After spending a good portion of the day working with Jeanine in the yard on what has been one of the first days remotely suggestive of spring, I spent the hour before sunset at the Great Meadows Reserve where I found this fellow getting his portion of vegetables for the day. Muskrats are not the most photogenic of creatures but this one was at least kind enough to tolerate my close approach. They spend much of their time in the water and are well suited for their semiaquatic life, avle to swim under water for 12 to 17 minutes. Their bodies, like those of seals and whales, are less sensitive to the buildup of carbon dioxide than those of most other mammals. They can close off their ears to keep the water out. Their hind feet are semiwebbed, although in swimming, their tails are their main means of propulsion.

I also had a chance to observe the bird pictured below fishing for its dinner. Although he landed quite a fine fish, it was too big for him and even after a dozen attempts to fly with it back to his nest he had to leave it behind.