What we found canoeing Buffalo Bayou

Rays of Texas sunlight peeked through the riparian forest and reflected off the river current, guarded by sandy banks and high cliffs. A blue heron seemed to be following us as it soared overhead, releasing its echoing call through the clear skies. An alligator gar splashed in the water as it sensed our approach. We saw evidence of recent beaver activity: Footprints in the sand and chew marks on the tree stumps.

As our journey continued along Buffalo Bayou, the 18,000-year-old waterway, I was awed by the abundance of wildlife, the scenery that surrounded us.

I live in a subdivision in the southwest part of the city, and we were in the middle of Houston, the fourth-largest in the U.S., with a population over two and a quarter million people. And here I was floating down a dreamlike river in what seemed like a faraway land.

I had been preparing for this expedition for months. My mission was to inventory the wildlife along the bayou. This was my public service project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Eleven of my fellow Boy Scouts in Troop 55 had volunteered to help. Our plan was to photograph the animal tracks we found and carefully catalog them with their GPS coordinates. The weather conditions had to be just right, and today was the perfect Saturday to explore – sunny and clear.

We needed good weather, because we were going to canoe down the bayou, and the water level had to be low enough so that we could see the animal tracks on the sandy banks. The Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the two federal dams upstream, had assured us that the water level in the bayou would stay low throughout the weekend.

This would be the first of four trips documenting wildlife tracks on the bayou as it flows past Memorial Park. These expeditions spanned a year. In the end, more than 30 volunteers documented 225 animal tracks and logged 327 conservation hours towards this project. I published a guide that summarizes our discoveries and illustrates some of the most common tracks. But this is what we saw that day.

I MET my crew at the boat launch in the park at Woodway, just yards from Loop 610. Each Scout had been selected for his merit in canoeing. The adult leaders were certified in safety and first aid.

Susan Chadwick, the executive director of Save Buffalo Bayou, the nonprofit organization that was the beneficiary of my Eagle Scout project, accompanied our crew of trackers. It was founded to oppose a Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) plan, called the Memorial Park Demonstration Project, to strip the forest, level the banks and rechannel the bayou as it flows past the eastern edge of Memorial Park, the most thickly forested section of the river.

It was in this stretch that we would find some of the most abundant wildlife.

I briefed the volunteers and passed out clipboards and data sheets. Our excitement began to build as we loaded the six canoes in. We had two Scouts in each canoe, one to photograph and the other to take notes. Many of us had never paddled down the bayou before and had no idea what to expect.

As we floated downstream, the otherworldliness of Buffalo Bayou revealed itself. Birds of various species replaced airplanes in the sky. Towering buildings changed into learning trees. The sounds of the freeway became rustling wind and rippling currents. The only vehicles were our silent canoes. My mind was bewildered that this seemingly remote place could exist in the middle of our city.

Our first stop was a soft sandy bank. I noticed the track of an animal that had scurried across it – a raccoon. I had studied tracks and knew these were fresh. Just a few days earlier, there was a light rain that had washed away previous tracks, giving the animals a new canvas. Raccoons were the most prevalent tracks we would find. They were scattered throughout the undeveloped sections of the bayou. This was a great start for my inventory.

We put in again. Turtles taking in the warm sunlight relaxed on fallen branches. Around a few bends of the river, we found the most exciting, but sad discovery: The body of a beaver lay on the sand. Our whole group was stunned that beavers lived on the bayou. We had to remind ourselves that we were still in the middle of a busy metropolitan city. The cause of the beaver's death would remain a mystery.

As we paddled along the southern border of Memorial Park, we found several domestic dog tracks. This was an expected finding, as there are several access points and trails through the park that lead to the water's edge.

But just past these trails we found something much more interesting. Coyote tracks! Coyotes have a distinctive footprint with sharp inward claws, which distinguishes them from domestic dog tracks. Initially, I was skeptical about coyotes in Houston, but my doubts faded after identifying scat nearby.

We were now approaching the largest sandy bend. This wide meander, known as the Middle Meander, is to be filled, essentially obliterated by the HCFCD, along with the ancient high banks nearby.

THE BANKS WE COULD LOSE: Susan Chadwick challenges the need for the Memorial Park Demonstration Project

Another alligator gar splashed as we drew closer to shore. We found the shallow water very clean, proved by the river mussels we discovered.

My canoe teams documented the tracks of many other animals. There were sporadic findings of nutria, which are not native to the bayou. We could tell that it was a nutria track because of its distinctly webbed print in the sand, but also because it was much longer and narrower than a beaver track. Another team found a pair of wild boar tracks that stirred up a lively conversation among the Scouts. We also documented bobcat tracks.

Elsewhere, we found a small beaver den underneath the roots of a tree on the south bank of the bayou just before the eastern border of the River Oaks Country Club. We discovered a cluster of stumps with teeth marks. Trees that were not cut down had been stripped of bark. We could see the claw marks. Following a trail of tracks, we were amazed to find that it led to a stockpile of freshly cut branches. The amount of evidence we saw in this area was a true testament to the vibrant wildlife that lives along the bayou.

But there along the northern section of the wide sandy beach, our group found a busy cluster of blue heron and white egret tracks. We would document numerous bird tracks downstream all the way to the Hogg Bird Sanctuary.

And after experiencing this part of the bayou, I understood why so many Houstonians want to preserve this historic nature area.

I fear for the future of this river of life flowing through the center of our concrete city. I fear for the future of the tall trees and the creatures large and small of the bayou. I hope that by raising awareness about the abundant wildlife and the beauty of Buffalo Bayou, I can help save the longest and one of the last public stretches of forested river running through our city for others to enjoy, particularly those who have few other opportunities to experience nature.

We allowed ourselves a moment of exploration, peace and reflection, gazing upstream and down, and continued our journey. Eventually, the rising Houston skyline greeted us back into the city.

Paul Hung is a junior at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston. He has been a Boy Scout for eight years and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in April 2017.

Bookmark Gray Matters. Your doubts will fade after identifying scat nearby.