{"id":3079,"date":"2016-09-20T22:23:02","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T03:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?page_id=3079"},"modified":"2016-09-21T11:11:07","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T16:11:07","slug":"tracking-wildlife-on-the-bayou","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?page_id=3079","title":{"rendered":"Tracking Wildlife on the Bayou"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boys Scouting Part III<\/h3>\n

September 20, 2016<\/p>\n

Boy Scout Paul Hung rallied his troop for the third floating inventory of the banks of Buffalo Bayou on a recent Saturday morning. Hung is documenting the tracks of wildlife as an Eagle Scout service project, and his fellow scouts in Sam Houston Council Troop 55 are helping.<\/p>\n

Hung and other scouts have so far found over 130 tracks of animals including raccoon, beaver<\/a>, possum, coyote,\u00a0grey fox, bobcat, great blue heron, egret, otter, nutria, wild boar, and others. The tracks are being plotted on a map, and the information will be published as a pamphlet with the help of Save Buffalo Bayou, which is the beneficiary of the project.<\/p>\n

Anyone who wishes to donate to help Paul Hung publish his Buffalo Bayou wildlife pamphlet can do so here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Illustrations of animals found on Buffalo Bayou that Boy Scout Paul Hung plans to use in his wildlife track pamphlet.<\/p><\/div>\n

About a dozen Boy Scouts and adult observers gathered with their Boy Scout wooden canoes at the Memorial Park boat launch at Woodway<\/a> Sept. 10. It was a steamy morning, and they planned to paddle past Memorial Park<\/a> and the Hogg Bird Sanctuary<\/a> all the way to Lost Lake in Buffalo Bayou Park<\/a>. Hung handed out clipboards and gave instructions for identifying and photographing the tracks and recording their location using a compass app on a cell phone. Nearby was the wooden box, built and recently installed by Troop 55 Boy Scout Saswat Pati<\/a>, containing reusable bags for picking up trash on the bayou.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Boy<\/a>

Boy Scout Paul Hung at the Woodway boat launch giving instructions to the volunteers from Troop 55.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h4>\n

Invaders! But No Mosquitoes
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The group then commenced carrying their canoes down the hill through the lush, tall grasses and wildflowers that have appeared on the bank since our last visit<\/a>. But something looked ominous, not right. The harmony was gone. Alas, it turns out that in addition to native amaranth<\/a>, sedge, smartweed, and ground cherry that have recently installed themselves on the lower bank, invasive Johnsongrass<\/a> has also settled in there. Perhaps the Memorial Park Conservancy will do some ecological conversion<\/a> on the bank of the bayou and remove\u00a0the Johnsongrass. Already the native plants seemed to be struggling amongst the colonies of thick tall grasses.<\/p>\n

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