Aldo Leopold

1947 Trip to King Ranch

Article by STEVE NELLE Photos courtesy of KING RANCH ARCHIVES, King Ranch, Inc., Kingsville, Texas

Photo courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives )

Aldo Leopold made his only professional trip to Texas in February of 1947 to visit the King Ranch. He later wrote Bob Kleberg Jr. that “it was the highlight of my year”. Leopold died in 1948. No photos exist of the trip.

In February, 1947 Aldo Leopold made his one and only professional visit to Texas, spending two days on King Ranch. The invitation to visit the ranch was delivered in a letter from Howard Dodgen, Executive Director of Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission at the request of Robert J. Kleberg, President of King Ranch.

The visit's stated purpose was to provide for a mutual exchange of information relative to wildlife conservation. No doubt, King Ranch Wildlife Biologist Val Lehmann played an important role in setting up the trip. Lehmann was very well regarded nationally and was already acquainted with Leopold. Leopold, his son Starker and about 10 other nationally prominent wildlife professionals accepted Kleberg’s invitation.

In his usual fashion, Leopold kept a written account of the trip, and it is from these notes and subsequent correspondence that we learn about this historic trip. Leopold had already established himself as the country's preeminent wildlife ecologist and was serving as Professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Wisconsin. Likewise, King Ranch had established itself as one of the first large private ranches where wildlife management was being actively carried out.

Leopold and his group arrived at the Norias Ranch on the afternoon of Feb. 6 where they met Robert Kleberg. They began their tour traveling southeast across the “seacoast prairie” and then making a large loop of 25 miles. On this loop, Leopold reported that they saw “426 deer, three coyotes, a dozen blackbuck, four javelinas, 25 Long-billed Curlews, about 450 turkeys, one pigeon hawk (now called Merlin), a dozen Harris’s Hawks, one Horned Owl and several Caracaras.”

DEER

Leopold noted on this part of the ranch the woody cover consisted of live oak on the ridges and mesquite in the flats. He said that although the live oak was heavily browsed, the deer were in good shape. He mentioned seeing “many mature 8-to10-point bucks but no spikes or fork horn bucks,” although some bucks had already shed their antlers.

Elsewhere on the ranch, Leopold expressed surprise to find deer living in the open prairie miles from any substantial woody cover. Kleberg and Lehmann informed him that deer “stay in

King Ranch is renowned for its white-tail management and the production of trophy class bucks. Leopold was impressed by both the number and size of the bucks he observed on the ranch in 1947.

the prairie all year long” despite the near absence of traditional brushy cover.

The ranch supported an abundance, if not an over-abundance of deer, due to a combination of good habitat, limited hunting and a reduced predator population. Kleberg had the idea that excess deer could be trapped and moved to ranches that needed deer, but Leopold and the others insisted that this would only be “a drop in the bucket” and that “deer must be hunted in some orderly way.”

QUAIL

Kleberg, Lehmann and Leopold all shared a deep love of bobwhite quail and took special interest in their management. It is still one of the centerpieces of King Ranch management. Much of the visit was devoted to observing and discussing Lehmann's quail management work on the Santa Gertrudis Ranch.

No matter where he went, Leopold recorded the habitat features of whatever species was being discussed. Here, he described the quail habitat as “prairie dotted with meager clumps of granjeno and mesquite.” He noted that hackberry trees which no longer provided low cover were cut down and the branches stacked to create temporary coverts while the stump re-sprouted.

In mesquite areas where loafing cover was insufficient, Lehmann and Kleberg showed the group how “the drooping branches of mesquite were partially severed and lowered to the ground.” The half-cut limbs would then send up new branches thus creating both horizontal and vertical cover.

Where woody cover was entirely lacking, ranch crews transplanted hackberry and/or granjeno which had been dug on the ranch and the roots balled. This illustrates how serious the ranch was about managing quail habitat.

The cover enhacements' effectiveness was clearly demonstrated. Leopold wrote, “While inspecting the quail covers, nearly half had coveys in them; about 15 coveys in an hour.” They were told that this was the normal flushing rate with dogs.

Another cover improvement practice was to plant pricklypear along fencelines. Once established, the pricklypear would help hold the fence up and prevent cattle from rubbing on the posts. Lehmann also pointed out that it discouraged poachers.

Leopold, always the student, learned that one of the more valuable food plants for both quail and turkey was the small red fruit of tasajillo and that both species also consumed the “leaves of the wild clematis called old man’s beard.”

Disking of irregular lanes was used to stimulate quail food plant production, but Lehmann had a different reason for it than is normally understood. On King Ranch, goatweed (croton), the number one food for quail, was naturally abundant in many areas. Lehmann said that the disking was done to thin out the excessive density of goatweed so that the remaining plants had a better chance of surviving summer drought and making seed.

This part of the ranch was leased to a group of Kingsville businessmen who were allowed to harvest half of the quail crop. However, it was noted that they never attained the harvest

Caesar Kleberg is the one who convinced Bob Kleberg Jr. to hire Val Lehmann as one of the first wildlife biologists to work for a private ranch in South Texas. Caesar Kleberg left an indelible mark on the wildlife conservation effort in Texas.

Robert J. (Bob) Kleberg Jr. ran King Ranch from 1924 to 1974. He had a deep interest in wildlife as well as cattle and quarter horses. It was Kleberg who invited Leopold to visit the ranch in 1947.

Val Lehmann, King Ranch biologist examines a large mott of granjeno that was planted in open country to provide quail cover.