Next Meeting: Monday, July 1, 2019; 7:30 p.m. in the Council Room. Meetings are on the 1st Monday of each month. Our August meeting will be Monday, August 5th. All are welcome to attend.
Thank you to all who attended our June 24 Informational Meeting on Deer Management. Your questions and comments are very important as we continue to develop a deer population management plan to support our efforts to restore the health of our forest ecosystem. Thank you to our speakers Ryan Butler and David Petersen from Montgomery County Parks, David Berk from the Bow Hunting Fire Fighters of Maryland, and Elisa Caldone from the Meadow Wood community in Silver Spring. Our next step is to summarize the meeting and report back to the Town Council.
A recent walk through the East Woods showed a resurgence of native grasses and understory plants along trails which were treated last year for non-native invasive plants. Native plants identified include white grasses, sedges, jack-in-the-pulpit, smart weed, poke weed, cattails, passion flower, moon weed flower, milkweed, and possum haw viburnum, to name a few.
We would like to give a special thanks to Charlie and Mary Challstrom and Joan Mahaffey for watering and erecting deer protection for new tree plantings in the East Woods.
When you walk in the woods, please be conscious of the possibility of ticks. This wet spring has seen an abundant tick population. Black legged ticks, which may carry Lyme disease, are small, often no larger than the head of a pin. When caught early, Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses can be easily treated with antibiotics. Some precautions to prevent exposure and disease include:
- Conduct tick checks on yourself, your children and your pets. Carefully remove the entire attached ticks including the head and mouth parts promptly.
- Wear light colored clothing. Tuck your pant legs into your socks or boots.
- Stay on trails. Avoid dense vegetation and tall grasses.
- Consider using long-lasting Permethrin repellents for clothing.
For further information, please consult the Montgomery County website:
https://www.montgomeryparks.org/caring-for-our-parks/wildlife/ticks-lyme-disease/