Night Sights Nature Tours

09/04/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CrkiWLrRP/

💗😍Hello, I’m a bat. I don’t drink blood, and I’m not trying to get tangled in your hair. If I accidentally fly into your home, please don’t strike me with sticks or brooms—it hurts, and I’m already frightened. I never meant to scare you. If I land, I might not be able to take off again without your help. Gently use a towel to guide me outside, and I’ll fly away at once. I help by eating mosquitoes and many other insects. But our roosts are disappearing as forests and old buildings are torn down, leaving us with fewer places to live. So if one of us enters your house, just switch off the lights inside, turn on a light outside, and open a door. I’ll find my way out quickly. Please show kindness—I want to live too.

09/02/2025

https://foxsanantonio.com/newsletter-daily/pet-owners-urged-to-stay-vigilant-as-snakebites-rise-in-san-antonio-copperheads-cottonmouths-rattlesnakes-hindmarsh-antivenom-summer?fbclid=IwdGRjcAMjZwljbGNrAyNm32V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe2oartnEp4Sjl0s7Rb72NVnhMPV9ukyouHlytNwrJWDkkYHsKIzdtHnzzNLk_aem_QoLHfOqqaaaKlrhf9HZFdA

SAN ANTONIO — Pet owners in San Antonio are being reminded to stay vigilant as the number of snakebites rises during the peak summer months. Dr. Dalton Hindmars

08/29/2025

08/29/2025

https://www.facebook.com/harteresearch?mibextid=ZbWKwL

The Harte Research Institute, an endowed research component of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, is dedicated to advancing the long-term sustainable use and conservation of the Gulf.

08/20/2025

Mid-August marks the start of fall migration for millions of monarchs! Now through mid-November, these butterflies will travel during the day and roost in trees at night. You may see anywhere from a few to hundreds taking a break along the way.

📷 Mike Budd/USFWS

08/20/2025

Hey, families! As the new school year kicks off, we invite you and your little ones to visit the refuge! It's a perfect opportunity for some outdoor fun and discovery. Plus, don't forget to check out our Free Little Library during your visit! Choose a book to take home, and inspire your kids to dive into reading this school year. 📖✨



📸: Visitors checking out books at the Little Free Library by Viv Atkinson/USFWS.

08/20/2025

Take a chance to go for a family nature walk today. Go on a rock hunt.

08/20/2025

Which wildlife survived the Hill Country floods and which species conservationists are worried about

The July 4 floods wiped out plants, animals and insects from the Guadalupe River. Now weeks later, the silence is beginning to fill with sounds of nature as some species return.

08/20/2025

How long do hermit crabs live? The answer may surprise you.

We owe the hermit crab so much more.

08/15/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19YpDbGNkP/

A small mammal who loves warm weather, has an armor like shell and leathery skin, and meaning “little armored one” in Spanish, Armadillos are a cute yet strange animal to come across. Unlike a lot of animals with shells, horns, or other boney plating, the armor of an armadillo, called carapace, is composed entirely of bone that grows straight out from their vertebrae.

One of almost two dozen armadillo species, but the only one in the United States and our state mammal, the Mexican long nosed armadillo (called the nine banded armadillo until recently as it was discovered that it is in fact a different species), loves to sleep and eat. It can sleep up to 16 hours and eat up to a pound of food a day, feeding almost exclusively on insects like ants, termites, and beetles, while using their very sticky tongue to scoop up their dinner. 🐜🪲

They’re exceptional at, well, everything. Almost. They have long, sharp claws that are excellent for digging burrows and forage pits, they can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes and are excellent swimmers, jump 4 feet in the air, and on top of all that, their sense of smell is so good, they can smell insects 8” underground! 👃

What aren't they good at? Seeing. Mexican long nosed armadillos lack light-detecting cells in their eyes, called cones, so their vision is fairly fuzzy and colorless. The light-sensing rods they do have though, are so sensitive that in the daytime, they’re practically blind! 👀

07/31/2025

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02/16/2025

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2025/02/05/513082/armadillo-texas-mexican-long-nosed-research-species-diversity/

The study found that what is typically called the Nine-banded Armadillo is really four separate species. The armadillo found in Texas and the United States is now classified as the Mexican Long-nosed Armadillo.