Muskrat love

At first, I thought there was only one muskrat in the neighborhood pond, but the other day I heard three distinct spashes as I walked by with the dog. So that muskrat is lonely no more.

Photo courtesy of Indiana DNR

When I googled "muskrat", most of the hits involved muskrat removal. Apparently, they can be a nuisance. However, being mostly aquatic and awkward on land, they are not likely to be rooting around in nearby garbage cans.

While muskrats closely resemble otters, mink, and beavers, they are more closely related to mice and rats, which explains their hairless tails. In nearby marshes, I have seen their houses made from cattails, but here they have "bank dens" - homes that are above the waterline but with underwater entrances.

Muskrats are mostly vegetarian, dining on cattails and plants, both aquatic and on land, although they will eat fish, frogs, and small turtles. Our pond has all this except cattails. They also serve as a food source for hawks, owls, coyotes, and foxes, all of which live in this area. The circle of life.

For more info on muskrats, visit this Indiana DNR page, where I found most of this information.

On the homefront, the weather has definitely turned wintery. I'm fine with the cold as long it is not accompanied by wind.

Rough week

One of my dogs, Watson, passed away this past week. He had been sneezing a lot lately, then the sneezes turned bloody. The vet tried to do a nasal flush, which broke off parts of a tumor. During the procedure, the dog went into a coma and stopped breathing. They ventilated him for several hours, but it was no use. I arrived to be with him at the end, when the ventilator was disconnected, and I sat with him while he slowly passed.

It was all very sudden - I prefer a long goodbye - and poor Clio doesn't know where her friend and pack leader has gone. The spark has gone out. I've been taking her on longer and more varied walks, giving her extra attention, plan to find her a doggy daycare where she can romp with other mutts once or twice a week. Without Watson, she doesn't see the point of running around the backyard. They weren't bonded, but good playmates.

On one of my last walks with Watson, we visited the neighborhood pond, where we saw this muskrat. When I see one, I want to believe it is a beaver, but beavers are about twice the size of muskrats. An otter would be WAY cool, but they prefer rivers.

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be erratic. We received more snow, but most of that is gone and tomorrow temps will be in the 50's. We are heading to the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, to view the sandhill cranes, who hopefully will be doing their mating dance.