Pantex Blog
Wild Pantex – One Tough Ole Mouse
Article by Jim Ray, Pantex Wildlife Biologist/Scientist
Recently a Pantexan couple were fortunate enough to see and photograph a strange mouse at their new home in my neighborhood north of Canyon. This mouse was “different” in that it had a very short tail. Their visitor was one of the most unique mammals in our area, and I was impressed that my neighbors had already properly identified it as a grasshopper mouse.
Our local grasshopper mouse is the northern grasshopper mouse. It is found in our prairies and I first became acquainted with them while trapping for my Mammalogy collection while a student at Texas Tech. I found them to be an easy catch in the grasslands and playa edges around my hometown of Dalhart. Evidently, they have a fondness for peanut butter, as do most mice.
The northern grasshopper mouse is found in western North America from southwestern Canada into northwestern Mexico. This is a stoutly-built mouse, with a short tail that is less than one-third of its body length. Its color is drab brown to reddish brown, with white underparts. Its short tail stands out, causing the mouse to resemble a hamster.
So, besides its short tail, what makes this animal so unique? First off, this mouse is a predatory species, subsisting off of a diet that includes insects and other invertebrates, as well as mice, reptiles, and even grassland birds. NO FOOLING! Additionally, this animal has a well-known vocalization that resembles a scream or a howl. It is believed that it is given while hunting as well as for territorial reasons. During this process, the mouse stands on its hind legs, throws its head back, and gives it all he/she has.
Here is a recording of a grasshopper mouse vocalizing, which I can attest to, is a common sound at night in the grasslands of Pantex!
Pantex and Texas Tech University actually has some pretty good data on grasshopper mice. During two different research projects that looked at what wildlife species utilize prairie dog colonies versus prairie without prairie dogs, Texas Tech and Pantex discovered that the grasshopper mouse was more abundant, by far, in prairie dog colonies than in prairie not occupied by prairie dogs. In fact, they were the only small mammal species that showed a strong relationship to prairie dog colonies. No doubt, the burrows of prairie dogs and the preponderance of ground-dwelling insects that we also found to be highest on prairie dog colonies, make these areas attractive habitat to this species. BTW, when captured these guys smell horrible, a likely tactic used to get an occasional predator to drop him.
Here is an interesting statistic for you! The number one predator of a well-studied population of Texas horned lizards in South Texas is…you guessed it – the northern grasshopper mouse! This may explain why we find fewer than expected horned lizards in the very promising-looking habitat (for horned lizards) found in prairie dog colonies at Pantex. The question is, is this because of predation by grasshopper mice (and burrowing owls??) or are our Panhandle horned lizards programmed to avoid this predation by avoiding prairie dog colonies?
So, next time you are out on the prairie at night, listen for the howling of grasshopper mice. Perhaps, before, you assumed it was a bird. Now you know that it was one tough ole mouse!
Photo: A northern grasshopper mouse at Pantex. The gray coloration shows that this is an older individual.
Wild Pantex – Wildlife Research on the Texas Tech Research Farm
Article by Jim Ray, Pantex Wildlife Biologist/Scientist
The Texas Tech Research Farm is comprised of almost 6,000 acres of land lying between the Pantex Plant and U.S. Highway 60. Operated as a production farm and ranch, the land doubles as a safety and security buffer zone for Pantex.
Wildlife species typical of the High Plains of the Panhandle roam and feed in its prairies and croplands, and waterfowl and shorebirds are fond of two playa wetlands when Mother Nature is gracious enough to provide surface water. Like on the 12,000-acre DOE/NNSA portion of Pantex, during one of my trips across Texas Tech, I may encounter a herd of mule deer, a few white-tailed deer, a bald eagle, or even a bobcat wearing a G.P.S. collar around its neck.
Often, I spot a Texas horned lizard dash off the road ahead of me, and as I stop the vehicle it dives into escape cover on the side of the road. In this case, I locate the lizard, which in Texas, bears a state-threatened status designation. I catch it, and now this lizard will be marked and tracked, becoming one of many from the Texas Tech property to be part of a growing body of wildlife research being conducted there.
Formerly, a host for agricultural research relating to animal science, soils, crops, water conservation, entomology, and range management, little research had occurred on the Texas Tech property for the better part of two decades. Beginning in 2003, research on prairie rattlesnakes begin extending onto Texas Tech from the main Pantex property when a few rattlesnakes being radio-tracked by Pantex and Dr. Richard Kazmaier of West Texas A&M University (WTAMU), made excursions across the boundary between the two properties. My, how things have changed since that time!
Texas Tech Research Farm is now host to several Pantex-sponsored research projects, including work on bobcats, Texas horned lizards, and pre- and post-monitoring of birds in advance of wind energy development. In cooperation with Pantex staff, WTAMU’s Dr. Ray Matlack leads the work related to bobcats and wind energy, and besides work on rattlesnakes, Dr. Kazmaier also led the work on horned lizards. Dr. Clint Boal, USGS Texas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at Texas Tech University, has joined the collaboration on a portion of the work dealing with birds-of-prey nesting in and near the proposed turbine fields. A considerable amount of research has been performed by Texas Tech wildlife faculty and students at Pantex, but this was all on the adjoining USDOE/NNSA property.
Aside from the value of the information being generated by these studies, it is a great sight to see students, professors and Pantex staff conducting fieldwork across the site, which, depending on the occasion, might include the marking of a horned lizard, setting a trap for a bobcat, applying a radio-transmitter to a Swainson’s hawk, or conducting a survey for grassland birds.
As the name implies, the Texas Tech Research Farm and wildlife research are a great fit. Data from that property adds greatly to the information needs valued by Pantex in the realm of wildlife and habitat management.
Photo: Dr. Richard Kazmaier and buckets full of snakes marked during a Pantex research outing.
Construction on HEPF Project Reaches 85% Mark
Workers at the Pantex High Explosives Pressing Facility this month passed the 85% construction completion mark on construction of the 45,000 square-foot facility, which will combine High Explosives (HE) operations from numerous outdated buildings into one state-of-the-art facility. Completion of the project will help to bolster Pantex’s status as the Department of Energy’s High Explosives Center of Excellence for HE manufacturing.
The roof has been completed, officially enclosing the exterior of the facility, which allows the contractor to continue work inside during inclement weather. The roadway paving around the facility has started, which will allow for all-weather access.
The new state-of-the-art HE presses, which take advantage of advanced isostatic pressing techniques, have been installed. The process equipment has arrived and is being installed. All Blast-Resistant Doors have been installed. Offices have been built and are being painted.
The major remaining work activities include installation of overhead cranes, flooring and mechanical/electrical systems.
Acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held and NPO Manager Steve Erhart toured the HEPF on November 7th.
Construction of the $65 million facility began in late 2011 and is expected to be complete in May, 2014. B&W Pantex has begun pre start up activities to meet the CD-4 (approval to start operations) date of September 2016.
The construction effort is being managed by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and the design effort/plant support is being led by B&W Pantex with a design subcontract to CH2M Hill.
Wild Pantex – The Tiniest Pantexans
Article by Jim Ray, Pantex Wildlife Biologist/Scientist
We take them for granted. Bugs, insects, arachnids, mollusks, crustaceans, invertebrates – the little guys.
Me personally – I can walk right up to a hidden rattlesnake that I am radio-tracking and record its location with a GPS Unit. I can let a bobcat out of a trap after we have poked and prodded him.
However, that spider that I am trying to remove from the wall in the kitchen – well, let’s just say that a sudden move by the spider is likely to cause a similar reaction in me.
Macroinvertebrates are the tiniest of the noticeable Pantexans, but they are very important. Some we need because they control each other (spiders, some wasps, and others), some contribute by scavenging or recycling, while most form the foundation of the animal kingdom’s food chain.
Within my role at Pantex, it is just as important to characterize what we have in the way of macroinvertebrates as it is the larger animals. In what was the first of eleven wildlife research projects initiated over the last fourteen years at Pantex, during 2000 – 2001 we contracted with Dr. David Sissom of West Texas A&M University to survey macroinvertebrate diversity among different habitat types at Pantex. These types included shortgrass prairie, shortgrass prairie with prescribed wildlife habitat management, restored prairie, cropland, playa edge, and disturbed/impacted habitat. Some wetland invertebrate work had been performed at Pantex in the past, as had some collections of terrestrial species. However, previous work was limited to few collection techniques and habitats.
The survey documented nearly 900 species of macroinvertebrates, including two state records and a species that has only been recorded one other time in Texas. Shortgrass prairie (both types sampled) and playa edge sites, which were also within shortgrass prairie, were consistently superior in species richness than the other habitat types. The lowest species richness was found in areas kept mowed short, restored prairie sites, and grain sorghum fields, respectively. Restored prairie takes a while to develop plant diversity, and thus to begin to function as prairie habitat.
Species diversity and abundance is a pretty good indication of habitat quality. And some species like songbirds and gamebirds require macroinvertebrates in their diets, particularly their growing offspring. These same birds need the grassland habitat for nesting cover.
In closing, not only did this project produce data for Pantex, it also gave students experience with working in the field, and produced data that has been shared with the scientific community. To date, one technical note and one book has been published from this work. It has also been included in presentations at meetings that summarize Pantex research.
Photo: Dr. David Sissom uses the sweep net technique to catch macroinvertebrates in a shortgrass prairie site at Pantex.
Pantexans Run Against Hunger
Officers run more than 50 miles to raise awareness
For the third year in a row, Pantex Security Police Officers Byron Logan and Randy Stokes took to the area's roads and highways to raise awareness of the hungry in the Texas Panhandle. Logan and Stokes biked and ran and biked more than 50 miles Friday during the annual Run Against Hunger, gathering food and donations for the High Plains Food Bank.
