Grass Rescue

   Other than the obvious destruction that hurricanes bring to coastal cities, there is often long term effects that not too many folks even consider.  The high winds and storm surges can change the flora and fauna of an area.  After Hurricane Katrina, we had a massive influx of brown widow spiders that I had never noticed before here on the Bayou.  We had the occasional black widow but never any brown widow spiders.  Spiders are not the only creepy crawly critters that come riding in on debris.  Before Hurricane Camille, not many folks around here had ever seen an eastern lubber grasshopper.  We have had limpkins from Florida, strange fish from who knows where and even lizards from the islands.  Sometimes, the critters adapt to their new home and, sometimes, they move on in search of their own kind.

  Plants, on the other hand, really cannot "move on".  Once here, they stay...for better or worse.  One of the "hurricane transplants" to the Bayou is cordgrass.  This plant was brought to us by Hurricane Katrina, also.  I first noticed a few sprigs on the east side of the pier not long after that storm.  Now, it makes up about 30% of the marsh in this area and is spreading.  While I do not mind the looks of this newcomer, I do have a complaint.  It is displacing the needle grass that was originally here.  Great clumps of the needle grass are being washed away with each new storm as the roots of the cordgrass has disrupted the root systems of the needle grass.  With the past two storms (Zeta and Ida), I have been trying to restore the clumps that wash into the yard.  It is no easy task to drag the heavy (50 to 100lb) clumps back down to the water but I figure it is necessary as a preservation act.  Plus, the mussels that are attached to the root systems need that brackish water to live.  There is not much I can do to eliminate the cordgrass but perhaps I can save a bit of the needle grass.