Governor Bridge Natural Area & Canoe Launch

The Patuxent River Park is a series of properties along the Patuxent River in Prince George's County that are managed by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). The Governor Bridge Natural Area & Canoe Launch is one of two Bowie locations that are part of the Patuxent River Park.

The parking area is located on the South side of Governor Bridge Road - about a half mile before the bridge (that's on the right hand side if heading toward the bridge and Anne Arundel County). If you blink, you might miss it. It's the first right that you can take off of Governor Bridge Road after passing the back lot for Prince George's Stadium.

Color triangles mark the trails. We saw yellow, red, blue and green trails on our trip today.

Some of the trails wind through wooded areas, and other trails head to the canoe launch or circle the lake. Biking is permitted.

You'll come across this pond if you head toward the canoe launch. Boating is only permitted in the Patuxent River itself. This pond and the lake are off limits to boats.

Turtles everywhere. Five on this log alone.

We came across this big turtle in one of the many ponds. Although it might be hard to tell from the picture, I estimate that the shell alone measures 14 to 16 inches.

We saw this duck in another pond.

We found a bridge over a stream on one of the trails, and we saw these tadpoles in the water. The tadpoles were fairly mature, and they probably measured 3 to 4 inches.

An 8 acre lake is the largest water feature at this location. The trails around the lake are probably the most popular trails in the park. According to the M-NCPPC, this was the site of an abandoned sand and gravel mining operation that closed in the 1960s, and restoration of this site began in the 1980s.

A Canada Goose nests on a tiny island in the lake. Canada Geese can become very aggressive in this situation, so luckily there was some distance between us and the goose.

This is probably a Northern Water Snake. We saw it slithering along the edge of the lake. The snake would disappear under muck on the bottom of the lake, and then it would suddenly reappear. We followed this snake along the edge for about 40 feet before we lost it.

We saw several trees that had been taken down by beaver, and we came across this beaver out for a swim.

We last saw the beaver dive under here. I assume this is the den.

Google Satellite Image
The parking area can be seen on the left. The large path to the right leads to the canoe launch on the Patuxent River. The pond on the right is the largest pond at this location. Adjust the map to the South to see the 8 acre lake.

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Possible Coyote and Bobcat Sightings in Bowie

The following discussion about coyote and bobcat sightings in Bowie recently took place on the Bowie Crofton Community of Blessings discussion group on Yahoo.

Member 1: I know I've heard many accounts of coyotes in the area, but now I'm hearing people who've seen bobcats. Have any of you sighted either of these? I'm curious if these are rare occurrences or are they getting more common.

Member 2: There is at least 1 fox that lives in the vicinity of the Belair and RT 3 exchange. But it is not a coyote.

Member 3: There are several dens of fox that are in the Bowie area. Please be careful with your small pets.

Member 1: I just want to state that I'm not trying to scare anyone, and I'm not scared myself. I'm more interested in the movement of these beautiful animals and hope that we can all live together peacefully. I don't want anyone to chase away or kill coyotes or bobcats. We just need to be aware of the things that draw them in to our neighborhoods and not tempt them into doing something that will get them hated and hunted.

Member 4: Thanks for passing this along.

I think foxes are nocturnal so it may be wise to keep small pets inside at night. If you have pet doors that lead outside, you may want to lock them.

Member 1: My brother has a regular coyote visitor in Saddlebrook. He had to build a smaller fenced in area within his fenced in yard for his tiny dogs when they go out. He did that to make it harder for the coyote to jump in by having to clear two fences. He doesn't let the dogs out unsupervised. Another neighbor saw a bobcat in the same neighborhood, but my brother and sister in law haven't seen that one, but they HAVE seen the coyote.

Member 5: There have been fox spotted in the Whitehall section too.

Member 5: Thank you. I would love to see these beautiful animals too. I have seen the fox a couple of times.

We need to stop encroaching on their territory.

Member 6: I'm in Meadowbrook off of Millstream and 197 and I occasionally see red fox in my backyard by the pool. Never seen and coyotes or bobcats.

Member 7: I agree with you Cheryl. It is wonderful to see the tolerant attitudes of folks on the list toward our wilder neighbors. I have (rarely) spotted red fox in my yard too. Friends told me years ago that there were coyote on the NASA campus. We would be poorer if we were to never have these occasional encounters with the earth's other creatures, I think.

Although I was surprised to hear about the possibility of coyotes and bobcats in Bowie, it turns out that I shouldn't be. According to a Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reports on coyotes in Maryland, coyotes can now be found in every county in Maryland. A similar DNR report on bobcats in Maryland from 2007 (PDF - see page 2) reported bobcat sightings in 14 of 23 Maryland counties.

The DNR coyote article reports that as coyotes increase in population in an area, red fox are pushed out. Red fox populations are diminishing in some western and central portions of Maryland, so perhaps that's why it seems like there has been an increase in red fox sightings in Bowie in recent years - including an incident last July when a Race Track Road resident was bitten by a rabid fox.

Harry Spiker, the Game Mammal Section Leader at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, had the following to say about possible coyote and bobcat sightings in Bowie.

Coyotes are known to occupy all of Maryland now, with the highest densities in western Maryland (Garrett and Allegany counties). Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties have the highest population densities of bobcats. Sporadic distribution of bobcats continues eastward to the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

Both species are very good at avoiding people and not being seen. Both are currently in their breeding season right now, though, and this may account for increased sightings in a given area.

Related Links

• Maryland DNR article on Coyotes in Maryland
• Maryland DNR article on Coyotes
• Maryland DNR article on Bobcats in Maryland (see page 2)
  
• Howard County Times Article (PDF) about a coyote attack on a dog in Ellicott City in 2006
  
• Southern Maryland On-Line Discussion Thread about bobcat sightings in St. Mary's County in 2008