Those of you who follow this site know that recently the swamp that abuts on my property became the home of Castor canadensis (a beaver).\u00a0 Next to the edge of the swamp is a small shoreline where I sometimes see foxes, coyote, deer and other woodland inhabitants.\u00a0 A couple of years ago I was given a game camera as a present.\u00a0 I sometimes install it in various locations to get nighttime shots of the critters.\u00a0 A couple of weeks ago I strapped it to a sapling near the swamp and got some shots of the foxes, coyotes and raccoons. \u00a0I typically take the memory card out every week and then re-insert it after downloading the files.\u00a0 I went to re-insert it today and couldn\u2019t find the camera.\u00a0 Thinking that I had forgotten where I\u2019d set it up, I looked around the area pretty thoroughly. \u00a0I didn\u2019t find it but I did notice that a lot of the smaller saplings were gone.\u00a0 The beaver has been busy.\u00a0 And I think he took the sapling the camera was attached to!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m usually a live and let live kind of guy.\u00a0 But stealing my camera strikes at my very identity.\u00a0 Who ever heard of a photog without a camera?\u00a0 The lodge is in a fairly inaccessible corner of the swamp and getting to it probably will entail personal discomfort on my part.\u00a0 Plus, I\u2019ll be on his turf.\u00a0 In my mind he has fired the first shot and must now be considered hostile.\u00a0 I feel like Captain Kirk in the episode where he is being stalked by the big lizard man called the Gorn.\u00a0 Yes, just like that.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be him or me.\u00a0 I wanted to coexist.\u00a0 I came in peace for all mankind.\u00a0 But now where can I go to be safe?\u00a0 Before you know it, he\u2019ll be dragging my truck down into the swamp.\u00a0 Then I\u2019ll be trapped without an avenue of escape.\u00a0 And then he\u2019ll come for me.<\/p>\n
Like Kirk I have no phaser, no space age weapon to give me the clear advantage.\u00a0 It\u2019s his giant razor-sharp incisors versus my brain.\u00a0 But he has a brain too.\u00a0 It may not be as large but it\u2019s backed up by all the cunning and savagery that his rodent ancestors have accumulated down the long span of this island earth.\u00a0 He has that and also the hatred that all rodents feel for those who put out spring traps for their diminutive brethren the field mice.\u00a0 How many of his kindred have I snuffed out with my traps.\u00a0 I\u2019ve thrown their bodies down by the swamp for the fox to eat.\u00a0 This must be the basis of his vendetta against me.\u00a0 What was I thinking?\u00a0 How else could he take that except as a war crime.\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s too late now.\u00a0 Nothing will suffice but that this contest reach its bitter conclusion.\u00a0 Two will go in.\u00a0 Only one will emerge from the arena.\u00a0 If this be my last post then let me just say it\u2019s been an honor.\u00a0 If it turns out not to be my last post then maybe I\u2019ve slightly inflated the situation.\u00a0 Only time will tell.<\/p>\n
Post script.\u00a0 Yeah, nothing happened.\u00a0 Never mind.\u00a0 But my camera is still gone.\u00a0 That fur-bearing bastard is probably taking selfies of himself inside his lodge and laughing and laughing at my expense.<\/p>\n
To be continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Those of you who follow this site know that recently the swamp that abuts on my property became the home of Castor canadensis (a beaver).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1263],"tags":[1526],"class_list":["post-5429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-photogs-puddle"],"yoast_head":"\n