2:08 PM
August can be one of the most difficult months
to find wildlife during the day, and afternoon is typically not a good time to
find animals. However, I recently found
quite a bit of wildlife at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in the middle
of the afternoon.
The dry weather had reduced many of the wetlands to small
pools, which always seems to have a concentrating effect on watchable
wildlife--especially those that feed on the fish and crayfish that are forced
into smaller areas of water. On this day I was surprised to find river otters active
in the heat of the afternoon. The scene was like something out of a "Wild America" montage.
Three otters coated in muck and duckweed rolled in a pool
searching for fish, while a great blue heron grabbed fish spooked by the
otter's activity. Half a dozen green
herons surrounded the pool--looking nervously and tensing for flight when
approached too closely by the otters.
As the muck-slicked otters bounded out of the pool their size
difference became more apparent (most likely a mother and two youngsters). Maybe
that was the reason for the afternoon fishing trip--hungry teenagers.
Great blue heron benefiting from fish spooked by the otters.
Mother otter and one of her juveniles.
Green heron in a pose that often leads to its misidentification as an American bittern.
Great egret stalking the shallows.
The End(s)
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