Approximately half the nation's feral hog population resides in Texas, creating a health risk for domesticated livestock and damaging ecosystems. However, biologists know little about the distribution of their intestinal helminths. We collected intestines from wild hogs slaughtered at a private livestock processing facility in South Texas that accepts hogs from over 20 holding facilities across the state. We found a 26% infection prevalence that was not related to host gender or weight. However, female hogs tended to harbor a greater parasite prevalence and diversity than males. We collected five species of nematodes: 153 Oesophagostomum dendatum, 150 Oesophagostomum quadrispinulatum, 64 Globocephalus urosubulatus, 6 Ascaris suum, and 1 Metastrongylus. We collected one species of acanthocephalan: 64 Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus. This is the first wide-scale geographic survey of intestinal parasites of feral hogs in Texas and the first published record of O. quadrispinulatum and M. hirudenaceus from feral hogs in Texas. Thus, our findings set the stage for further collaborative studies on infection patterns as they relate to feral hog control and livestock risk management.

During 2009–2010, we qualitatively surveyed new and existing locations in the James River Basin, Missouri, to update the distribution and status of the freshwater mussel fauna and determine if changes had occurred over a 25-year period. We calculated a suite of metrics to measure richness, diversity, and community composition. We observed significantly fewer live taxa in the James River mainstem and significantly fewer live individuals in Finley Creek than in a 1982–1984 survey effort, including a nearly complete collapse of the mussel fauna in Finley Creek. Basin-wide and across species, values for probability of extirpation were significantly higher than values for probability of colonization, and all tribes had higher probabilities of local extirpation than colonization. Even locations in the James River Basin with relatively high species richness represented low diversity. In the James River mainstem, declines in diversity and abundance were seen throughout the river, but especially below the confluence with Wilsons Creek.

Rangeland managers use the ecological site concept to segment rangelands into discrete areas capable of supporting a particular suite of vegetation. Ecological site data are easily accessible and standardized in the Soil Survey Geographic Database published by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. While widely used in range management, wildlife managers have only recently explored the usefulness of ecological site data in delineating wildlife habitat. We undertook this study to assess pronghorn selection of ecological sites across two seasons (warm-dry and warm-wet) following translocation to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas in 2013. We observed seasonal shifts in selection with selection of draws and limestone hills in the warm-wet season and selection of clay flats in both seasons. Pronghorn avoided other sites or used them in proportion to their availability. Our results suggest that ecological sites provide a valid means of segmenting wildlife habitats and identifying important sites for management of pronghorn.

We assessed the demographic characters of a largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) population in a small impoundment in northeastern Mexico. We collected largemouth bass across 3 years during fall and summer by electrofishing, gill netting, and seining. We evaluated size and age structure, mortality, recruitment, and individual fish growth. We also completed yield-per-recruit simulations to evaluate the effects of minimum length limits on the fishery. A common feature among length and age distributions was the rapid decline in larger fish (≥350 mm total length) and older fish (>3 years). Catch curves constructed from age-frequency data indicated an annual mortality rate of 59%. Age-frequency distributions and catch curves also indicated a stable pattern of recruitment. Analysis of mean length-at-age and von Bertalanffy growth parameters suggested largemouth bass grew rapidly early in life, surpassing 200 mm in total length by age 1 and 300 mm in total length by age 3. Yield-per-recruit simulations showed that a trade-off occurred between angler yield, number of fish harvested, and mean size of fish harvested as size limits were increased.

We report on variation in abundance of hibernating cave myotis (Myotis velifer) prior to the arrival of White-nose Syndrome. The report is based on cave surveys and literature reports in gypsum caves of western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. From 1988 to 2017, 34,625–195,234 M. velifer were estimated to occur in the hibernacula surveyed. This report provides important preexposure baseline data on population sizes in the region and will help researchers quantify the impact as the disease spreads into new environs. The population estimates will also serve as a data set for other research. Other species of bats encountered in the surveys were Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), and the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). The changes in population sizes at the various hibernacula might be owing to a variety of factors, including annual variations in hibernacula microclimates, structural changes in hibernacula, changes in distribution patterns, ability of surveyors to locate and count bats, alterations of the surrounding habitats near hibernacula, or other unknown factors.

As part of an ongoing, large-scale project to monitor mammalian diversity, we set camera traps at four localities in Chinati Mountains State Natural Area, Presidio County, Texas. On 7 June and 3 and 7 July 2017, one of the cameras captured images of a subadult American black bear (Ursus americanus). The photo-verified individual represents the first account of the American black bear in the Chinati Mountains of western Texas. This record documents the species in an area spatially separated from other black bear populations in the region and supports the mainland–island metapopulation recolonization concept previously proposed for the American black bear in northern Mexico and Trans-Pecos Texas.

Temperate forests in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in Michoacán are threatened by a high conversion rate into avocado plantations, which researchers believe eliminates local fauna. Using camera traps, we obtained evidence of periodic mountain lion (Puma concolor) activity, and occasional presence of margay (Leopardus wiedii) and bobcat (Lynx rufus). The mountain lion records constitute the first evidence confirming the species presence in temperate forests in this region. The margay is an endangered species, and its presence constitutes the first record for a temperate forest fragment in an avocado plantation landscape. Felidae presence is evidence that the conservation of entire mammal assemblages is still possible in partially transformed landscapes in the region.

Recent technological developments in video surveillance help shed light on the behavior and ecology of nesting birds. There is little information regarding breeding ecology of white-tipped doves (Leptotilaverreauxi), an elusive gamebird in southern Texas. Our objective was to describe parental attendance during the nesting season. We located nests in citrus groves and remnant woodlands. We used video camera systems to monitor parental behavior at the nest. We sampled video to establish time budgets for 13 nests, including 9 that reached the nestling stage. White-tipped doves take part in continual nest attendance, except for brief periods when the parents switch nesting duties. Female white-tipped doves attend the nest during the night and into the morning hours, when the male relieves her. The female forages throughout the day and returns in the evening, trading places with the male. White-tipped dove parental behavior was consistent with other columbid species.

Little is known about prey use by the orangebelly darter, Etheostoma radiosum, and what is known has been described from relatively large river systems. We examined prey use by orangebelly darters from first- and second-order tributaries in the Lower Mountain Fork River of southeastern Oklahoma. Adult darters (n = 141) were captured from five tributaries in 2015, and stomach contents were examined to determine prey use. Aquatic isopods were the most frequently consumed organism. This differs notably from previous reports that insects, primarily dipterans, were the predominant prey for the species.

Although the species is not actively managed in the state, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation does collect and archive mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) annual harvest data through mandatory hunter self-reporting of killed deer. We analyzed harvest records in an attempt to update the distribution and abundance of mule deer in the state and to infer population trends for years 2009–2016. In total, we recorded 1,585 mule deer over this time, and abundance of mule deer harvests consistently followed a northwest-to-southeast gradient, with the highest abundance occurring in the Oklahoma Panhandle. However, mule deer abundance in the state is low (<1 individual/km²). Results here suggest Oklahoma's mule deer population is stable, especially in the panhandle. In addition, we detected a significant, although weak, correlation with precipitation, with harvests decreasing with decreased precipitation.