By the time I got up this morning, the creek behind my house had receded to a fraction of its engorgement the previous night. Today dawned beautiful and sunny, with a light wind and pleasant temperatures. It was if Nature gave a sigh of relief.
I walked down to the marshy area over by the willow pictured in one of the previous photos, to find the water level making the pond more respectable, and cavorting taking place.
The best guess I can make is that it was beavers, or maybe minks. They were swimming, and given the displacement, maybe a couple feet in length, and turning and churning the water noisily. But they blended in well with the water, and I only glimpsed reddish brown fur, face and ears a couple of times--no tails--and so quick I wasn't sure of what I'd seen. Beavers tend to be active at night, but with all the flooding, they may have been making repairs, and minks might have been fishing. I've seen a mink in the area (near the creek at the old apartment that had been hit by a car, so I know they're in the area). On the other hand, the marsh does look like it's got a dam jutting into it, probably man-made but possibly piggy-backed onto by a beaver colony. Any ideas, nature buffs?
Whatever they were, they were having fun!
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