Social Life of our dogs - a Saturday at the Dog Park

In The Woodlands, Texas, we have some awesome dog parks. They are spread out over the community for easy access on a Saturday morning, or after one gets home from work. It was hot today and the animals really appreciated the dog pool. I did too actually. Splashing me felt refreshing.

Yes, the dog needs his exercise, but what the dog looks for and appreciates the most is the social aspect. That includes its human family as well as meeting other dogs.  It even includes meeting strange humans!

It is not unusual for there to be conflicts among individuals. Some are "puppy social", others are "alpha social". In this particular case, the white dog is an alpha female which just arrived at the park. She was accompanied by both human family caretakers. She had her toys and her caretakers were throwing her toys for her to chase and fetch.  She did not want to share. When she arrived at her caretakers to give them the toy, the brown dog tried to take it. The brown dog wanted to play with her. She responded with a growl and jumped on the brown dog, biting her in the leg. The brown dog yelped as the white dog continued to attack. There were tooth gashes on the leg and in the skin on the brown dog that I saw after the dogs were separated. It happened again with a second dog, two of three large brown dogs that a young lady had brought to the park. The young lady left with one dog slightly injured, another one possibly injured and the third unscathed. It was my opinion that he owner of the white dog should have put a leash on the white dog but never did. The owners tried instead to calm the dog and later released her to run free again, only to repeat the attack.  I have heard of similar situations from various other people over the past few months.

All remaining dogs had no problems whatsoever. Most of the animals I saw were very puppy-like. They wanted to romp and play with other dogs, and sometimes they wanted me to play with them.  I had two or more of them jump into my arms wanting my full attention, even though I had the camera and equipment on me.  That was OK. I am used to it, and I would not have belonged there if I was not willing to be their playful friend.

Many of the dogs simply loved this little swimming pool. Some would totally immerse their head and body under the water to cool off. This one kept his head out of it. The dogs would often bring their toy and place it where they could an eye on it.

Here I am about to be enthusiastically bathed and loved by a wet dog.

While the white and brown dogs remained together, there was an acrobatic attempt to catch a toy in mid-air. The white dog was a human-oriented dog, not really interested in the other dogs.

This dog was much prettier when she was dry. After getting soaked in the swimming pool, she was a bit more wiry looking.

Despite her behavior and the heat, this dog was a good subject to photograph. She chased her toys with lightening speed.

This smaller dog played in the small dog pen. There are two separate pens, one to protect the small breed dogs and puppies.

This Beagle was fairly docile. He played and socialized but not recklessly, like some of the others.

This is something us humans can't do, run at their speed and go nose to nose in a race.

To cool off in this scorching sun!

Then it is time to go home. Where's mama? Carry me back home!

Tamarac Dog Park

The Woodlands, Texas newest dog park is in one of its oldest - Tamarac, in Grogan's Mill. On my first visit in the mid-morning of a hot Saturday on Memorial weekend, I was surprised to find it totally empty. There were no dogs or people there. I discovered later that everyone was at Bear Branch Dog Park. This is a nice park and I would certainly come here if my dogs were larger.


 
It was a hot summer day and the tree shade offered a welcome reprieve from the sun.

This dog park is not easy to find. It is nestled in the forest  next to the wheels friendly area. From the parking lot, one must follow the sidewalk to the right in order to reach the dog park. It is a beautiful and roomy place with benches and water. Small and large dogs are not separated here.

There are poop bags and a garbage can where one disposes any and all litter.

The ground is covered with mulch to keep it from being muddy and makes a nice crunch under your feet. Dogs would not have as stable a footing as natural soil however. The pattern of shadows cast by the trees on the mulch makes for an interesting color feast for our eyes.

You might find your dog chasing a squirrel here. At this quiet time, there were several inside the dog park

The dog park entrance is protected as are other dog parks in The Woodlands by a double gate.

Tamarac Park is found off of Grogan's Mill Rd, on North Millbend.

Refer to the separate article on Tamarac Park.

Tupelo Park in the Village of Creekside Park

Tupelo Park in the Village of Creekside Park of The Woodlands is open and available. One of the striking features of this park is the bathroom made of stone. This carries the feel of its big sister park's (Fleming Park) pavilion.

It's pavilion also has stone but only in the columns, since the style is completely open. As with other parks, the pavilion can be rented in advance by calling the parks department.

There is a great view of the fountain and cascade from Lake Paloma. There is actually a pond built on a second level tier above the lake. Water is pumped up into the pond from the lake and allowed to cascade back into the lake over this artificial waterfall below the bridge. One is looking at the pavilion to the left in this photo.

There are two locations for picnics, both nestled in the forest and both having clear views and within hearing of the water fountain in the pond. As with all parks of The Woodlands, the grill and tables are first come/first serve.

This is the view from inside the pavilion.

A nice amenity is this canoe/kayak launch below the pond on the lake. There are three tie-offs. One can paddle the entire lake from  a launch here.

Playground equipment includes a variety of slides, climbs and swings.

Lighted tennis courts are ready for action.

Getting there: from Gosling - west at main entrance, pass the circle keeping to the right, go past the YMCA on the right and take a left at Lake Paloma Dr. Cross the bridge and take a right. You are at the park. From Kuykendahl -  enter by turning on Creekside Forest Dr. Go east until reaching Lake Paloma Dr and turn right. Cross the bridge and the park is on your right.   Map

Tupelo Park Grand Opening coming to Village of Creekside Park

For some time now, one would notice a new large park being developed in the Village of Creekside Park in The Woodlands. On June 12th, there will be a grand opening ceremony at a time to be announced. This is a different park in that it is constructed on the lake as part of the vision for a long narrow park that cuts through the entire village.  Therefore it is stretched along the bank where one will pass through it when walking the thin stretch of green space through the village.  Put the 12th on your calendar if you want to experience the park on its grand opening day.

Pathways still on agenda of The Woodlands Township

Two projects carried over incomplete into this year. The pathway from Indian Springs to Creekside Park did not begin as anticipated and remains under construction. A large section now has concrete but will not be opened until later. A small bridge will be required to pass over a leg of Spring Creek on the north side of the bridge. I am uncertain at this moment if there will be a traffic light put on Gosling, or we will depend on traffic stopping to let pedestrians pass from the east side of Gosling to the west side at the entrance to Creekside Park. The volume of traffic probably does not yet warrant a traffic light there.  Our weather has slowed down the project tremendously! It will be another six weeks before the pathway will be completed even if the weather permits the work! Little chance of that, so I will stretch that out to about 10 weeks (maybe late April).

A contract work crew has been scheduled to begin construction of the final leg of the Flintridge pathway after the crew completes its work with the Gosling pathway to Creekside Park.

Financially, the funds for these two projects were moved from the associations to the Township before cessation of the associations'  operation at the end of last year.

I am not complaining. How about you? We need rain. I hope this summer's dry spell will not be as bad as last year. The dry weather revealed itself in January last year. This year we received a decent amount, but it was still significantly below the normal rainfall for January.

Woodlands Community Association Capital Projects marking an end to an era

Year-end capital projects will wind down the WCA's program to build new and renewed amenities during the last year of WCA operation. All of these projects are on track to  be completed by year end.

1. Additional plots in the Community garden at Bear Branch Sports Park.
2. Added pathway to connect the western side of Flintridge to the eastern side, providing a continuous hike and bike pathway along Flintridge.
3. New pathway to connect Indian Springs Village to Creekside Park. The pathway will be constructed from the pathway at Flintridge and Gosling, proceeding south on the eastern side of Gosling, utilizing the existing walkway on the bridge over Spring Creek and then proceeding to a marked crossing over Gosling to the entrance of the Village of Creekside Park.
4. Dog park to be added to Sawmill Park in Grogan's Mill, providing residents on the eastern side of The Woodlands with play space for their pets.

The Village of Creekside Park will be connected for pedestrians and bike riders via this new pathway, helping to integrate all villages into amenities enjoyed by residents in both counties. This will also provide easier pedestrian access from Montgomery County villages to the new YMCA, which will be completed next year in Creekside Park.

Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge - Butterfly Count

A nice day trip from The woodlands Texas for the nature lover is Trinity River Wildlife Refuge. It is one of fourteen priority-one bottom-land refuges identified for protection in the Texas Bottom-land Protection Plan.¹ This particular protected site has great diversity of birds, butterflies, vegetation and wildlife. This annual event is focused on counting butterflies, as part of the National Wildlife Refuge Week., October 11-17 2009. This year was a good one statistically. There were 44 species and 1368 bugs identified.

   
Butterfly enthusiasts from the general Houston area participate in the event. Only a few people volunteer each year to help. The Butterfly Enthusiasts of Southeast Texas (BEST)⁴, local chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA), sponsors the event.  Stuart Marcus, Refuge Manager ² organizes and leads it. Those who assisted him are at various skill levels. All were enthusiastic about participating. Stuart Marcus has been with the Fish and Wildlife Commission for 30 years. He has been assigned to 5 locations, with this being his longest stay - 15 years. This guy knows the refuge very well, including its neighbors. I was impressed with his butterfly expertise and awareness of the preserve's ecology.

From The Woodlands, it took a little less than an hour to reach the town of Dolen, traveling 242 to H59, taking 105 from Cleveland.

All 25000 acres are located in Liberty County, about equidistant between Houston and Beaumont.  There are five public tracts available to the public³, but our little adventure was not a public one. We visited places in the preserve specifically suitable for identifying the diversity and quantity of butterfly species, serving as a comparable benchmark from year to year. These count expeditions also help to measure the relative health of the preserve itself from year to year.

The first stop was in a tall mostly yellow field, full of blooming Golden Rod plants with Ruellas acting as a host for the Buckeye. This field was only our start. I believe we identified some 8 species of butterflies here alone and several species in large abundance!     

This blooming plant is I believe is called a Ruellia, the host for the Buckeye caterpillar, larval stage of the Buckeye butterfly shown below.

The Pearl Crescent was common to see. It added to the delight of spotting traditional well-known butterflies amidst varied other, less familiar species.

On this day, I never saw one single Monarch, and only two were spotted by the group. Maybe they had already migrated or had left to the coast in preparation for migration.

The Common Buckeye was everywhere in the field. We saw many of its caterpillars consuming the Ruellas. We sighted 232 individuals, the largest number of any one species. A better appreciation of the colors on the caterpillar can be derived from the next photo.

In this photo, one can see the beginnings of the colors of the Buckeye which will be evident when it morphs into a butterfly.

Next we went into the deep forest to a long clearing adjacent to the forest edge, where one butterfly species was first spotted in southeast Texas last year. This time we did not find that butterfly, but chances are, it is close by and hopefully thriving in and on the edge of the forest. maybe next year ...

One of my favorites is this gorgeous species, the Red-spotted Purple which we first observed a few yards into the forest at this location.

Everywhere we went the Gulf Fritillary appeared. This male was typical of the newly morphed butterflies in abundance there. The male is much more striking than the female, but both are readily identified in flight. We counted 201 unique sightings this day, second highest count for one species.

We also observed the caterpillar of this Fritillary on its native host, the Passion Flower.

You've seen the Golden Rod plant here in The Woodlands. It is just beginning to bloom on the pond behind my home. In the refuge, these plants are everywhere in open spaces - along the roads and in fields where trees are sparse or not present at all. The butterflies use it as a food source.

This unusual beauty was the only one I saw, but he was a showoff.

Of significance to this preserve, is its rare bat population.⁵ The Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat is quite special, so the preserve has taken extraordinary measures to protect its small but now thriving population. These bats typically live in cavities within large tree trunks but took up residence in an old broken down house on the preserve. To protect them from harm, two bat houses were built as shown in this photograph. One is  placed in the shade and the other in the sun to ensure success with this endeavor. Since these bats do not migrate, we were able to view them, because the houses are located near one of our count areas. The refuge is host to many other bats as well.

At the end of the day, we tallied our observations and parted our ways, to gather again  year to repeat the counting process. Additional photographs of this adventure is placed on the this website for your viewing. Some species may not be identified since I have not had time to finish editing the photo captions. I have to do verifications since I am not nearly an expert in the field of butterflies. Nevertheless, I felt this article was a worthwhile presentation to share some remarkable work and care of our natural resources.  

I recommend you visit the web page of the refuge (below) for a more detailed account of what is available there for a day trip from the Houston, Beaumont, Conroe, and surrounding areas. You will not be disappointed.

References and Links
¹. Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge
^2. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services
^3. Directions to the five public areas
⁴ BEST (Butterfly) Website
⁵ Mammals of the Trinity River Wildlife Refuge