Cactus Sniffing in the Desert

Maybe you’ve heard of search and rescue dogs like Frida, the Labrador Retriever who saved a dozen people after the catastrophic Mexico City earthquake in 2017. But, as it turns out, dogs aren’t just good at sniffing out people. Their powerful noses are being used to aid conservation. In this episode, I meet Fenton, a dog being trained to sniff out endangered cacti in Big Bend Ranch State Park.

The New World screwworm, a parasite affecting warm-blooded animals, afflicted U.S. agriculture and wildlife until it was eradicated from North America in the second half of the 20th century. Now, it’s back. TPWD Widlife Veterinarian Dr. Sara Wyckoff discusses the history of New World Screwworm, its eradiction, return, and the ongoing, international fight to remove it U.S. territory once again.

Texas Game Wardens conduct a search and rescue training in Big Bend Ranch State Park. This episode details the process of conducting a search + rescue operation, explains why TPWD staff are the best equipped officials to conduct this work, and provides context as to why we need trained search + rescue teams now more than ever.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Bo Hancock, Texas Game Warden Captain, Region 1, District 4Terri Wade, hiker and volunteerRoyce Ilsye, Texas Game WardenCody Hicks, Texas Game WardenYou can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe here for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to it here.Show artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.

Texas is one of the best states for birding. According to the Texas Bird Records Committee (yeah, that's a thing) there were 636 species in good standing as of their 2010 Annual Report. And, thanks to the work of some dedicated bird lovers, one of those species is still here: the black-capped vireo. Since this olive green and black bird was nearly wiped out in the 1980s, its had a remarkable comeback. In this episode, TPWD's ornithologist recounts the comeback story and I get a lesson in birding.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Tania Homayoun, ornithologist at Texas Parks & Wildlife DepartmentJeff Forman, wildlife technician at Mason Mountain WMA (retired as of May 2025)You can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe here for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to it here.Show artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.

The Devils River has a frightening reputation. With a new addition to TPWD’s state natural area on the river, I thought it was the perfect time to see if that reputation holds true. In this episode, I take a group of novice paddlers, including my mother, to experience one of the most remote and pristine rivers in Texas.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Priscilla Lozano, My MomEsther Hajdar, My Mom’s FriendRead more about our expedition on the Devils River in the July 2025 issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. You can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe here for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.For more information about planning a trip on the Devils River, head to the SNA’s webpage.To reserve permits, call the Devils River hotline: (512) 389-8901.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Did you know Texas Parks and Wildlife has a TV show? Click here to watch their episode on restoring bighorn sheep to Franklin Mountains State Park.Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to it here.Show artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.

The trees are calling — and there’s a huge group of cyclists waiting to answer. Each year, the East Texas Showdown kicks off the state’s largest bikepacking event in a little town on the shores of Lake Livingston. In this episode, I take a ride and see what the burgeoning sport is all about.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Patrick Farnsworth, founder of East Texas Showdown and host of Bikes or Death podcastShow Highlights:Bikepacking is a sport at the intersection of backpacking and biking. Cyclists carry everything they’ll need to pitch camp on their bikes and set out on an adventure.The Texas Showdown Series will be composed of three races: the East Texas Showdown, the Central Texas Showdown, and the West Texas Showdown.To learn more about the Texas Showdown Series, visit their website. If you like this podcast, you might also like Patrick’s podcast, Bikes or Death. Listen to it here.You can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe here for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.Learn more about current hunting regulations in the Texas Outdoor Annual.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Did you know Texas Parks and Wildlife has a TV show?Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to it here.Better Outside’s artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.

Texas has never had anything like the Appalachian Trail, the PCT or the Continental Divide Trail. That may change soon. Charlie Gandy is stringing together a route for the XTX, a proposed trail that would span the width of Texas. In this episode, I get a preview of the first 10 or so miles and see what it takes to build an epic trail thru-hiking, biking and even skateboard riding.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Charlie Gandy, creator of the XTX and founder of Bike Texas.Show Highlights:The XTX plans to release an initial route to the public in fall of 2025.The trail will be upwards of 1,500 miles long with 56,000 ft. in elevation.The TXT takes advantage of existing infrastructure, rather than constructing new miles of trail, so most of the trail will be located on Texas backroads. It will also weave through more than a dozen state parks and other public lands throughout the state.TPWD administers the National Recreational Trails Fund in Texas under the approval of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The reimbursable grants can be up to 80% of project cost with a maximum of $300,000 for non-motorized trail grants and a maximum award of $500,000 for motorized (off-highway vehicle) trail grants. Funds can be spent on the construction of new recreational trails, improvement of existing trails, development of trailheads or trailside facilities, and acquisition of trail corridors.A related story about Texas regional trail projects will appear in an edition of Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine later this year. You can find that stories and more about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.For more information about recreational trail grants, head to the recreation grants page on TPWD’s main website.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to Texas Wild at texaswildalbum.org.Show artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.

It’s time to get a little hog wild alongside some Central Texas bounty hunters. They’re not after people. Bosque County is one of several Texas counties that have put a bounty on each head (and tail) of invasive feral hogs. In this episode, two of those bounty hunters show me how to sniff out a pig and I learn that they’re not always cute like Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Chelsea Dorward, Bosque County Extension AgentRonny Liardon, Bosque County Commissioner, Precinct 4James Liardon, Bosque County hog hunterTyler Chiles, Bosque County hog hunterJustin Foster, TPWD Research Coordinator at Kerr Wildlife Management AreaShow Highlights:Bosque County is one of several Texas counties that has placed a bounty on feral hogs.Hog hunting in Texas is allowed year-round in order to curb the population of this invasive species.Other states, including Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, have outlawed feral hog hunting outright.Feral hogs in Texas are a crossbreed between domesticated swine and Eurasian wild boar.Researchers refer to the massive increase in population and geographic spread of feral hogs that occurred in the late 20th century as the “pig bomb.”Feral hogs cause significant physical, environmental and economic damage in Texas. They can be aggressive towards people, livestock and pets. They harm crucial habitats. They eat and destroy crops.Read a related story about hog hunting in Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. You can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe here for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.Learn more about current hunting regulations in the Texas Outdoor Annual.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Did you know Texas Parks and Wildlife has a TV show? Watch this episode on trapping feral hogs.Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to it here.Show artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.

Would you believe me when sheep fly? What if I told you they already did? Sheep soared through the sky as helicopters carried them through the sky in early December as part of a years-long conservation project. In this episode, we tell you the story of the historic reintroduction of bighorn sheep to El Paso's Franklin Mountains State Park.Hosts:Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.Episode Guests (in order of appearance):Cody McEntire, wildlife biologist at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management AreaDr. Sara Wyckoff, wildlife veterinarian at Texas Parks and WildlifeFroylán Hernández, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Desert Bighorn Sheep Program LeaderAustin Bohannon, Brewster County Wildlife BiologistJosh Cross, wildlife biologist at Sierra Diablo Wildlife Management AreaJulie Myers, Pecos County Wildlife BiologistShow Highlights:For years, Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area has been home to Texas’ only disease-free herd of bighorn sheep.Relocation of some of Elephant Mountain’s sheep was planned to establish a second “clean” herd at Franklin Mountains State Park in El Paso.Currently, the greatest threat against bighorn sheep is the disease M.Ovi, which is carried by domesticated sheep and an invasive species called aoudad. It causes deadly pneumonia in bighorns.The 26,000-acre Franklin Mountains State Park ranks among the largest urban parks in the country. Because it is bordered by highways and houses on three sides, it provides a virtual quarantine zone for the bighorn sheep.Seventy-seven desert bighorn sheep were released into Franklin Mountains State Park on December 4, 2024.The historic reintroduction of bighorn sheep to Franklin Mountains State Park was made possible by numerous partners, including: The Texas Bighorn Society, The Wild Sheep Foundation, Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross State University, and Texas Tech University.Read the original story that appeared in the March edition of Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine. You can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com. If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.Did you know Texas Parks and Wildlife has a TV show? Watch the episode on restoring bighorn sheep to Franklin Mountains State Park.Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to Texas Wild at texaswildalbum.org.Artwork for Better Outside™ is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.