The weather has turned dry and pond level has dropped by about a foot and all is still peaceful and the cloudiness of the water is reducing. Our heron is back in business, stalking the denizens of the shallows. Beautifully camouflaged amongst the tree branches and twigs, she treads slowly and gently along the edge of the water, a study in concentration, her focus is lunch.
For the first time in a long while, a nutria swims into view. He sees me and stops paddling, but poses for a snapshot while refusing to smile or even say ‘cheese’. An immigrant from South America, where it is called a coypu, it isn’t very popular in most places where it has taken up residence. Even the fact that it has nice fur and that its meat is low in Cholesterol hasn’t lifted it from nuisance status to game worth hunting.
Getting top billing today for its fifteen minutes of fame is the Egyptian jackal who had us all taken in with the idea that it was a relative of the Golden Jackal. His genes have caught him in his subterfuge. He is in fact related to the grey wolf; a much less fancy image. With the cost of DNA analysis falling like a stone in the pond, the ripples will be far-reaching. Soon we will have our genome on our passports, our driving licenses, and probably most important of all for our future wellbeing, our Facebook ™ page.
I love nutria and am so jealous! What time did you see it. I didn't think there were out in the morning.
It was saying Hello as I was coming back from coffee - about 11 am. Freezing weather is their enemy (frostbitten tails) so we see more as the last couple of winters have been mild.
Ah those nutria ... we have them in the creek behind our house - they are welcome to come up and eat my dandelions, but they put the cats off - they do get pretty big! Notoriously stone-faced, though.
I am enjoying your photos, BTW.