next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
After a full week of being totally absorbed by my wife's school Christmas concerts, I went out this morning to check on the property. I noticed a tree laying on the lawn, and found that it had been cut off by a beaver. I have a very low opinion of the intelligence of these animals and this one didn't disappoint me. After cutting off only two slim branches it had obviously found that it had no way to drag off its trophy into Walker Brook through the dense bushes and simply left it there. In 30 years of cursing beavers I have found that often more trees are left where they fall or hang up than are actually used - it is especially aggravating when the only things they seem to leave untouched are thorn bushes and pin cherries. Wondering if the beaver could actually use the cut line that we cleared this summer to subdivide the property, I wandered over. From the top of the bank I had a clear view of an old ox-bow pond that sat on the new boundary - it was still mostly frozen over. A small opening in the ice looked like it was boiling for a few seconds and then a brown back emerged. It was a River Otter, inelegantly emerging backwards and holding a good sized fish in its jaws. I had no idea that such prey were possible in that pond. The Otter ignored me completely, even though I was resplendent in a red coat and bright red toque. It turned the fish around daintily for a while and seemed to be nibbling the fins off. Then it tossed it up a couple of times and caught it until it was pointing the right way and ate it with no fuss or rush at all. Clearly finished, it looked up at me and dived under the ice. I will have to pay more attention to that pond in the future, clearly it has far more possibilities than I have believed up to now. Seeing the Otter is quite pleasing as I believe it would not be there if the stream was polluted, lets hope it can stay in the area. John Belbin - Kingston
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects