Photos by Bill Arbon : on the map, in Google Earth (KML)

Ocotillo

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I ran over this six foot rattlesnake on the highway one night in early March, 2004. As I rounded a hill and a bend in the highway, my head lights illuminated this large snake highly agitated and ready to strike. I didn't have time to swerve to avoid the snake, but as he was in the very center of the four lane road, my Dodge Caravan was going to straddle him. Just as we passed over the snake, I could see him aiming his strike directly at the oncoming van. Right away I decided to turn around and see what was left of this enormous snake. It was easy to find him as he was sill in the middle of the road, but now totally motionless. Parking my van along the shoulder of the road, I aimed the car's lights at the limp brave animal. I thought, 'Well, that's it for him." and decided to remove him from the road so his dead body wouldn't attract a predator's attention and get it struck by a car as well. So, I took out of my van a large stick I always carry and hoisted the dead snake up and carried him off the side of the road. Satisfied that he was dead and seeing no movement and plenty of blood coming out of his open slack, jaw, I left him for dead and went home for bed. Next morning, we had a cold front and the weather was quite a bit cooler - not a good day for snakes to be outside a den. I decided I would go back to the snake and retrieve its two inch rattle. I have one from a similarly killed snake from west Texas in my guitar, so I thought another would be good, too. So I went to find the body. driving to the same location where there was blood on the highway. I retraced my steps and guess what? I couldn't find him. But I kept looking until finally I located him about 50 feet from where I had left his limp body. He was now looped in a coil like a rope, but wasn't alarmed, and was probably slowed by the cold air. But it was obvious he was alive. So I made a quick decision. Any snake that bites a van running at 65 miles and hour and lives, deserves a chance to recover without the peril of being eaten when defenseless. So I took him home - picked him up again with the big stick, stuck him in a cardboard box a mailbox had arrived in and took him to the safety of my house. I then transfered him to a 75 gallon lockable plastic trash can and kept him for a month until he became active again. I offered him a rat, but he wasn't interested in eating. I checked on him every day by taking the lid off and seeing how he was doing. For the first week he didn't move. But by the end of the third week, I knew he was finally ready to go back home when he was able to reach his head to the lip where the lid was secured on the trash can. That is about three feet, I estimate, and his body wasn't leaning on the side of the can. As his head was as big as my fist, I decided I didn't want this guy accidentally escaping into my abode, so I took him back to the area I suspected he came from. It was a rocky hillside below a culvert on the highway -by which he had gained access to the highway that night. The area was uninhabited, so I carried him well below the roadbed and slowly tipped his can and let him slide out. He did not rattle nor strike out; just slowly moved off into the brush, grass and rock and I took this picture of him as a remembrance. I travel that road a lot and see few rattlers, although I have seen others at the bottom of this hill. So I know he has company that for the most part stay off the roads. Oh, and he kept his rattle. Notice he did not rattle at me when I released him back into his hillside home.

Photo taken June 7, 2009. Wildlife uses the long grasses growing on the LBJ NHP Settlement area for many purposes besides food. Where cattle are not permitted to graze many types of animals can be seen. In this case, a young fawn is hiding from me by losing itself in the tall grasses. Wild Turkeys, raccoons and many other mammals and birds depend on the Settlement to be a refuge from the surrounding areas where hunting is permitted. Herbicides were applied heavily to this area shortly after this photo was taken. How deer and other wildlife would be affected is a question that needs to be answered.

These cypress trees in the background are on private property adjacent to LBJ NHP. The trees grow next to a natural spring which feeds a wet weather recharge stream that flows across LBH NHP parkland, now part of the prairie restoration project which the stream crosses on its way to Town Creek. Town Creek flows into the Pedernales River and flows through downtown Johnson City carrying run off from the LHB NHP and surrounding lands. The stream flows right to left in this photo.

Willow trees cut down into a permanent pond wet land on LBJ NHP, Johnson City, Texas. Cut down accidentally as part of the prairie restoration project at LBJ National Historical Park. Ironically, the trees inexplicably remain in the pond. The pond is a refuge for many native species of reptiles, fish, and birds. One can see ducks during the winter and herons and kingfishers on occasion. Photo taken September 12, 2009.

Photo taken October, 26, 2009 after torrential rains fell on Johnson City and environs. The water sweeping into Town Creek (under my feet) came down the recharge stream that begins at Springs just off the LBJ NHP property on private land. The spring allow Cypress trees and other water plant and tree species to 'migrate' downstream across the JBJ NHP Settlement area now being 'returned' to a more original state. Ironically, the creeks in the Central Texas area were lined with Cypress trees when White settlers moved into the area during the 19th Century. Most were cut down for building and home construction - especially those up river of the LJB NHP Ranch in Stonewall which were used in the building of Fredericksburgs and many of its old Main Street businesses. The recharge stream bed had been blocked by berms constructed when this property was in either the Brunckner or Johnson family before it became part of the LBJ NHP. The result is the stream does not meander but follows the direction along the berm which can be seen in other photos in this group, including photo http://www.panoramio.com/photo/82269604 which shows the clump of cypress trees(top center) growing along and following down the stream out into the 'prairie'. Photo http://www.panoramio.com/photo/25458854 shows the trees from a 45 degree differing angle during spring while http://www.panoramio.com/photo/27617432 shows a closer view in autumn. Other photos clearly show the drainage caused by the altered stream and the effects of herbicide and new growth from planted seeds.

The water you see in the background through the fence is the remainder of water that has already flowed into town creek on at least a hundred foot front from the treated prairie area. This rain event, while impressive, was not as much as a succeeding storm which swept the large timber you see on the bridge top over Town Creek was swept downstream several hundred feet where it now remains on the creek bed on the north side of US highway 290. Such is the power of water.

Northwest corner of the LBJ NHP prairie restoration effort. There are numerous native species of plants in this photo that need no restoration to make this tract of land look like it would have when white settlers first set foot on this land in the 1840s. In fact, the LBJ NHP planted numerous oak trees in this area where no oak trees are present. Also unnatural is the fact that the oak trees are planted in definite patterns - something not done in the randomness of plant succession in nature.

This is the north central section of the tract of land where the 2009 LBJ NHP prairie restoration project was to be undertaken. In 2008, one would hardly know that this are needed restoration. In the background to the southeast is a line of willow and cypress trees that are growing in the creek bed of a small spring fed recharge stream that flows into the park from adjacent private property. This line of trees and bushes is considered a woody intrusion by the NHP. This is actually a naturally occurring process where wetland species of plants and trees grow along small tributaries and rivers of the Texas Hill Country. At the time of white settlers migration into the area, all the streams with their impressive growths of cypress trees must have been a magnificent sight. In fact these trees are growing on both this small steam and the nearby Town Creek where each year they get more impressive and are slowly taking these watercourses back to what the land was like before white settlement.

Route of spring fed recharge stream through LJB NHP Settlement and NHP Prairie Restoration project. The vegetation growing along this stream includes cypress and willow trees, both wet land species. The stream is not flowing due to severe drought conditions of the last couple of years. However, the stream still flows underground nourishing the wetland species along it's path which now includes a good 'intrusion' into the old pasture - now Prairie restoration project. Were this stream allowed to flow without hinderance, it would more than likely be a more permanent feature of the Settlement. Photo http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81854771 shows how the spring fed stream flows into Town Creek now that its streambed has been altered by artificial berms built during the active agricultural period of the property.