Poor Blotchy

People, please, pretty please THINK about it--do some research for heaven's sake--before you kill a snake in the creek!!

This morning, I was walking around the Reach and saw a beautiful blotched water snake hunting for critters in the Bathtub. It's a native, non-poisonous snake that's often confused with water moccasins and cottonmouths. Chances are EXTREMELY LOW that we would ever, ever have a moccasin on the Reach. (That doesn't mean we shouldn't take precautions when encountering a snake, it just means we should THINK before we kill.)

Poor, poor Blotchy the Water Snake. Happily nibbling on our pesty little rats, mice and mega-roaches. Now succumbed to the wanton power of human insecurities, chopped into bits by the (damned) Easter Seals (who meant well, but still).

Clean Sweep 2008

Help clean garbage from the creek during CLEAN SWEEP on Saturday, April 5.

Equinox Tree Planting

Saturday, March 22
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Join FLWR to plant 33 new trees and shrubs around Willowbrook Reach! We’ll be planting yaupons, mountain laurels, Mexican plums, bur oaks, pecans and many others.

Want to know the best part? You’ll be contributing to the future of this city and neighborhood as a green, healthy place to live, and there will be NO DIGGING!

HOW IT WILL WORK

• Austin Parks & Recreation will dig the holes for the trees using their fancy machines
• We will place the trees in the holes, fill the holes with soil and cover them with mulch. Easy as pie.
• Meet at the corner of Sycamore and Half Penny

WHAT TO BRING

• Shovels and gloves
• Trucks – If you have a pick-up truck, please bring it! We need trucks to cart trees and mulch around the park

WATERING

Watering the trees will help them survive the upcoming harsh summer months. We’re looking for neighbors of the Reach, anyone who lives on E 40th, Sycamore, Willowbrook or Cherrywood, to volunteer to water new trees in front of their houses. Please let us know if you can help!

[RAIN date: March 29]