I was out on my Sunday afternoon drive looking for something to grab my attention for picture-taking. I was south of town in farm country, but couldn’t do my whole route because I’d forgotten to fill up on gas before I left the city. Ugh!
I came across a large pond that had several beaver lodges, or dams as they are also called.
Spent cattails and milkweed pods surrounded the pond and added to its beauty.
What I was looking for was the beaver. I finally found it popping up in the middle of the pond. A cutie.
It took to the water shortly, its long body swimming. Its eyes were above the water, alligator-style, and the long tail was just below the surface.
Every once in a while, I’d get a better look at its tail being used as a rudder as it swam. The beaver can be up to 50 inches long, including its tail. I really wanted to see those large front teeth, but it wasn’t going to show me, so I moved on.
I came to a smaller pond, also with a large dam. There was something on top of it, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
I got a bit closer and I still wasn’t sure. It seemed like there was a head sticking up at the back.
Finally, the critter moved its head and I could see it was a goose. It appeared she was using the beaver lodge for a nest. How opportunistic!
As I turned around, my low fuel light came on so I headed back towards town. I was lucky, though, because I spied my two favorite Sandhill Cranes pecking away in a distant sunlit field. I’m glad they’ve survived this up and down weather we’ve been having.