HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

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ross
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HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by ross » Sun May 13, 2018 8:35 am

To all Mothers ..Sons & daughters
Hug um while you got um .
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ENJOY YOUR HUNTING / FISHING HERITAGE & the GREATNESS of CANADA

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muffin57
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by muffin57 » Mon May 14, 2018 3:16 pm

So true! Thanks for the Mother's wish Ross. I had a very pleasant surprise for Mother's Day. I wasn't expecting anyone yesterday, as I thought the kids were all busy with their own lives. I sit outside every Mother's Day to watch all my birds. My own birds (chickens and ducks) and the wild ones that have returned or are returning. There always seems like some surprise. A few of my ducks were in the pond just enjoying themselves and suddenly I see something do a flip in the water across the pond. I immediately got concerned for my ducks and my husband and I were trying to encourage and coax them to come out of the water. It didn't take much, as I believe they knew or sensed something in the water and they came out and went back to their coop. It turned out a muskrat I believe has returned. We had one a couple years ago. What a nuisance they are! We had a blue teal mama duck in there who had 10 babies, so cute, but didn't last long at all. The muskrat got all of them and now one has once again returned. BUMMER!!! Now I am too scared to let my ducks out.

I did get a lot better surprise when my kids and grandkids drove in and made my day complete. I had made a potato salad on Saturday for Sunday, so I could enjoy my day outside without having too much work to do. My husband had purchased steaks to cook on the apple wood coals and we just added some sausages, so there would be enough for everyone. What a great day it turned out to be.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day!
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ross
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by ross » Mon May 14, 2018 3:30 pm

Glad it turned out well with family muffin . Are you sure it was muskrats killing babies . Usually vegetarians & shell fish , fish , frogs , snails but just a small part of diet unless theve run out of grass . Sure you ain't got a snapping turtle ?!luck
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ENJOY YOUR HUNTING / FISHING HERITAGE & the GREATNESS of CANADA

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Killerbunny
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by Killerbunny » Mon May 14, 2018 4:58 pm

Up in your area @muffin57 snapping turtles are a definite possibility. Saw a huge one up north of Spanish one year.
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muffin57
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by muffin57 » Mon May 14, 2018 6:00 pm

I'm pretty sure it is a muskrat. Not quite as big, as a beaver. It made a trench through the side of the pond under our garden, as my husband stepped into it. I believe it had a couple of trenches my husband stepped into, some just outside of the garden. We would watch it swim back and forth across the pond gathering grass and bringing it back to its burrow underneath the water. Then one day the mom was proudly displaying her 10 babies then the next time there was only six then down to two and then none. She came back a couple weeks after and she had a big flip out in the pond pretty much right in front of me. She was squawking flapping her wings in or at the water. Quite the scene. I never seen anything like it. Whatever it is, I want it the hell out of there. My daughter figures our dog will get it, as it use to be her dog we got from her when she moved to town. We have painted turtles not snapping turtles here. I know some lakes around here where we use to go camping have snapping turtles. I will see if I can post a picture here one day of that thing in my pond.
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kenya
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by kenya » Mon May 14, 2018 8:48 pm

When you look up muskrat only in extreme conditions is it carnivorous, usually eats plants. You likely have a turtle.
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muffin57
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by muffin57 » Tue May 15, 2018 12:40 pm

This muskrat or what I believe to be a muskrat looks similar to a beaver, but it is smaller. It has a tail, has fur and I have watched it swimming back and forth across the pond with grass in its mouth. I have never seen it on land. After that mother duck left the muskrat would chase away any ducks that came into the water. As soon, as a couple ducks would land in the water I would watch that thing go straight for them. It seemed to be territorial and possessive of the pond not wanting anything else invading his space. When it feels threatened it dives under the water. It made burrows into the side of the pond something like a ground hog would do. We have had them too. I don't know if this is the same muskrat that we had for a couple of years except last year. The pond isn't very big or deep. It is man made by my husband. It can totally freeze solid in the winter. We have frogs, bulrushes, wild rice growing in the pond and who knows what else. I know what snapping turtles look like and they are a lot bigger than a painted turtle. I have yet to see a turtle this year. We have seen the painted turtle on land in the water and bathing in the sun on the side of the pond. I sometimes wish I had a real gun vs my pellet air rifle. My other thought a couple years ago is that it may be an otter, but I think it is a muskrat.
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windwalkingwolf
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by windwalkingwolf » Tue May 15, 2018 1:52 pm

I have a goat with a taste for cooked chicken, so a carnivorous muskrat is definitely possible!
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Killerbunny
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by Killerbunny » Tue May 15, 2018 2:05 pm

Do you maybe have a pike in the pond. They love ducklings.
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:iheartpto:
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
:turkey:

:bat:

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muffin57
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Re: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Post by muffin57 » Tue May 15, 2018 2:27 pm

lol, no fish wouldn't survive in the pond, as it isn't deep enough. Minnows might for awhile until winter when the pond freezes. One time quite a few years ago, when my son and I were in a canoe we saw a pike come up and take one of the baby ducks following the mama. First time and only time I have ever witnessed that.
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