Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A Big Acorn Welcome Today To Quanah Parker Park With Coyote Scat

An Acorn Welcome to Quanah Parker Park
As I've driven by Quanah Parker Park lately I've noticed signs along the trail.

Today my curiosity regarding the Quanah Parker Park signs was alleviated.

The signs are giant acorns. Which is fitting because there are some giant oak trees in Quanah Parker Park.

The first acorn sign that you see as you walk from the parking lot is the Welcome to Quanah Parker Park sign. This sign informs the visitor that Quanah Parker Park is home to many animals, with different habitats to enjoy. You are advised to enjoy the open prairie while you watch butterflies and dragonflies doing flower flitting, with lizards racing across your path.


The next acorn sign explains who Quanah Parker was. Quanah's mom, Cynthia Ann Parker, was taken by the Comanche in a raid. Eventually Cynthia became a wife of Comanche chief Peta Nocona and had a son named Quanah, who eventually became the last chief of the Quahada Comanche tribe.


The acorn signs are all cleverly titled. Such as the above one titled "Tracks and Scats," advising the nature seeker to look for tracks and scats, like Coyote scat. I ignored this suggestion and sought no Coyote scat today.


An acorn sign featuring "Furry Friends" suggested one might see Virginia Opossum, White-Tailed Deer, Nine-Banded Armadillo or Fox Squirrels. I've seen a lot of squirrels scurrying about Quanah Parker Park, but never an Opossum, Deer or Armadillo. I have seen Bobcats a couple times.

Armadilloes have never seemed all that furry to me. More scaly than furry.

If you'd like to hike along the Quanah Parker Park trails alongside the Trinity River in Fort Worth and don't know where Quanah Parker Park is, it is very easy to find. Just exit Loop 820 at Randol Mill Road and head west for a couple miles and you'll come to the park entry on your right, after you pass a couple Chesapeake Energy drilling operations.

Or, exit I-30 at Oakland Boulevard, then head north on Oakland, til you come to a gigantic Chesapeake Energy operation, then take a right on to Randol Mill and you will see one of the Quanah Parker Park trails on your left. You will come to the park entry in about a mile. Maybe less.

I do not know if it is legal to remove any Coyote scat you might find. I am fairly certain it is not legal to remove any Coyotes you might find.

2 comments:

CatsPaw said...

Well. Those are some kind of hideous. Maybe the legibility is better in person? Still, graphics to shudder by.

Giant acorn scat.

Durango said...

CatsPaw, the acorn signs did look better in person and were perfectly legible.