The Vernal Snakequinox

  Finally!  Today!  A quite healthy looking two or three year old water moccasin coiled in a sunny corner of leaves on a mid-stream log/stick jam at the Tyler Art Museum site.  I knew they had to be around...plenty of lizards, frogs and primo habitat.  First snake of the year.  He looked me over and slithered slowly into the logjam and out of sight.  I could have broken out some mad-monkey beaver-stick kung-fu but was happy enough just to see him first.

  I come in peace for all mankind.  Unless I have my suppressed 10/22...then there could be issues.

  Beaver cam up!  I pulled the plug on the dam again, maybe for the last time.  I think I am going to let them build Lake Robert back there.  Ought to be spectacular.  Since I'm a scientist, (Heck yeah I got data!) I stuck a plastic yardstick in the stream before kicking the plug out.  Seven inches of water out of the channel in 30 minutes and still dropping when I left.  More hot, wet, American Beavers tomorrow.

  Found a skull to go with a few random scattered bones I had noticed.  Coon probably.  And a large hunk of digested-looking hair with a little jeweled dog or cat collar in it.  "Macy" bit the dust the hard way though I expect it was an Olympic quality effort to get that nylon collar through any conventional digestive system.  Maybe it was a REALLY big snake.