Are you ready to go outside? Take a trip to the wild places of Texas and learn a thing or two about conservation while you’re at it. In each episode of Better Outside™, Hosts Morgan O’Hanlon and David Yoskowitz bring you out into the field to meet the people who are working to make improve Texas' natural environment.
Host [Host Name] interviews conservationist [Guest Name] about Fenton, a dog trained to detect endangered cacti, revealing dogs' surprising role in environmental protection.
1 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
Loose Screws
TPWD Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Sara Wyckoff discusses the history, eradication, and current fight against the New World Screwworm parasite in this interview.
24 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT
Lost and Found
Texas Game Wardens Bo Hancock, Royce Ilsye, and Cody Hicks detail search and rescue operations in Big Bend Ranch State Park, explaining why TPWD staff are best equipped for this vital work.
30 Jul 2025
The Black-Capped Comeback
Texas is one of the best states for birding. According to the Texas Bird Records Committee (yeah, that's a thing) there were 636 species in good standing as of their 2010 Annual Report. And, thanks to the work of some dedicated bird lovers, one of those species is still here: the black-capped vireo. Since this olive green and black bird was nearly wiped out in the 1980s, its had a remarkable comeback. In this episode, TPWD's ornithologist recounts the comeback story and I get a lesson in birding.
Hosts:
Morgan O’Hanlon is a senior staff writer at Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine.
David Yoskowitz is the Executive Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Episode Guests (in order of appearance):
Tania Homayoun, ornithologist at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Jeff Forman, wildlife technician at Mason Mountain WMA (retired as of May 2025)
You can read more stories about the Texas outdoors at tpwmagazine.com (http://tpwmagazine.com/). If you want to get copies of our beautiful, glossy magazine delivered straight to your mailbox, you can subscribe here (https://ssl.drgnetwork.com/flex/TPW/TPWSSM02/) for only $2.00 a month. And if you want to keep up on live events and behind-the-scenes takes, follow the magazine on Instagram at @tpwmagazine.
Keep up with other agency news on Facebook or Instagram at @texasparkswildlife.
Our theme music is by Walker Lukens and Grant Eppley. And, if you like our song, you might also like the album Walker produced for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Sales from the album benefit TPWD's conservation work. Listen to it here (https://texaswildalbum.org/).
Better Outside’s artwork is by Aaron Zachary. Follow him on Instagram at @filmnfish.
26 Jun 2025
The Devils You Know — and the One You Don't
Hosts Morgan O’Hanlon and David Yoskowitz guide novice paddlers Priscilla Lozano and Esther Hajdar down Texas' Devils River, exploring its remote beauty and challenging reputation in this outdoor adventure.
18 Jun 2025
I Saw Miles (and Miles) of Texas
Host Morgan O’Hanlon explores the East Texas Showdown bikepacking event with Patrick Farnsworth, revealing how cyclists combine backpacking and biking for outdoor adventures in Texas.
4 Jun 2025
Take A Hike
Charlie Gandy discusses his vision for the XTX, a 1,500-mile trail spanning Texas that utilizes existing infrastructure and traverses state parks, in an interview with Morgan O’Hanlon and David Yoskowitz.
28 May 2025
Hog Wild
Hosts Morgan O’Hanlon and David Yoskowitz interview Chelsea Dorward, Ronny Liardon, James Liardon, Tyler Chiles, and Justin Foster about Bosque County's bounty program for invasive feral hogs and the environmental damage they cause in Texas.
21 May 2025
When Sheep Fly
Wildlife Biologists Cody McEntire, Sara Wyckoff, Froylán Hernández, Austin Bohannon, Josh Cross, and Julie Myers discuss the historic reintroduction of bighorn sheep to El Paso’s Franklin Mountains State Park, highlighting efforts to establish a disease-free herd in a protected urban environment in this interview episode.
12 May 2025
Better Outside - Trailer
This trailer introduces the "Better Outside" podcast, promising insights into outdoor experiences.
Inside a recent episode
Cactus Sniffing in the Desert
Published 8 Jul 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] What if I told you that one of our biologists here at the department is using dogs to find cacti? I can't say I'd be surprised. I know detection dogs can sniff out just about anything, but do cacti really have a smell? You know, surprisingly, or at least to me, they do. I thought that the only stinky type of flowers or beautiful smelling flowers would be roses or something like the corpse flower that you see in zoos and that sort of thing. But it turns out all plants have smells. and even the faintest waft of a cactus dogs can pick up. I don't think I plan to go around sniffing plants out, especially cacti, but I'm excited to hear your report about what these dogs are doing for an incredibly important cactus species here in Texas. […]
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