Texas Best Animals

Texas Best Bat Colony

• Largest Bat Colony in the World
  20 million bats in Bracken Cave, San Antonio, Texas.
  1995 Guiness Book of World Records
• Largest urban bat colony, Austin, Texas
  Under the Congress Street bridge. Bat experts say there are up to 1 1/2 million bats. When the bats started moving in, Austinites wanted the colony eradicated. They came to appreciate them when they learned that on the nightly flights out from under the bridge, the Austin bats eat from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects, including mosquitoes and numerous agricultural pests. There are many other interesting things to learn about these little mammals.

Texas Best Bird, Native

• Mockingbird
  The state bird of Texas. I remember waking to a mockingbird repeating Reveille at Boy Scount camp as a boy. The mockingbird is a fierce protector of its nest and environment. They are often seen swooping down on a dog, cat, or even a human that may be venturing too close to the bird's protected territory. One of our cats has become public enemy number one to a mockingbird in our yard. It ignores the other cat and the dogs, but this particular cat never ventures out without looking over her shoulder.
• Roadrunner
  These fast, long legged birds prefer running to flying and are often seen running along Texas country roads. Their top speed is 15 MPH. They build their nests in low trees or cactus, and the male incubates the eggs. Their diet consists of insects, lizards, small snakes, rodents, spiders, and scorpions. It's no wonder that Texans love their Roadrunners.
• Hummingbird
  Everyone loves hummingbirds. It is hard to believe they migrate from Mexico across the gulf. Thousands of Texans watch these feisty little creatures every spring, summer, fall, and sometimes even winter. We never get tired of watching them fight over who gets to eat first.
• Whooping Crane
  The Whooping Crane is Texas' tallest bird at five feet tall. Its wingspan is seven and one half feet. This majestic bird was rescued from extinction and was the first in my awareness of endangered species.

Texas Best Deer

• White Tail Deer
  The record (typical) white tail was fifteen points and scored 194 7/8 points in the Texas Boone and Crocket record book. This record trophy was shot in Dimmit County by William Pease in 1932. White Tail deer are managed in Texas and are more plentiful than when the white man first came to Texas.

Cattle

Texas is the nation's leading cattle producer with 14.8 million head.
1995 Guiness Book of World Records

Texas Best Steer, Longhorn

• Bevo
  The original Longhorn mascot for the University of Texas at Austin. This steer got his name as a result of being branded by Texas A and M students after a football game in 1916. The 13-0 score branded on the animal was altered by TU students to spell BEVO.
  
• Old Blue, 1878. Owned by Charles Goodnight and led a thousand steers 250 miles to Dodge City with a brass bell around his neck. Blue prefered men to his own kind and accompanied the cowboys home to the ranch in Texas.

Texas Best Cattle Breed

• Texas Longhorn
  Glover Cattle Company
  These cattle were the first in the New World. They are decendants of cattle lost by early Spanish explorers. The hardy, long lived Longhorns we see today are the result of survival of the fittest over almost 500 years. Longhorns almost became extinct early in the century with the introduction of the European breeds. Many people are afraid of Longhorns, but they are gentle, curious animals. They will take on any predator that they feel is threatening their babies. We have seen ours chase coyotes and wild pigs off our place.
• Santa Gertrudis
  Produced about 1919 on the King Ranch. The first new breed developed in the western hemisphere. Santa Gertrudis cattle are a cross between Shorthorn and Brahman. The name of the Santa Gertrudis breed comes from the name of the original land grant given to Captain Richard King by the Crown of Spain. This land grant is where the first headquarters of the King Ranch was established.
• Salorn
  International Salorn Association
  A cross between Texas Longhorn and smooth-coated, fast gaining Salers. By combining these two hardy breeds, a tropically adapted animal that also works well in the cooler climates of western America has been produced. One of the original Salers sires selected for the Salorn project has a 21 year-old granddam that has raised 20 natural calves and holds the all-time milk production record in France.

Horses

Texas Best Horse Breed

• Quarter Horse
  American Quarterhorse Headquarters, Amarillo, Texas 806-376-5181
  World's largest equine registry. America's first horse breed. Quarter horses are famous for their quarter-mile sprints. They are now competing in horse shows around the world and are in demand for racing, ranch work, rodeo, recreational riding, and many other activities.
• American Paint Horse
  American Paint Horse Association is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas 817-439-3400
  This Western-rooted breed is a favorite Texas horse and is growing in popularity around the world. In 1991, the APHA became the third largest equine registry. Decendants of Spanish Conquistadors' horses, Paints were once wild horses that roamed the Western deserts and plains. The Indians were the first to capture and use them.
• Appaloosa
  Decending from Spanish explorers' horses that passed through Texas, these horses were bred and refined by the Nez Perce and Palouse Indians of the Northwest. They are a favorite horse of Texas breeders and riders.

Texas Best Race Horse

• Assault
  Assault was a Thoroughbred bred at the King Ranch, Kingsville, Texas. His sire was Bold Venture, the 1936 Kentucky Derby winner, but his dam was never raced. He injured a hoof as a colt and always favored it, which gave him the appearance of being crippled. Even his trainer lacked confidence in him in the beginning. He won only two races as a two year old, then went on to surprise everyone and become the Triple Crown Winner in 1946.
• Pan Zarata
  Sweetwater, Texas, 1910
  The winningest Thoroughbred mare in American history. She was known as the Queen of the turf.

Texas Best Appaloosa, Hall of Fame

• Dynamite Day
  Bred by William S. Day of Dallas and foaled in Texas in 1984. Sired by Day Lite by Bull Hunneley, out of the Quarter Horse mare Miss Velvet Hammer. His great grandsire was the legendary Thoroughbred Three Bars.
  Dynamite Day was a top calf roping and barrell racing horse in the early 1990s. He is the only horse to win the World's Best Appaloosa more than once. He won it in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996.

Fish

Texas Best Fish, Freshwater

• Blue Catfish
  Sometimes called the Channel Cat or Hump-back Blue, this is the favorite freshwater fish of Texans at dinner time. 40 percent of farm raised catfish grown in the US are consumed in Texas. Blue catfish commonly attain weights of 20-40 pounds. It is reported that fish exceeding 350 pounds were landed from the Mississippi River during the late 1800s. The state record is 116 pounds caught by C D Martindale at Era, Texas, 4-21-85,
• Largemouth Bass
  The most sought after freshwater fish by sport fishermen. There are hundreds of bass angling clubs in Texas devoted to fishing and conservation. A 1995 survey indicated the rate at which 10 pound bass are caught in Texas is over 13 times the rate in Florida. The state record is 18.18 pounds caught by Barry St. Clair at Lake Fork, 1-24-92.
• Crappie
  The Crappie group (including black and white) is the third most preferred group overall by both bank and boat anglers, ranking behind only Bass and Catfish. The state record for white Crappie is 4.56 pounds caught by G G Wooderson at Navarro Mills Lake near Corsicana, 2-14-68. The black Crappie record is 3.69 pounds caught by Fritz Gowan at Toledo Bend, 1-17-85.
• Alligator Gar
  This is Texas largest freshwater fish. The state record is 302 pounds, caught in the Nueces River by T C Pierce.

Texas Best Fish Collection

• Fresh Water Fisheries Center
  5550 Flat Creek Road
  Athens, Texas 75751
  903-676-BASS
  Opened in November, 1996. Fifty species of fresh water fish, alligator exhibit, and Angler Hall of Fame.

Texas Best Fish, Saltwater

• Shrimp
  Shrimp make up 94% of the Texas commercial marine products. Shrimp are sought for both food and bait, and are primarily captured by trawls towed behind boats. Texas is working with other Gulf Coast states in an effort to protect and preserve the shrimp population.
• Desert Shrimp
  Imperial Reservoir, Pecos County, Texas. 915-547-2021. Salt water in the Pecos river has been put to good use raising pollution-free shrimp hundreds of miles inland in the desert.
• Redfish
  Highly sought game fish. Often called Red Drum, it is a fast growing fish, commonly reaching 22-24 inches and 6-8 pounds in three years. Another attractive characteristic of this fish is its willingness to take most kinds of bait, both natural and artificial. The state record is 51.5 pounds.
  
• Speckled Sea Trout
  One of the most popular sport fish on the Texas coast. Its abundance, willingness to hit natural and artificial baits, and fine eating qualities make the Sea Trout extremely popular with rod and reel anglers. It is a fast growing fish, though not as fast as its first cousin, the Red Drum. The current Texas record is 13 pounds 9 ounces and 33 3/4 inches.
• Hammerhead Shark
  The Texas record was caught by Ross Harvard and weighed in at 870 pounds and was 14 1/2 feet long.

Sheep

Texas is the largest sheep raising state in the nation with 1.7 million head.
1995 Guiness Book of World Records

Reptiles

Texas Best Reptile

• Horned Toad
  The Horned Toad, which is better known by Texans as the Horney Toad, is actually a lizard. They are called Horney Toads because of the spikes on their body and not because of their two sexual organs called hemispenes. All Texans are familiar with the story of Old Rip who was buried alive in the cornerstone of a building and found alive many years later when the building was destroyed.
• Diamond Back Rattlesnake
  The Texas record is 8 feet 3 inches and 16 3/4 pounds. Though most Texans (and everyone else) consider them a dangerous foe, they are actually very necessary to the Texas way of life. They help to keep the rodent population manageable wherever they are found. They are generally regarded as a necessary evil.

Texas Best Rodent

• Armadillo
  The Nine Banded Armadillo (called 'Panzer Swine' by German prisoners of war imprisoned in Texas) is an insect eating mammal. Their primary predator is the automobile. Unfortunately, they are frequently found dead on roadsides and have often been depicted in print and movies lying on their backs with a Lone Star Beer bottle between their front legs. The Armadillo's habit of digging up lawns causes it to be viewed as a nuisance by many property owners and ranchers, but some old ranchers say they should be protected because they occasionally eat snakes.