10-foot alligator removed from North Texas lake
A 10-foot, 291-pound alligator was safely removed from Eagle Mountain Lake.
The alligator was relocated as part of an ongoing research effort by Texas Parks and Wildlife.
The reptile was measured and tagged before being moved to a more remote location.
FORT WORTH, Texas - A 10-foot alligator has been safely relocated after being removed from Eagle Mountain Lake Thursday.
Eagle Mountain Lake alligator
The Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge's Natural Resources Team worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to catch the alligator as part of ongoing research, TPWD said in a press release on Thursday.
The male alligator weighed in at 291.8 pounds, and was 10 feet 7 inches in length.
The teams safely measured, tagged and relocated the reptile to a protected, more remote location.
What you can do
For more information about alligator sightings in Fort Worth, including safety tips and how to report a sighting, visit the City of Fort Worth's official alligator awareness page.
The Source
Information in this story came from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Guided walk to explore the biodiversity of Taunton's Longrun Meadow
A guided walk will soon offer a closer look at one of Somerset's most biodiverse public spaces. Taking place on Saturday, August 16, the event will explore Longrun Meadow in Taunton, a wildlife haven that began as a flood defence solution. Helen Lawy, environment co-ordinator and chairperson of Friends of Longrun Meadow, said: "The group runs entirely by volunteers who meet weekly and carry out conservation tasks. "Right from the beginning there has been lots to do, whether that's ditch clearing, hedge laying – recently we've been scything." Established in 2011, Friends of Longrun Meadow has played a key role in transforming the area from ryegrass-dominated farmland into a vibrant ecosystem supporting rare and threatened species. The meadow's development began with an Environment Agency flood management plan for Taunton, leading to the creation of flood ponds in 2008 and formal landscaping plans in 2010. It was opened to the public later that year as a countryside park. Designed by landscape architects Swan Paul, the site includes footpaths, orienteering equipment, interpretation panels, and the willow cathedral, designed by artist Stefan Jennings. The space now serves as a community hub, hosting a weekly parkrun and regular visits from youth groups. The group's conservation work is supported by Somerset Council and DEFRA through a stewardship agreement, which also facilitates educational visits from schools. Tasks include coppicing, pollarding, wildlife surveying, and the production of green hay to promote species-rich grassland. Conservation efforts have identified more than 500 species of plants and wildlife within the meadow, including kingfishers, brown trout, and rare butterflies. Ms Lawy said: "The Wildlife Trust wanted to survey the site for harvest mice, and I just pooh-poohed it – but it turns out we do have them." The group has also introduced native yellow rattle, a plant that suppresses dominant grasses and encourages greater biodiversity. As Longrun Meadow grows in ecological value, so do the conservation challenges. Ms Lawy noted issues such as riverbank erosion caused by dogs, along with illegal camping and anti-social behaviour. She said public education is key, and that signs are now used to explain conservation work as it happens. The guided walk will be hosted by the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society (SANHS). Booking and further details are available via the SANHS Facebook page or website, by calling 01823 272429, or by emailing office@
CBS News
6 hours ago
- CBS News
Proposed Texas reservoir continues to hang over landowners' heads after 50 years
For cattle rancher Eddie Belcher, his family's 900-acre plot of land in Northeast Texas is everything. The land has been owned by Belcher's family for seven generations. Although Belcher has lived in and visited cities across the country, he said nothing compares to his home in Bogata, Texas. "I can't put into words what it's like to be raised the way we were raised," Belcher said. "This land grows on you." Belcher built a log cabin on his land, complete with a bar named after his late father. He built it even though he knows that at some point in the next few decades, the entire area could be underwater. The proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir has been hanging over the heads of residents in Red River and Titus Counties for more than half a century. First introduced in the state's water plan in 1968, the reservoir would flood 66,000 acres of the Sulphur River Basin. Building it would require private landowners, like Belcher, to sell their land. "I decided this is where I was going to build my house regardless," Belcher said. "I took the chance that we would beat this." Even though the project was first proposed 57 years ago, construction hasn't started on the Marvin Nichols Reservoir. It's a fact that landowners, including Belcher, said has left the region in a sort of limbo. "We see that with the threat of the lake over the land for decades now, many of the regional ranches have fallen into disrepair," Belcher's neighbor and cattle rancher, Dr. Jim Marshall, said. "People sort of lost hope." But Dan Buhman, general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District, said the fact that the reservoir hasn't been built is a sign of the progress that's been made in water conservation. "We conserve, and that pushes the need out, and so that is a win," Buhman said. "Obviously, they don't want us to come and build the lake tomorrow. And our customers, the rate payers, the people who pay their water bill, don't want us to go build an expensive supply before it's needed." But Buhman, who also chairs the Region C Water Planning Area, said there will be a day when it will have to be built. The $7 billion project is an integral part of the region's water planning strategy in the future. "We have looked at it every way to Sunday and said, can we conserve our way out of this growth?" Buhman said. "It's just not possible. The math says you need the water supplies." Although critics call reservoirs outdated and inefficient, Buhman said they continue to be an important part of Region C's water supply in the future. "Reservoirs are not an outdated strategy," Buhman said. "Absolutely, we see evaporation, that is part of the equation for a reservoir, there's no question about it. But when you compare it to all the other possibilities, they capture the water in the spring and they supply it in August when there isn't any. And that is exactly what we need." Eighty percent of the proposed reservoir's water would go to Region C, which includes the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Twenty percent would remain in Region D. Today, Texas is home to about 31 million people. By 2070, that's expected to grow to more than 50 million. The state's rapid growth has helped create a water shortage crisis. "The Texas Water Development Board... their data shows, not to be alarming, but towns and cities could face a severe water shortage by 2030, if we continue with severe, prolonged drought and if there are no water solutions implemented throughout the state," said Alejandra Martinez, the Texas Tribune's environmental reporter. A water shortage isn't just a public health risk. Without action toward increasing the state's water supply, a severe drought could cause $153 billion in economic damages annually, according to an estimate in the Texas Water Development Board's 2022 water plan. "This session, Gov. Greg Abbott put out really early on that he wanted a Texas-size investment for water supply projects," Martinez said. "So this session, there was a big investment made towards water, $20 billion worth of investment, one of the biggest investments made by the Texas Legislature for water supply for the whole state. How that money will be distributed throughout the state is yet to be seen." While $20 billion is a sizable investment, some experts say it isn't enough. The nonprofit Texas 2036 estimates the state needs to spend about $154 billion to secure its water supply in the coming decades. "Water experts I talked to say this was a significant step forward," Martinez said. "But they also said, in that same vein, this is just a down payment." Those opposed to the Marvin Nichols Reservoir are holding out hope Region C finds alternative water solutions, even as efforts to kill the project have so far failed. "It's not that the people of Northeast Texas want to harm the people of Dallas-Fort Worth," said state Rep. Gary VanDeaver of New Boston. "They want to see the entire state thrive and continue to grow, and certainly a big piece of that is having adequate water. But what the people of Northeast Texas do want to make sure that people understand is we deserve our livelihood as well." VanDeaver introduced a bill that would have killed the reservoir project. It ultimately failed. In June, the Texas Water Development Board found that an interregional conflict exists between Regions C and D regarding the reservoir. The two groups met for mediation and came to an agreement that requires Region C to study another water supply strategy alongside Marvin Nichols. A new study comparing the projects would have to begin by March 2026. The agreement also requires that no application for permitting would occur for Marvin Nichols before 2030. Region D Water Planning Group will discuss and consider ratification of the agreement Wednesday. Region C will do the same on Oct. 6. All of this leaves families like the Belchers and Marshalls wondering if and when they will be forced to sell their land. "The land would lose everything," Marshall said. "The community would be gone forever, and all of this wonder we see out here in nature would literally be drowned." Belcher said he'll continue to do what he can to oppose the project and honor his mother's wish that the land not be sold. "There's not a price for this land," Belcher said. "You can't put a price on seven generations.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Science Says We Put Off the Things That Bring Us Joy—Let's Stop
Are you having trouble doing things that make you happy and don't know why? You're not alone. A new study recently released by PNAS Nexus revealed that the more you enjoy doing something, the more likely you are to put it off and do something less emotionally fulfilling. We have all the must-know information on the study, including how you can get back to doing the things that bring you joy, below. Why we procrastinate the things we enjoy most In June of this year, Linda Hagen and Ed O'Brien released a study that claimed, 'The longer since people's last enjoyable experience, the more they postpone returning.' They say it's because people want 'their return [to the joyful event] to be 'extra special,'' allowing them to justify not doing whatever it is that makes them happy. This conclusion came after they tested hundreds of adults, all of whom had vastly different backgrounds and interests. 'Whether by choice or by chance, people often face long gaps of time between getting to do things they love to do—time slips by,' reads the study. 'Close friends find years have passed since their last contact. Hard workers look up to realize they have not relaxed for months. Faraway family wonder when they last phoned home. After such 'long hours of waiting,' what do people do when they finally get the chance to return to happy experiences?' O'Brien, a researcher who works in the Department of Behavioral Science of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business expanded on this further by telling the The Washington Post ''Right now' always feels insufficiently special compared to any better moment in the future 'People are missing out on lots of immediate happiness and lots of immediate enjoyment.' Now, this phenomenon isn't exactly a new thing, but according to the study, it wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic that researchers really began to see it skyrocket, with a key example being wanting to go out to eat at a restaurant. 'Once restaurants were back open and they felt safe and comfortable [people] actually waited even longer because they didn't want their first time back to a restaurant to just be on a random Tuesday without a good crowd,' O'Brien said. 'They were waiting for the perfect time to celebrate that coming back moment. So, ironically, they waited even longer.' Another example they gave was letting an expensive bottle of wine sit on the shelf for a while in the hopes that one day you'll get to crack it open during a special occasion, even though it would taste just as good right now. 'Ironically, the thing that really builds dust is the really fine wine,' O'Brien said. Expert-approved strategies to reclaim your joy If you are one of the hundreds of people struggling to do the things that make you happy, there is no need to worry. According to experts, there are ways to change that. The first step is to notice when it happens. If you find yourself procrastinating doing something you love, take note of it and try and figure out why that is. Then, once you do think about how you can change whatever it is that's holding you back. If it's time, add a few hours to your calendar every day to remind yourself to do the things you love. If it's resources, try and figure out what you need and where you can go to get those things for cheap. And if it's simply just not knowing what to do to make yourself happy, start with the little things. 'The simple little things that we take for granted every day are the very things that give us control and happiness in life.' Judy Kuriansky, PhD, a clinical psychologist on the faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University, said. 'What's something small that you can appreciate as soon as you wake up? If you're making your bed and plumping the pillows, instead of thinking of it as a chore, use the moment to appreciate that you have a comfortable bed to sleep in.' Bottom line: Remember to slow down and take the time to do things that you love and want to do, even if it scares you. For more health news, keep scrolling! This Surprising Leafy Green Habit Can Cut Your Risk of a Heart Attack by 43 Percent Is Honeydew Agua Fresca Really the Superstar Weight-Loss Drink TikTok Users Claim It Is? Not Everyone Needs 10,000 Steps! An Expert Reveals the Right Step Goal for Your Age and Health Solve the daily Crossword
