Acreage near Austin

[tangodoodles]

Ok, hypothetically, if I were to put in a large duck pond, what kind of critters would be likely to turn up? I'm sort of afraid of snakes but there are plenty where I live now (of course, none of them are easy to come by unless you go to a specific park or trails in town). Aren't there some types of poisonous water snakes in Texas? Also, what kind of creatures would I need to look out for in terms of predators to goats, chicken, ducks, horses, other farm animals? Are there lots of foxes, racoons, etc. that I should be worried about. I have owned German Shepherds my entire life, would they be proper protection? I know some people who use Great Pyrenees to guard their farm animals but I've never been a fan because every one I've met isn't actually a "pet", more like a guardian who lives on the property only to protect the livestock. Obviously both of my GSDs have a rather cushy lifestyle now but they'd easily adapt to acreage considering that they're supposed to be farm dogs anyway, right? Also, what about a pool? Is it common to have an inground pool in Austin? Should I be worried about those water snakes?

[HappyTexan]

I have a pond on my property. No fish since it dries out every now and then, plenty of crawfish. Visitors that I have seen: wild ducks, geese, egrets, herons.

I raise chickens and geese. Both have fenced in yards. Predators I have to watch out for are coyotes and hawks. The only snakes I've seen so far (10 years) are corn snakes.

Around here lots of folks use donkeys as guard animals for goats, sheep and cattle.

I have an above ground pool and had a deck built as the cost was way cheaper than having one built inground. My brother up in Dallas just had a fiberglass pool installed (going on year 2 with it) and the installation was very quick and he is very happy with it.

[TexasHorseLAdyl]

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a real estate agent, but I'm also someone who lives on acreage outside of Austin with a husband who commutes to Austin, I've lived in Austin and environs since 1969, and I specialize in horse and rural properties so I'm somewhat familiar with the area.

You will have snakes - that's a given. What varies is what kind of snake. We do have rattlers in the area, but most of the time you'll never know it. Rat snakes are what I see most (and they will mimic a rattler, to their loss, since that gets you shot around here if you're on the homestead proper), and as long as you keep them out of the chicken coop so they don't eat the eggs you were planning for breakfast, they're a good thing to have as they also eat, guess what, rodents! The poisonous water snake you're thinking of is the water moccasin. I've seen one since moving out here (Northeast of Austin) - in East Texas where I grew up, I saw them a lot, but not here - and we have a creek running right across the property with a pond and a stock tank.

Predators vary, as well, but just about everywhere has coyotes, hawks, raccoons, possums, owls.

German Shepherds should do just fine. Our GP was a pet, and stayed at the house, but she kept the predators at bay just with her bark - she'd "sing" back to them, along with the other GP's in the neighborhood. Most of the places around here have a GP, and the coyotes just won't go on a GP's property - seems to be some sort of agreement, as I've seen coyotes ignore the existence of a Rottweiler on a place. They don't come on our place now - we've got a Heeler and a GP/Lab cross (like a Really Big Lab). Come to that, the raccoons don't come up, either, and we'd been at constant war with them over our catfood and anything else edible for years until we got these two. Foxes are rare enough that it's a treat to see them, really. We occasionally have a litter of kits somewhere around, but they're not in sufficient numbers northeast of Austin, anyway, to be a problem. Deer, on the other hand (which we don't have) can be a predator on your garden, flowers, what have you. Recommend for landscaping researching things that deer don't like that grow here - there's lots of info, but I'd head for John Dromgoole at The Natural Gardener as the one to ask.

Commute time depends on where you work. It can be a killer, but if you get someone who knows the area well to tell you the back ways to get somewhere if the main ways are slowed down to a crawl due to an accident or something, that will help.

I've seen goats all over in their various permutations. Bastrop is good, Williamson (the rural areas) can be good. Lee County is a bit far unless you're working in north Austin/Round Rock area, though there's fingers of it that are closer. (No nice neat county lines for us! ;-) )

What have I missed? Oh, yeah, we happen to be on a major migration route, and we have water on the property, so I've seen everything from herons (year round) to owls to egrets (cattle and otherwise) to ducks to a family of Whooping Cranes to, flying way overhead, pelicans on their migration route. And everything in between. Just depends on where you're located.

And, before I forget, welcome to the neighborhood!

[Cherokee Girl]

Probably your best bet for checking into the area if you want to have a farm is to contact your county extension agent. Tell him or her what you want to do, and your agent should be able to answer everything you're concerned about for your ranch/farm.

TexasHorseLAdyl has lots of good advice, and you should take it to heart. But for other things particular to whatever area you decide to settle in, check with the county extension agent.

Texas County Extension Offices

[Cherokee Girl]

Oh, and one more thing. NO CATS. Do not bring cats out to your ranch. I can't tell you how many friends of mine have lost them to raccoons, coyotes or hawks. If you currently have a kitty, do it a favor and find it a good home before moving out to your acreage.

[austifornian]

If you want to own livestock, East/Southeast is where you want to be. You will find prices a lot lower and the land a lot more productive. If you draw a triangle from Taylor to Giddings to Luling you should be able to find what you are looking for. If you work with an agent, be sure you find an one who specializes in Farm and Ranch.

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLAdyl

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a real estate agent, but I'm also someone who lives on acreage outside of Austin with a husband who commutes to Austin, I've lived in Austin and environs since 1969, and I specialize in horse and rural properties so I'm somewhat familiar with the area.

You will have snakes - that's a given. What varies is what kind of snake. We do have rattlers in the area, but most of the time you'll never know it. Rat snakes are what I see most (and they will mimic a rattler, to their loss, since that gets you shot around here if you're on the homestead proper), and as long as you keep them out of the chicken coop so they don't eat the eggs you were planning for breakfast, they're a good thing to have as they also eat, guess what, rodents! The poisonous water snake you're thinking of is the water moccasin. I've seen one since moving out here (Northeast of Austin) - in East Texas where I grew up, I saw them a lot, but not here - and we have a creek running right across the property with a pond and a stock tank.

Predators vary, as well, but just about everywhere has coyotes, hawks, raccoons, possums, owls.

German Shepherds should do just fine. Our GP was a pet, and stayed at the house, but she kept the predators at bay just with her bark - she'd "sing" back to them, along with the other GP's in the neighborhood. Most of the places around here have a GP, and the coyotes just won't go on a GP's property - seems to be some sort of agreement, as I've seen coyotes ignore the existence of a Rottweiler on a place. They don't come on our place now - we've got a Heeler and a GP/Lab cross (like a Really Big Lab). Come to that, the raccoons don't come up, either, and we'd been at constant war with them over our catfood and anything else edible for years until we got these two. Foxes are rare enough that it's a treat to see them, really. We occasionally have a litter of kits somewhere around, but they're not in sufficient numbers northeast of Austin, anyway, to be a problem. Deer, on the other hand (which we don't have) can be a predator on your garden, flowers, what have you. Recommend for landscaping researching things that deer don't like that grow here - there's lots of info, but I'd head for John Dromgoole at The Natural Gardener as the one to ask.

Commute time depends on where you work. It can be a killer, but if you get someone who knows the area well to tell you the back ways to get somewhere if the main ways are slowed down to a crawl due to an accident or something, that will help.

I've seen goats all over in their various permutations. Bastrop is good, Williamson (the rural areas) can be good. Lee County is a bit far unless you're working in north Austin/Round Rock area, though there's fingers of it that are closer. (No nice neat county lines for us! ;-) )

What have I missed? Oh, yeah, we happen to be on a major migration route, and we have water on the property, so I've seen everything from herons (year round) to owls to egrets (cattle and otherwise) to ducks to a family of Whooping Cranes to, flying way overhead, pelicans on their migration route. And everything in between. Just depends on where you're located.

And, before I forget, welcome to the neighborhood!

Wow! That's a lot of info and really helpful. I'm just trying to weed out areas in other states as well seeing as I'm from California. I'm just thinking that finding land in an area fairly close to a metropolitan area is tough outside of Austin or states where the "major" metropolitan area has about 100,000 people, lol.

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by Cherokee Girl

Oh, and one more thing. NO CATS. Do not bring cats out to your ranch. I can't tell you how many friends of mine have lost them to raccoons, coyotes or hawks. If you currently have a kitty, do it a favor and find it a good home before moving out to your acreage.

Even with Great Pyrenees on the property? That's so sad! So, no outside cats at all. Is it okay to have inside cats? My current cat is exclusively an inside cat.

[Driftwood1]

We had our cat out here on our ranch in Driftwood.
It lasted 7 years then one day never came home.
Could have been anything though... even old age, she was 16.
I have personnaly seen :
Hawks , Coyotes, raccoon, hogs, foxes, and nearly every native texas snake.
A cat that sticks close to home "might" make it for a while, but it's a gamble..
Could just have easilly been a car on fm 150..

Cheers

Originally Posted by tangodoodles

Even with Great Pyrenees on the property? That's so sad! So, no outside cats at all. Is it okay to have inside cats? My current cat is exclusively an inside cat.

[Cherokee Girl]

Indoor kitty, yes. Outdoor kitty, NO. Outdoor kitty is considered cat chow (literally) by the various wild varmints around your place.