Park Ecology

Here is just some of the flora and fauna that can be found at Peppy Paws Pooch Park. This page will be more or less constantly updated as I find more things to add to the lists, and hopefully each item will be a link to a page with pics and information. According to the Soil Survey of Ashland County, Ohio there are six different soils here.

Plants:

      Sugar Maple
      White Pine
      Wild Cherry
      Wild Grape
      Burdock (working at reducing this)
      Garlic Mustard (working at eradicating this invasive pest)
      Mayflower
      Phlox
      Jewel Weed
      Hedge Bindweed
      Poison Ivy
      Virginia Creeper
      Broadleaf Plantain
      Chicory
      Dandelion
      Thistle
      Multiflora Rose
      Stinging Nettle
      Daylily
      Blackberry
      Catnip
      Ground Ivy?
      Boxelder
      Pokeweed
      Common Milkweed

      ...LOTS more to add here...

Insects, Spiders, & Crustaceans:

      Mosquito (ugh, pretty bad this year with all the rain!)
      Dragonfly
      Damselfly
      Garden Spider
      Crayfish
      Katydid
      Wolf Spider
      Praying Mantis
      Cricket
      Honey Bee
      Bumble Bee
      Cicada
      Aphid
      Monarch Butterfly
      Easter Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
      Cabbage Butterfly
      ...LOTS more to add...

Amphibians:

      Northern Leopard Frog Common in the pasture on the north side of the creek.
      Green Frog I generally see them on the creek banks
      American Toad
      Tree Frog

Reptiles:

Butler's Garter Snake Very common around here.
Common Water Snake

Birds:

      Robin
      Hummingbird
      Crow
      Turkey Vulture
      Mourning Dove
      Red-Winged Blackbird
      European Starling
      Baltimore Oriole (neighboring property)
      Eastern Bluebird
      Canada Goose (neighboring cornfields)
      Green Heron
      Great Blue Heron
      Kingfisher
      Eastern Kingbird
      Slate-colored Junco
      Downy Woodpecker
      Red-headed Woodpecker (neighboring property)
      White-breasted Nuthatch
      House Wren
      Cardinal
      Blue Jay
      Tufted Titmouse
      Phoebe
      Eastern Peewee?
      Goldfinch
      Black-capped Chickadee
      Wood Duck Every spring for the past few years I've seen a pair at the very top of an old maple.
      Screech Owl I frequently hear them at night and have seen them in trees in the daylight too.
      Great Horned Owl I saw this recently sitting in a tree along Rt 58 just north of 1175. Unmistakable.
      Kestrel
      Red-tailed Hawk I haven't seen any hawks this year. I had a big old maple tree that overlooked the pasture that they often sat in, but it fell last year. However, I did find feathers galore at the base of two 6x6 fence posts, which I guess would be the work of a hawk or kestrel.
      Northern Harrier?
      Song Sparrow
      Barn Swallow

Mammals:

      Groundhog
      Mouse/Vole/Mole/Shrew of various kinds (need to sort them out)
      Northern Short-tailed Shrew?
      Raccoon I hear these squabbling at night often.
      Opposum
      Muskrat I see these every so often down in the creek.
      Coyote Years ago, I actually saw a sick one INSIDE my pole barn. I routinely hear them in the pasture at night in the spring, especially.
      Red Fox I've seen a couple of them crossing neighboring fields over the years.
      Fox Squirrel
      Chipmonk
      Cottontail Rabbit
      some type of bat