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

[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.