants. Grazing (or mowing) stimulates the growth of the tillers and the turf becomes denser. Dick is right – so, get to work, young feller!"

Brandon grumbled and groused on his way to get the slingblade (or yo-yo, or scythe). "We're supposed to be working with kids. You lazy old ####s. Just because I am the young guy, I gotta do the physical work around here."

I yelled at him as he opened the door. "Hey! I dug the postholes last week -- I carried the concrete -- so hush!"

Dick and I made ourselves comfortable on the rock fence in front the building. Dick has to look down, and slowly and carefully lower himself when hunkering. (He is old -- in his mid 70's.) "What the heck? Look at this hole. Who’ve we got living here?"

Rodents are an integral part of grasslands. About 20 species live on the southern Llano Estacado. Each acre has up to 250 individuals of several species in wet years. During this drought, though, the numbers continue to drop due to starvation, and some individuals emigrate, boldly going where rodents fear to tread --across open bare ground. Normally, nearly every acre has ground squirrels, pocket gophers, pocket mice, cottonrats, several species of mice, and two of the three lagormorphs present in this "neck of the brush."

Their burrows serve several purposes: tillage and aeration of the soil; grazing; weed management; drainage; and providing hiding and resting places for many other species of creatures. Bugs, beetles, snakes, one species of bird, other rodents, various arthropods, and even amphibians all utilize the holes made by rodents.

Years ago, I had a biological sciences professor at UTPB whose favorite pedagogical technique was asking questions of his students rather than pontificating ad nauseum. So, being in a playful teasing mood, I copied his technique when I asked Dick, "The only mammal that truly hibernates on the Llano is -- ?"

"Oh, bull hockey. I shoulda known you would want me -- oh, I know. Ground squirrel -- right?" He scratched his chin. "Yeah, I know I am right. I saw one of them little “suckers" run right into this very hole. Right after I saw him gnawing on his buddy that had been run over by a vehicle. Cannibalistic little --"

Brandon came by, warming up his muscles by swinging the sling through the air, coming close enough to us to make us pretend to duck, and close enough to make us fuss at him. "Cut that out!"

After he had walked on, I leaned back. "I like grasslands. They are relatively unexplored, and poorly understood. They appear to be one-dimensional -- just a skim of plants over bare dirt. Everything seems like it is in the wide open, but there is actually so much that is hidden."

Like forests, life thrives at different heights in the grasslands. Butterflies, bugs, and birds utilize the flowers or seeds. Turf provides cover and nesting areas. At soil level, bugs and arthropods that constantly recycle biotic material "vertically migrate," driven by varying moisture levels in the soil. Reptiles and rodents and ants create highways hidden under the blades of grass. Underground often serves as the nursery for the aboveground, as well as the home of many species.

Recently I had a group of kids dig in the soil near the pond. They found click beetle larvae, called “wireworms” by local gardeners. Wireworms are voracious root eaters. Adult click beetles can be found at night. When one is placed on its back, a muscle contraction audibly rubs the thorax and abdomen areas of the exoskeleton together, causing the beetle to be flung into the air as tension is released. The purpose of the modified body parts that create the tension is to give the beetle a chance to right itself. There is no guarantee, of course, that it will.

Some local click beetles luminesce -- having two spots on their backs that have the same substance (luciferan) that fireflies do. Firefly larvae need moist soil, so only a few locations on or near the Llano Estacado have them.

Dick and I sat in the pleasant warmth of the morning sun. Brandon flung cut grass everywhere. Some stems drooped over the cable of the parking lot fence, some landed on the parking lot, and some landed on his back and slid in among the hairs of his long red ponytail. "Yup -- this is the life, boss. Yessirreee, to have a young-un to order around." I was laughing.

Dick fixed his infamous, west Texas gunslinger's gaze on me. I hung my head a little. "Yes, sir. Right away, sir." I got up and fetched the rake. All the cut hay would cover bare soil near the tall grass patch of which Brandon had been so proud.