Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Linda Schaub
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Linda Schaub
- Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal (and a pal) partake of peanuts at the Park. #Wordless Wednesday #A favorite vintage ornament.
- Lean, mean and green.
- Which way is Santa Claus? #Wordless Wednesday #Remember those days?
- When there’s wicked wind, wildflowers and …
- Before and after a cup of Joe. #Wordless Wednesday #Sadly, we don’t ALL rise and shine!
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FIFTY FAVORITE PARK PHOTOS
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- Parker noshin’ nuts
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- Fox Squirrel
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- Black Squirrel
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- Parker, my Park cutie!
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- Pekin Duck
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- Mallard Hybrid Duck
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- Midnight munchin’ nuts
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- Mute Swan
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- Goslings
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- Mama Robin
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- Seagulls on ice floe
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Parker chowin’ down
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- Mallard Duck
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- Northern Cardinal
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- Great Blue Heron (“Harry”) fishing for shad
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- Parker: shameless begging
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- Viceroy Butterfly
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- Great Blue Heron
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- American Goldfinch
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- Seagull
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- Robin baby (not fledged yet)
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- Mallard Ducks
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- Robins almost ready to fledge
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- Parker angling for peanuts
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- Robin fledgling
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- Parker making a point that he wants peanuts
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- Parker smells peanuts
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- Parker with a peanut
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- Red-Winged Blackbird
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- Seagull
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- Red-Bellied Woodpecker
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- Pekin Duck
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- Starling
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- Canada Geese family
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- Canada Goose and goslings
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- Red-Winged Blackbird
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- Parker says candy is dandy.
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- Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
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- American Goldfinch
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- Hunny Bunny
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- Parker looking for peanuts
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- The pier just past sunrise
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- Mute Swan
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- Parker in the snow
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- Parker and a treat
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Me and my shadow (a/k/a Parker)
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- Fox Squirrel
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- Seagull
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- Canada Goose
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- Mallard Ducks
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- Mute Swan
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- Fox Squirrel – Parker
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- Northern Cardinal
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BADGES
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- 02-02-2018
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- 03-13-2018
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- 03-25-2018
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- 03-26-2018
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- Year #6!! 02/2019
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- 04-13-2019
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- 11-21-19
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WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
A lovely fat rat
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That it is Brian – you’d think that snacking on Lotus leaves would keep his boyish figure! 🙂
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😂
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a muskrat in real life.
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This is only my second one Kate. They are not the cutest critter and there used to be a local catering company that served Muskrat dinners and they were very much in demand!
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Ewwww!
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I saw one in our back yard in Shell Knob, once. I thought it was a beaver at first until I saw that skinny tail.
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You’re right Zazzy – without seeing the tail, they look alike. I’ve never seen a beaver but I have seen their handiwork at Lake Erie Metropark. I was amazed to see what a beaver’s teeth can do to a tree and they whittle it down so much, I don’t know how it is left standing!
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So cute!
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This is only the second one I’ve ever seen. It was sweetly munching on Lotus leaves!
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It is interesting for me to see what a muskrt looks like 🙂
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This is only the second one I’ve seen Anne. They resemble a beaver, except muskrats have a skinny tail and the beaver has a wide, flat tail that resembles a paddle. People eat muskrat here – there was a catering place where the owner caught muskrat and prepared meals and they were quite popular!
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There are muskrats over in the pond across the road. I saw an osprey carry one off this summer….the osprey was having a hard time flying with it. I think it was a pretty healthy muskrat!
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Wow – that osprey must have been eating its Wheaties to lug that muskrat in its talons! They are chunky! Did you ever see the video of the osprey that got a fish so big, it kept dragging the osprey back into the water? It was amazing footage by a photographer who happened to be standing there – I believe it was in Florida.
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That fella has some mighty big teeth! I would not want him to take a bite of me!! It looks content finding dinner in the water. I’ve never seen on of these critters. Quite interesting.
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Yes, aren’t they big teeth TD? Muskrats look a lot like beavers, except for their long skinny tail. I’ve read somewhere they eat a lot of cattails, so that is why their teeth are so brown. People around these parts used to order muskrat dinners from a local caterer during the Lenten season (they are cold-blooded mammals so that meat was okay to eat during Lent) … they were quite popular at one time, but the business has since closed down.
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a muskrat in real life… and looking at those teeth, I’m not sure I want to. 🙂
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This is only my second sighting Janis and I agree with you on the teeth. They are huge and the parks like them as they munch on reeds and cattails keeping the shorelines pared down from invasive plants.
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Ah he’s a cutie! I don’t seem them very often. Great pics!
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Thanks Susan – he was right up near the shoreline and kept looking right at me!
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Wonderful pictures Linda! They are so much fun to sit and watch. We were feeding fish bread with the grandkids a few years ago and a muskrat stole a piece, swam across the stream to store in his den then came back for more. Of course we made sure he had plenty each time he came back. Lol
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That’s funny Diane – a little opportunist! I have no funny stories about muskrats and this is only the second one I’ve ever seen. One was in the Creek at the Park. He was leisurely enjoying his Lotus leaf!
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I love seeing these guys. This is a fun set of photos. 🙂
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I felt lucky to be that close up to this guy Rebecca. He was right near the shoreline and lingering over his Lotus leaf. Glad you enjoyed the photos! 🙂
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Sometimes they get so distracted that they forget what’s around them. Those moments make for fun photos.
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Yes, you are right about that Rebecca. Food is a great distraction for any critter it seems. They forget to watch their back for predators. I worry about that with the squirrels at the Park. I try to put the peanuts in a safe place and now, especially, because it is Fall and they want to hide peanuts, they leave that safe place and cross the field to bury a peanut. Yesterday there was a Cooper’s Hawk on the fence and I saw it swoop down behind a tree – I didn’t see anything (thankfully).
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Muskrat love, indeed! 😀 I’ve never seen one close up and your photos have captured him beautifully.
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Thank you Debbie! I was lucky because I saw some ducks along the shoreline and was trying to take pics of them and then this guy surfaced. This is only the second muskrat I’ve ever seen and the other one was paddling down the Creek, its tail streaming out behind it. I had to throw that old song in there for those of us old enough to remember it. 🙂
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Oh yes, I remember that song. Not exactly a favourite. 😆 I never understood the appeal of The Captain and Tenille.
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Not a favorite of mine either Debbie – in fact I thought it was a bit dumb. I never understood their appeal either to be honest.
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Miss Linda………………………………………HOW did you ever get a close up picture of a muskrat nibbling on a Lotus leaf??
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I was just lucky Ann Marie. I saw some ducks and went to take their picture and this muskrat surfaced, climbed on the end of the log and started munching on a Lotus leaf. It made my day!
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Miss Linda…………………………….WOW………………………..
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A muskrat wasn’t even on my bucket list Ann Marie!
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Cool muskrat pics, Linda! It kind of looks like a miniature bear, in a way. I wonder how long they live?
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Glad you liked the pics Tom! It’s only the second time I’ve seen a muskrat and I was lucky to see it right at the shoreline at Lake Erie Metropark. It does look like a miniature bear all hunched over like that. It was really enjoying that Lotus leaf. I had to Google to find out the answer to your question Tom and they only live three to four years in Michigan (in the wild; up to 10 years in captivity). I suspect the cold Winters and frozen marshes aren’t contributing to its longevity.
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Wow… 3 to 4 years is not very long but measuring our chronological time with their sense of time is not fair. I used to see more of them in past years and — like so many sweet creatures — now they seem to be dwindling in numbers. So cool that you were able to capture one with your camera!
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No, I didn’t think it was long for them to live either Tom and that’s probably due to the harsh Winters. They don’t hibernate, but the article said they have floating lodges like a beaver does or they also have an underwater den. I was excited to see it that day and up so close too,
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I am not sure I have ever actually seen a muskrat before. All I can think of is a variation on the tongue-twister about woodchucks – how much musk could a muskrat rat if a muskrat could rat musk.
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Ha ha – this is the only the second one I’ve seen JP, probably because up until a few years ago, some enterprising fellow who had a catering business, decided to catch and cook muskrats during the Lenten season. He probably depleted half of SE Michigan’s muskrats.
Since they are cold-water mammals, they are allowed for meals for Catholics during Lent. Never heard of that idea either – it was fish or pancakes on Friday during Lent and I still don’t eat meat on Fridays any time of the year now. Anyway, the idea went over well and Kola’s Kitchen was very busy with their muskrat dinners. No, it never appealed to me.
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That’s a muskrat, huh? Not the most handsome creature.
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I agree with you Ally. Those teeth look pretty nasty too!
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I’ve never seen a wild muskrat, what a find! He looks like he could be one of my granddaughter’s stuffies. 🙂
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Another great find for me Barbara – up until this time I had only seen one muskrat swimming down the middle of the Creek and its long tail streaming out behind it and I didn’t even take a photo. So this was a treat – I got close to the shoreline as ducks and/or turtles are always perched on logs and I saw this guy/gal instead. It was plump like a stuffie would be – surely it didn’t get that plump eating lotus leaves!
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This is my first time seeing a muskrat! Wow. What a cutie.
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It’s only my second time seeing one Esther; the last time it was swimming and I never saw its face. They are plump which I didn’t expect. I was thinking they were sleeker.
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