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Wild Grapes

KEDM Public Radio | By Kelby Ouchley

Published September 3, 2018 at 9:35 AM EDT

Grapes are woody vines that climb with tendrils in search of sunlight. About twenty species of native grapes are found in the eastern United States in a variety of habitats. The well-known fruits of grapes have been consumed by humans for thousands of years in some form. The famous early naturalist William Bartram described Native Americans’ use of grapes near Mobile in 1773. He wrote, “The Indians gather great quantities of them, which they prepare for bunches in the sun and air, and store them up for provision.”

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Kelby Ouchley

Kelby was a biologist and manager of National Wildlife Refuges for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 30 years. He has worked with alligators in gulf coast marshes and Canada geese on Hudson Bay tundra. His most recent project was working with his brother Keith of the Louisiana Nature Conservancy on the largest floodplain restoration project in the Mississippi River Basin at the Mollicy Unit of the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge, reconnecting twenty-five square miles of former floodplain forest back to the Ouachita River.

See stories by Kelby Ouchley