Will bison roam again on Darby Plains?
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| Prairie expert Jack McDowell displays a sprig of wild mint that he plucked while leading a tour through one of Battelle Darby Metro Park’s prairies on July 11. |
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| The Radwanski family of Grove City smell some wild mint as they partake in a prairie tour at Battelle Darby Metro Park. Clockwise from upper left, Sarah (age 14 months), Lisa, Kevin and Katie (4 years). |
If prairie expert Jack McDowell gets his way, bison will once again roam the meadows of the Darby Plains, and with them will come the reemergence of plant and animal populations that have since died off.
Several hundred years ago, bison played an integral part in the Ohio prairie ecosystem. Their herds cleared tall grass to allow new plant species to emerge.
The varied flora that resulted attracted a diverse animal population as well.
Pioneers hunted the bison, until eventually, no more lived in Ohio.
The invention of the steel plow further decimated the prairies by enabling farmers to cultivate thick clay soil.
Many plants became endangered, only growing in areas where plows could not reach, such as along fences, near gravesites, and beside railroad tracks.
For years, McDowell walked along railroad tracks and visited old cemeteries searching for endangered wildflowers.
Currently, in the restored prairies of Battelle Darby Metro Park, many rare flowers that McDowell saved and cultivated are in bloom, such as white indigo and the royal catchfly.
In addition to the red bells of the royal catchfly, the park is the only place to find the salmon catchfly.
To McDowell the ecosystem is still incomplete, but with the passage of the recent Metro Park levy, he expects the park to receive bison as early as next year.
“You will see bison on the Darby plains,” said park naturalist Tim Taylor.
McDowell estimates the park would need 900-acres of prairie to support a herd along with a barrier to separate the park visitors from the animals.
“We’ve got to buy one more track of land and we have to have shade,” McDowell said. “Anytime we are ready, we can go to the Wilds and get bison.”
Recently the Wilds (a zoological park near Zanesville built on a reclaimed strip mine) had turned to McDowell for assistance.
The bison at the Wilds were becoming sick from eating grass the park had planted, so the management asked McDowell to create a prairie.
Some of the animals McDowell hopes will return to Battelle Darby with the introduction of bison include badgers and sandpipers.
Visitors may even see coyotes, but “you don’t have to worry about coyotes,” McDowell said. “Coyotes are everywhere.”
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| The endangered royal catchfly plant finds a home amongst the tall grasses of the Battelle Darby Metro Park’s prairies, along with many other plant species McDowell has found and recultivated at the park. The catchfly is so-named for the sticky substance it secretes. Because of the long narrow nature of the blossoms, the catchfly depends upon hummingbirds for pollination. |
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| A monarch caterpillar munches on the leaf of a milkweed plant in the prairies of Battelle Darby Metro Park. |