It's a Wrap! But Just the Beginning.

 It has been a whirlwind two weeks on the road in south Texas this spring for Christine and I.
We did our best to learn about the federal and state endangered Attwater's prairie chicken. 

(Gamma grass and Texas bluebells, prairie habitat for the Attwater's prairie chicken)

If you are joining us for the first time or returning to learn more, welcome! Thanks for visiting. This is our fourth year documenting different grouse species, during the breeding season, across the United States. Our goal is to learn all we can about this key species that lives on the vanishing prairie and to bring awareness to our audience. We invite you to check out previous posts to follow our adventures and learn about grouse with us.

This year we targeted a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken (GPC) known as the Attwater's prairie chicken (APC) which is found only on the coastal prairie biome of south Texas. 

Disclaimer: Our intent is to always bring you stories of "wild & free" (not captive or baited) wildlife, however, we unfortunately were not able to gain access to any APC's in the wild. So, instead, the story we are going to emphasize in this blog post is just how endangered this species is. 

History tells us that the APC's range covered coastal Texas and Louisiana but is long gone from the former and barely holding on in Texas with only about 200 individuals remaining in the wild. Finding them is nearly impossible. 95% of Texas is privately owned. This adds to the complicated issue of locating a lek. Plus, they are endangered. Not everyone wanted to talk to us.
 
There are heroic recovery efforts underway though and in a future blog post we will highlight those efforts and introduce you to a some dedicated individuals who make it their mission to see APC's on the landscape again. 
 
We hope you will follow along as we share some Texas history, news of recovery and a lot of grouse facts!


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