Category: Nature

Pond has been quiet – in that each day it looks the same as it looked the day before.  In other words – the muskrats have not been active.

Are they gone?  Or just laying low?

No new broken reeds.  No half chewed bits of reed floating about.  The surface holes to their dens have not been repaired.  And they have not been used in over a week either.  Nor have their underwater entrance holes shown signs of use.  And there are no indications of new underwater entrances having been dug.

But the west bank reed patch is still relatively thick, and still capable of hiding underwater entrances to that bank, and the dens I know are still in that bank.  But still, I see no reed bits floating about among those reeds – which would be there, if muskrats were at work.

Time will tell.  But assuming the worst for now – and trapping continues.

 

This afternoon, finally inspected the SW den’s entrance trap – and there was a muskrat in it.  Disposed of ratty, and reset the trap – same place as always.  Why change it?

So far, that’s 3 muskrats, 1 mink, and 1 unknown.

 

The trap set over the SW den’s underwater entrance was still in place.  But – the opening to mink’s access hole … that had been snugged up with detritus – grass and reed parts.  Wonder which species did that – mink or muskrat?

Looking for more tells – I inspected the high parts of the west bank – and by pushing my walking stick into the berm, determined that the muskrat dens were more extensive than I’d first imagined.  About 50% of that bank, it seems.

Unfortunately, it’s been impossible, so far (but I keep learning more – so we’ll see) to find access holes among the reeds in the water along that bank.  The reeds are just so dense – cannot see tells, and I’d have to just get lucky, to find the hole – by poking between reeds, virtually every possible inch of access under the water amongst the remaining reeds – that’s why I’m sticking to the SW den for my trapping for now, as it is is reed free.

Yesterday morning, Sunday, the trap over the entrance to the SW den was gone – apparently it had snagged, but not killed, a mink or a muskrat – and said animal took off with the trap attached.  Ouch.  Wonder which it was.

So yesterday, I put another #110 trap over that same underwater entrance.  And staked it down much better this time … there’s a chain attached to the trap, with which to stake it down – I’d been using a short 1/2″ thick twig pushed a few inches into the mud on the bank (half measure).  This time using 3′ x 5/8″ x 7/8″ pine stake pushed about 12″ into the muddy bank (full measure).

Nothing in the trap this morning.  And … the mink made access hole above the SW den looked unused, as did the tan colored muddy muskrat slide on the pond bottom, fanning out from the front of the underwater entrance hole to the SW den – that also looked unused.

Are they all gone?  Minks and muskrats?  We’ll see.   The trap’s still there, set, under the water, covering the SW den’s entrance.