Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ico home, including rough-toothed, common, bottle-nosed,
striped, pantropical, Atlantic spotted and Risso's dolphins. Take
a boat ride along the coast and you'll likely see them playing in
your wake.
Game fish are common throughout the state, especially bass
and trout, and sport fishing is very popular in the gulf. Most of
the Big Bend region's native fish are tiny. One species, the Big
Bend mosquito fish, lives in only one pond inside Big Bend National Park and nowhere
else in the world. At one time, the population sadly had dwindled to two males and one fe-
male.
Birds of Texas, Keith Arnold
Texas Wildflowers, Campbell
Loughmiller
Trees of Texas, Stan Tekiela
Animal Tracks of Texas, Ian
Sheldon
American Alligator
The name 'alligator' derives from the Spanish
el lagarto,
'the lizard,' and you'll find
these reptiles in east Texas swamps and along the Gulf Coast. They are usually (but not
exclusively) found in freshwater - shallow lakes, marshes, swamps, rivers, creeks, ponds
and human-made canals. Caddo Lake and Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge are two
likely places to catch a sighting.
Gators are carnivorous: even hatchlings eat insects, frogs, small fish, snails and the like.
But they prefer prey that can be swallowed whole, such as fish, birds and snakes. Cold-
blooded gators are warm-weather fans and are rarely active when the temperature dips be-
low 68°F - cold comfort to anyone who likes to swim the bayous come winter. Their
metabolism slows considerably in cold weather, but they can die when the temperature is
more than 100°F. To cool themselves, they sit on riverbanks or in the shade with their
mouths wide open, which dissipates heat.
Horror movies aside, alligators generally eat only when they're hungry, not as a punit-
ive measure - unless they're feeling attacked. A great place to catch a gator sighting is
Caddo Lake.
Snakes
There are snakes in Texas, hundreds of varieties of 'em. Thankfully the vast majority are
not harmful. Walking through tall grass anywhere, especially Big Bend, do keep an eye
out for the 11 poisonous kinds of rattlers. The very common western diamondback is the
most dangerous; it can grow to be 8ft long and has a big, heavy, brownish body marked
