We recently had the pleasure of moving........again. It was not by choice, but rather by necessity. Our new view looks out over Beaver Lake, so we really can't complain. Beaver Lake is really more like Beaver Pond and we have yet to see a beaver. There is, however, a multitude of wildlife around and in Beaver Lake.
Where there is water, there is life. I highly doubt the company that started out with this complex stocked the lake with snapping turtles, but they are here. They probably did stock it with fish and just this morning I saw a good sized one leap from the water, catching whatever unfortunate morsel lay atop the surface.
I must admit, the one thing I miss from the other apartment is the birds. I had a small bird feeder and many cardinals, nuthatches, pygmy nuthatches, finches and titmice. I have the feeder hanging out on our new view, but there are none of the birds here. I'm not sure why that is. We have a line of trees between us and the water, but they are not as thick and woodsy as our previous backyard view, so that may be the reason. On two separate occasions, I had seen a red shouldered hawk land in that small forest with a snake in its beak. It would call out several times and soon its mate would fly in, take the snake and fly off. The snakes were not huge, maybe a foot long and silver looking in color.
I walked Runtly, the ever so entertaining Jack Russell Terrier, along one bank of Beaver Lake the other day. The grass is a bit taller there than the well manicured lawns next to the buildings. Someone had left a pair of long black socks in the grass and I did a double take before springing into launch mode but Runtly did not see them......until the return trip. It is amazing how instincts kick into gear with animals. He has never seen a snake, but he sure thought that is what the socks were and he gave them a wide berth while the hair on his back stood straight up.
The other morning, as I was admiring the view, I spotted a small silvery head poking out of the water. It would go one direction, turn and then zig zag back. I watched it for several minutes until it was out of my line of vision and wondered if it had slithered up the bank. The next time I looked out, there was a whole herd of snake heads on the water! I had never seen anything like it! They seemed to be swimming in formation. My thoughts ran back to a conversation I had overheard, about one of the workers who thought they had a snake problem. I was beginning to think perhaps they did and I should take extra care the next time I walked the dog down there.
Still standing in awe of this snakeish phenomenon and getting ready to holler for my husband to come and look, I realized something. They were not snake heads. They were goose feathers. The geese are still molting and spend a lot of time in the water pruning out their small downy white feathers. Being water fowl, their feathers are oily and they float like tiny sail boats.....or snake heads......on the water's surface.
Yes, where there is water, there is life. Where there is a large metropolis, there is an eye care specialists on every corner. Perhaps I shall go visit one.
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