Cattails

     Cattails are very common plants that grow in water along the edges of ditches, ponds, and lakes.  In 1994, I decided to have a pond built in my pasture to create habitat for wildlife.  As that big hole in my pasture began to fill with water, I was anxious see some aquatic plants begin to grow, so I gathered some of the brown, hot dog shaped heads from the local lakes, brought them home to my pond, and broke the heads open to scatter the fluffy cattail seeds on the water of my pond.  I figured that would start some cattail plants, and it certainly did.

    Now three-quarters of the side of my pond are lined with cattails, and they have created some of the habitat for wildlife that I was hoping for.  There are birds that live among the thick tangle of cattails, and I am pretty sure that is where the female mallard nests every year.  The muskrat that lives in my pond digs up and eats the roots of the cattail plant.

    This time of year the iconic hot dog shaped head of the plant deteriorates and the tightly packed seeds that make up the head, expand into fluff which is dispersed by the wind, some of what lands on the pond surface and floats to a new place to root.

    Yes, cattails are common plants, but I am happy that they have established themselves along on the shoreline of my pond.

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