It’s rather fun digging in the soil in Ramsey Park. What once was a landfill is now covered with more than 250 species of plants native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Sure, there are pockets of dastardly Guinea grass, but that can be dug up easily enough with a garden fork (and a lot of sweat). Once an area has been cleared, it’s important to re-vegetate fairly quickly with planned specimens, then checked periodically for errant tufts of Guinea grass to remove.
All this digging offers opportunities to find old landfill treasures like medicine bottles of bygone eras. Or more recent artifacts like 1960s Tupperware shards or pieces of faded shag carpeting.
Sometimes interesting finds are on top of the soil, like skeletons. It’s always fun to speculate what it might have been. Someone in the group of volunteers usually can identify a skeleton and point out parts that make it so.
This month, during the special Sunday workday, someone found a partial skeleton. “Young alligator,” some said, to an increasingly wary group of volunteers.
“Nah, alligator gar,” another said. Photos sent to our sponsor and premier fish expert, Tony Reisinger, confirmed alligator gar. The two rows of teeth were a telling clue.
Earlier this year, Texas Parks and Wildlife online magazine published an interesting article about gar. http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2015/mar/ed_3_gar/
The article gave me a greater appreciation for this interesting looking fish.
Anglers come through the park while we’re working, on their way to the Arroyo Colorado River. Some come alone or in groups of two with just rod and reel; families roll little wagons behind them loaded with gear and refreshments. Many are on the hunt for the Big One – an ancient gar.
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