For many of us in Houston these days, the walking/jogging tracks are our primary venues for physical exercise. Bear Creek Park on Eldridge has been my home field for over twenty years with an occasional few laps at Thomas Hershey Park on Memorial Drive thrown in every once in a while to break the spell.
Over the years, it seems to me that we regulars have been seeing a lot more wildlife on the walking paths than we once did. Wild deer standing around the paths at dusk in the spring and fall, however, have been regular sights for years at Bear Creek. Snakes in the springtime and rabbits all year-round are also no big news, anymore, any more so than the sight of raccoons, possum, buzzards, vultures, cardinals, and a wide variety of other indigenous wild birds.
It’s just that lately we’ve been getting an increase in the sporadic sighting, especially at Hershey, which trails for great distances along side Buffalo Bayou, of more exotic predators like wolves, coyotes, and most recently, a cougar.
I wouldn’t want to meet up with any of those last few guys on any walking trail anywhere, but it’s possible that any of us might one of these days. The wildlife refuge beyond Addicks Dam has been so stirred up in recent years by the incredible residential and commercial growth west in Katy and north around Little York that it isn’t hard to figure why we are seeing more wild life moving inward upon us. They aren’t being pushed away by Houston’s growth. They seemed to getting squeezed from the perimeters to move back into some of the neighborhoods in the Memorial Drive area to look for food.
Sometimes that food source is the family pet, so keep your eyes open to what’s going on around you. It’s one of the prices we have to pay with our relentless willingness to mess with Mother Nature.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
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