Harmonie State Park Naturalist Amelia Wildeman said it wasn’t hard to 10 invasive plants along the paths and roadways of the park.
“These plants tend to take over and crowd out our native plants’ habitat, so they're not very well behaved plants in that way,” she said.
At each owl location are educational facts, and an example of the invasive plant. These include Asian honeysuckle, Autumn Olive and Garlic Mustard. A new plant includes the Japanese Chaff Flower. There’s even an invasive animal.
Previous years were about identifying winter trees for example, but no matter the theme, it’s about education — whether it’s a plant, animal or park feature, and the perched owls highlight the theme.
“So maybe I want you to see the river; I want you to know where the mountain bike trails are. I want you to visit the campground, so I put the owls in those locations," Wildeman said. "But this year, since I had to find the basic species, they're kind of random.”
Random, but a map will be provided. At the scavenger hunt, each participant is given a game card with which to enter a contest.
“One entry is going to be drawn for a prize of a 2025, annual entrance permit, a park pass worth $50 and that gets you into all the state parks in the state for the whole entire calendar year,” she said.
There are about 50 entries each year, so far there are 40, with a couple weeks to go. Learn more about the search here
Support independent journalism today. You rely on WNIN to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Give to grow our local reporting today. Donate