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(music)
[Narrator] Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence are taking their
sturdy steed, Miss Ellie, out for a spin through their south Texas ranch.
[Berdon Lawrence] We ride around and see what needs to be done
on the ranch, what's working, what's not working.
[Narrator] They've turned an overgrazed cattle ranch
into a wildlife oasis.
[Rolanette Lawrence] When I first came down I really thought he
had brought me to the end of the world.
(dove coos)
[Rolanette] I just didn't really understand it and I think
it's a beauty that grows on you.
[Berdon] I was worried there for a while because she
wasn't going duck hunting with me but when we got involved down here she really fell
in love with it.
[Randy Fugate] When I come on this ranch, I get goosebumps.
It's so impressive to see all the improvements that have occurred here over the last number
of years since they've owned the property from what it used to look like 25 years ago.
[Berdon] The cattle had just about eaten all the grass.
No place for quail to hide and for the does to hide the little baby deer and so the predators
would often get the little baby deer and the little quail.
[motor revs up)
[Narrator] Enter the Quailerator. Invented here on the
ranch, it's specially adapted to create ground cover for quail. The spikes are modified to
mimic cows' hooves. They churn the soil without knocking everything flat.
[Benny Cantu] Right here in this quailerated area we have
clumps for nesting and cover and right over here we have aerated parts that will provide
food for quail.
[Berdon] We've increased the number of deer on the
ranch and the number of turkey and it's nice to be able to preserve the wildlife that's
been here for maybe millions of years.
[ducks flying]
[music]
[David Kelly] South Texas will promise you less and deliver
you more than any place I know of on earth. Everything we do here on the ranch is all
about the wildlife.
(turkey calls)
[Rolanette] I hope our grandkids know how important it
is to save the land and it's not easy. You have to fall in love with this.