The Texas Hills

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

A portion of all the water from rain and springs eventually finds its way into the Edwards Aquifer, a hydrologically unique ground-water reservoir that is one of the state's most valuable natural resources. However, increased irrigation and the demands of development are necessitating additional surface water supplies in nearby San Antonio, and signs of toxic contamination of the aquifer's good water quality are also be ginning to surface. So far, any problems have been fairly localized. Keep in mind, though, that the region is a spelunker's paradise of magnificent limestone caves. (Natural Bridge Caverns—Texas's largest cave and a big tourist attraction, located between New Braunfels and San Antonio—was discovered only in 1960, and recent explorations in noncommercial Honey Creek Cave in Comal and Kendall counties have opened it to more than 76,000 feet, making it the state's longest cave.) This pocketed underground has the potential of allowing polluted water to travel many meandering miles, making its source difficult to trace. Since it's been said that Texas would split itself into at least five distinct states if it could only agree on which one would get the Alamo and the Hill Country, it's hoped the Texans' concern and deep appreciation for the region's crystal-pure water will protect it. (It should be noted that most Hill Country well water comes from underground sources unconnected with the aquifer, and some of it has a distinctly sulfurous taste.)

Wildlife Wonders

The abundance of water, riots of wildflowers and the generally mild climate of the region attract more than people. You can't be in the Hills a day without becoming aware of the area's bountiful bird life. Roadrunners perform their mating rituals in front yards, and the slopes are alive year-round with Carolina wrens, mockingbirds, chickadees, titmice, red-shouldered hawks, and blue and scrub jays. There also seem to be many more bright red cardinals here than around my North Carolina home, where the cardinal is the state bird. Winter visitors include rufous-sided towhees, yellow-rumped (or myrtle) warblers and spotted sandpipers. In the spring and summer months, migrants appear from the south. Among these are great crested flycatchers with reddish tails and bright yellow bellies, rose-red summer tanagers, sleek yellow-billed cuckoos and dazzling little hummingbirds. (Wimberley wildlife photographer Luke Wade estimates he provides nectar for some 300 hummingbirds that make his yard their summer home.) Other birds—such as orioles, geese and cranes—merely pass through on their way north to breed each spring.

Several varieties of bats also find the Texas Hills hospitable. For example, the summertime nursery colony of the migratory Mexican freetail bat in Bracken Bat Cave (Comal County) may number 20 million individuals. According to Bat Conservation International at the University of Texas in Austin, these beneficial creatures eat tons of insects nightly, and, contrary to popular belief, bats are not a major carrier of rabies. During the winter, when most of the bats are gone, their guano is mined and sold as fertilizer.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print