Privet and Gator Hunting before spring break

 

On March 6th, we tackled our second round of cutting back invasive privet—and this time felt much smoother than the first. I had a better idea of which clippers worked best, and wearing long sleeves definitely helped minimize the scratches.

In the weeks since, I’ve started to recognize areas along our hikes where controlled burns and mulching have been used to combat the privet. It’s encouraging to see those restoration efforts pay off. At the same time, I’ve also noticed spots where the privet is still creeping into the prairie, standing out sharply against the native landscape—like a sore thumb.  

March 13 also brought a couple of surprises when we arrived at the service center. The biggest one? A group of new prairie dogs had just arrived after a long journey to their new home!

On my most recent hike, I was excited to spot where they’d been relocated—right near the bison viewing deck at the start of our trail.


Then, we were invited to witness a gator hunt. The team had managed to reel in an 11-footer after nearly 30 minutes of tugging, and they were working to record its size and weight. It was fascinating to learn that the seemingly quiet pond we were at actually had around 50 alligators in it, even though we had only spotted about three during the day. That number came from a nighttime spotlight survey, which gave a much clearer picture of the gator population.

We learned that keeping track of alligator numbers is important for several reasons, including monitoring population health and managing the ecosystem. One interesting fact we learned was that raccoons are a major predator of alligator eggs, which can affect hatchling survival rates. Another cool observation was hearing birds that sounded like pigs or boars.


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