Swamplot Archives by Tag: Critters

Friday, October 16, 2009

Pine Bark Beetles Get To Work on The Woodlands

October 16, 2009 – 1:44 pm
   

Drought-stressed trees in The Woodlands are under attack! “Since July, nearly 1,000 pine trees have been removed because they were attacked by pine bark beetles, community officials said. And that does not include the hundreds of dead trees on residential property. Recent rain and cooler weather has lessened beetle activity, but sparse, brownish-orange pine trees can still be spotted throughout The Woodlands, which is known for its forested landscape and protective tree covenants. ‘It’s been a major outbreak,’ said John Powers, interim co-manager of the Community Associations of The Woodlands. ‘In July and August, we were adding dozens of trees to the tree removal list every day.’ The infestation isn’t just in Montgomery County. It’s affecting trees throughout Southeast Texas, including Harris, Chambers, San Jacinto and Waller counties, according to the Texas Forest Service.” [Houston Chronicle]

1:44 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Critters, Hazards, Quicklink, Trees
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Friday, October 9, 2009

Your Secret Cat Code Has Been Cracked, Mr. Johnson

October 9, 2009 – 5:52 pm

Note: Story updated below.

A reader writes:

I had been told that the architect of the Transco tower secretly incorporates cat figures in to all of his work. I could never see a cat in the Transco until yesterday evening. I found it! Can you? Pretty cool, huh?

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5:52 pm | 15 Comments | Read more about Critters, Highrises, Neighborhoods: Galleria, Real Estate Marketing
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rainy Day Rituals of Houston’s Mobile Home Set

September 15, 2009 – 12:13 pm

Video: Chase Rees

12:13 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Critters
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Woodland Heights Now Dogged by Gang Violence

September 8, 2009 – 10:25 am
   

A marauding pack of four-legged criminals has attacked and killed more than 6 pets in the Woodland Heights area: “[Recovery specialist Doug] Worthy said pets should be kept inside at night, if possible, and if people are out after dark, they should carry something like a bat to protect themselves. The pack of dogs are described as four to six brown and black mutts, weighing between 80 and 90 pounds.” [Click2Houston, via Heightsfolk]

10:25 am | 81 Comments | Read more about Crime, Critters, Hazards, Neighborhoods: Woodland Heights, Quicklink
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Friday, July 17, 2009

The Bats of West Bellfort

July 17, 2009 – 9:16 am
   

KHOU-TV has tape of the newest residents of the Idlewood Park Apartments at 11675 West Bellfort, just east of Kirkwood: A colony of bats that’s been living inside the walls of at least one building. An animal removal specialist from Trutech has installed a bat valve on a portion of the building’s second story. “They come out during feeding time which is between 5:30 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. They may have been in there for weeks, possibly months, but residents didn’t tell management until earlier this week. A resident shot video of the bats leaving for the morning and showed it to management. . . . ‘We will be here every day for two weeks to monitor what’s happening and to see what occurs with this. Because of the video, we saw there were a large number of bats, so this won’t be overnight where they are going to get out and fly out,’ said [Trutech's Derek] van Delft.” [11 News]

9:16 am | 3 Comments | Read more about Apartments, Critters, Neighborhoods: Park Glen, Quicklink
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Friday, June 12, 2009

Nesting Time: New Home of the Skeeter Eaters

June 12, 2009 – 1:59 pm

Brazoria County correspondent Banjo Jones documents the local construction boom from his front porch:

I give them credit for their engineering skills, not to mention their “work ethic” to use a cliché from the tiresome sports parlance of our times.

They started by building a thin ledge composed of moist red dirt. That base went up an inch or so, then they started bringing in black moist soil to continue building upward. Mixed into this, of course, is the re bar – yellowing dead grasses.

They’re at it all day from sunup to sundown.

Who’s using yellowing dead grasses for rebar?

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1:59 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Brazoria County, Critters, New Construction: Residential
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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Seen on the Street: How Hot Is It Out There, Really?

June 4, 2009 – 12:58 pm

Too hot for the squirrels, apparently.

This latest edition of Seen on the Street sticks close to the pavement. First up: Artist David Cook snaps this hot photo of . . . no, that’s not an egg frying on Kirby. Just a street button with . . . culinary aspirations?

What’s more to see around town when you keep your head down?

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12:58 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Art, Critters, Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Neighborhoods: Museum District, Neighborhoods: Upper Kirby, Public Art, Streetscapes
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Monday, June 1, 2009

Rough Weather and Marauding Visitors: Tough Times in the Forbidden Gardens of Katy

June 1, 2009 – 3:14 pm

The ravages of the Katy Prairie have taken their toll on the models and unburied treasure at Forbidden Gardens, reports Brittanie Shey:

In 1996, when the museum first opened, it must have been an amazingly detailed sight. But [Forbidden Gardens founder Ira] Poon and his builders didn’t account for the Houston heat and humidity, which ruined a lot of the hand-painted details. Each terra cotta soldier used to hold a wooden weapon in his hand, but reckless children would climb into the display and take the swords to play with. When the soldiers started to break or peel, it was impossible to order more because the molds had been destroyed. [Weekend manager Alicia] Mendez said she and coworkers spend a few hours each summer having at the displays with Gorilla Glue to fix what they can.

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3:14 pm | 7 Comments | Read more about Critters, Flooding, Hazards, Katy, Neighborhoods: Williamsburg Parish
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Friday, May 15, 2009

Grave Discovery: The Secret Chicken Rituals Going on Next to Regent Square

May 15, 2009 – 4:52 pm

Okay, whichever of you folks has been doing that weird secret ceremony thing with the chicken and the bone and all down at the cemetery at West Dallas and Gross St.? Well, the gig is up! Swamplot is on to you! Or . . . at least a couple of camera-wielding readers are:

College Park Memorial Cemetery on W. Dallas (where Jack Yates among others is buried) is getting cleaned up and cleaned out, the better to walk the dog through. Interestingly enough, it may be getting used for other purposes as well. We have seen two dead chickens – having never seen any live ones there, and just yesterday, after discovering the second chicken, we also found a tableau of objects at the base of a hollow tree – a large, LARGE bone (about 15 in long), conch and scallop shell, nicely arranged, and a dead bird, stretched out to show his skeleton.

Hmmm . . . could this have anything to do with that 28-story Regent Square condo tower that’s slated to go up next door?

Parade of shocking, non-vegetarian-friendly photographic evidence follows:

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4:52 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Condos, Critters, Neighborhoods: North Montrose, Proposed Developments
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Monday, April 20, 2009

Seen on the Street: Need To Get Out More Often

April 20, 2009 – 2:55 pm

Here’s the latest installment of Swamplot’s fun-pix-from-around-town feature!

Above: While visiting last weekend’s Gulf Coast Green symposium and expo at the Reliant Center, Sean Morrissey Carroll catches the Astrodome peeking in on the action.

A few more images loom:

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2:55 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Critters, Home Decor, Neighborhoods: Hermann Park, Neighborhoods: Reliant Park, Neighborhoods: University of Houston
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Monday, March 2, 2009

The Buzz in Settlers Village

March 2, 2009 – 8:18 am

The Katy real-estate rush spreads to the insect world:

Neighbors say bees are nothing new to the Settlers Village subdivision.

One homeowner just down the block had a similar infestation about a year ago and had to remove the siding from his home to get the hive out, said Rowhan Cummings . . .

“They’re traveling,” Cummings says. “Once they got rid of those, they came back here.”

The 12-year-old subdivision is surrounded by open fields, and Cummings says the bees simply appear when the flowers bloom, then look for a place to settle down.

“Those bees were probably here before we were,” he says.

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8:18 am | 2 Comments | Read more about Critters, Hazards, Katy, Neighborhoods: Settlers Village
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Monday, February 9, 2009

Seen on the Street: Vultures, Galveston Vacancy, Rice Trailer

February 9, 2009 – 3:43 pm

A few fun pics from around and about town! First, this crowd of black vultures ponders its next real-estate venture from atop a communications tower parked in a gated community in Cypress. Photographer Karen Morris happened upon the scene on Eldridge near Grant Rd.:

It was an awesome sight. Personally, if they adorned my rooftop every evening, I’d clean the roof, sell the house and move to the other side of town. . . . Black Vultures/Buzzards are a bit smaller and less colorful that the Turkey Vulture. They tend to follow the Turkey Vulture because it has a keener sense of smell and can find it’s meal through use of that sense. They eat dead animals and occasionally capture small live animals (field mice, etc.). Although they do not build a nest, they will take an abandoned nest. Often roost together as seen in this set of photos. If startled while roosting, they will regurgitate with power and accuracy.

More local habitat:

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3:43 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Art, Attractions, Critters, Development Strategies, Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Neighborhoods: Cypress, Neighborhoods: Rice University, Utilities
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Will Clayton Parkway Bark and Park: IAH Hotel for Dogs?

January 14, 2009 – 9:03 am

A 16,000-sq.-ft. “pet resort” near Bush Intercontinental Airport appears at the top of Houston’s sold permit list yesterday — in the very same week that Dreamworks and Nickelodeon’s new Hotel for Dogs movie is set to open nationwide. Coincidence? Or evidence of a frighteningly sinister marketing plan?

And just what sort of pet amenities do the owners have in mind for the new Airport Pet Park planned for 7111 Will Clayton Parkway?

9:03 am | 4 Comments | Read more about Critters, Neighborhoods: IAH, Proposed Developments
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Animal Attraction: Mecox Gardens Opens in Highland Village

January 7, 2009 – 1:12 pm

“Our primary emphasis is a dedication to achieving an overall balance between the interior and outdoor living environment,” reads the copy on the home page of the Mecox Gardens website.

A tour of the new Mecox Gardens store that just opened in the Highland Village Shopping Center reveals part of the magic Mecox formula for achieving that inside-outside balance: Bring in the prints of animals. And bring in the animal prints!

Paloma Contreras, who runs Houston’s La Dolce Vita blog, took these photos on a recent visit. Mecox Gardens features “vintage and reedition” home and garden furnishings.

So here’s a reader challenge:

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1:12 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Furniture, Home Decor, Interiors, Neighborhoods: Highland Village, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Thursday, November 6, 2008

Used Campaign Signs: For the Birds

November 6, 2008 – 2:31 pm

Staircase Treads Covered with Used Election Campaign Signs

What do you do with campaign signs after the election is over? Environmental-news blog Grist links to a brief Swamplot story from earlier this year that pointed to one solution to the problem. The suggestion came from abc13 reporter Miya Shay, who snapped the photo above, showing used signs used as temporary stair-tread protectors in a house under construction. “Let’s face it,” Grist writer Katharine Wroth adds, “it’s fun to kick politicians in the teeth.”

Wroth has several more suggestions for reusing leftover signs, including employing the corrugated plastic ones as a siding material. But another recommendation is more striking: You can send Corex or Coroplast signs to a bird-of-prey conservancy organization in San Antonio called Last Chance Forever. Why does LCF want them?

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2:31 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Construction Materials, Critters, Green Design and Development
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