Aminals

[squirrelitude]

Today was the first day of the CSA, so I took the kid in the bike trailer out to the farm in Waltham. The crops are only just starting to come in, but we saw some interesting animals: Teenage chickens getting used to people, an Extremely Smol mouse that we cornered near the bathrooms, a hawk getting mobbed, a very industrious honeybee.

On the way back, we stopped at Alewife Reservation to walk around briefly, and within the first *minute* we saw:

- ducks
- a muskrat (?) swimming just under the surface, carrying a lily pad
- a male red-winged blackbird that landed not 5 meters from us on the boardwalk railing, and sang gloriously—then flew to practically within arm's reach to hang out for a bit (did it want food?)

Of course, my camera's battery was dead. so in the next 15 minutes, we also saw a turtle, some fish, a rabbit, and 2 adult swans and their 3 cygnets. (Oh, and a groundhog also ran across the bike path just before we arrived.)

I really need to wander over to Alewife Reservation more often.

Comments

[wispfox]

"muskrat (?) swimming just under the surface, carrying a lily pad"

I wonder why!

[squirrelitude]

Good question, because it passed a lot of other lily pads on the way over! Including ones that were very close to the place it seemed to stop.

[(Anonymous)]

According to Marty Stouffer's _Wild America_, muskrats build similar homes to beavers, but whereas beavers cut down trees to build their lodges out of wood, muskrats collect green vegetation to build their homes (I can't remember whether their homes are also called lodges).

[wispfox]

Neat! Thanks for the info!

[chamaenerion]

I have to have faith that the muskrat knows, at least?

I have found that behavior really useful for spotting muskrats — look for something moving in the water that couldn't move that way without help. :)

[squirrelitude]

Unless it's... instinct! *waggles fingers spookily*

I wonder if there was just something superior about that leaf, or whether the act of carrying a leaf was valuable for some reason (surely not concealment, if it makes them easier to spot).

This is only the second time I've seen a (living) muskrat. Now I know where to find them!

[chamaenerion]

For seeing muskrats — and beavers, too — I highly recommend getting a kayak or canoe. (I don't know anything about boating safety for kids, though.)

[chamaenerion]

My theories are that either a) muskrats are not strategic actors who optimize their leaf-gathering algorithms, and that leaf was the closest when it felt it was time to carry a leaf around, or b) it was avoiding taking leaves from too close to its lodge.

[squirrelitude]

Oooh, I like option b.

[chamaenerion]

There's a pond there called Black's Nook which currently has a lot of bullfrogs (and bullfrog tadpoles). I had binoculars with me the other day and spent a while watching them inflate their throats as they croak.

I try not to make fun of how people talk, but I don't feel at all bad saying that frogs are ridiculous. :)

[squirrelitude]

I adore that "wrRRUARRt" sound.