Area youth have been busy getting their animals ready to exhibit at the local county fair this week and that includes washing their cows and pigs. All that washing creates water running in the drainage ditches and that is a super strong magnet for little boys who love to run through the water or test out how waterproof their shoes really are!
Where There is Water, There are Boys
On a warm, sunny afternoon, one might spot turtles basking on logs, stumps or on the backs of other turtles. The painted turtle has existed for 15 million years and can even survive the cold, harsh Wisconsin winters by hibernating in the muddy bottoms of waterways.
Basking helps regulate the body temperature of this cold-blooded reptile which needs an internal body temperature between 63 and 73°F to be active. The turtle starts its day at sunrise, emerging from the water to bask for several hours which helps rid them of parasitic leeches and warm the body temperature. Once warmed for activity, the turtle returns to the water to forage. Then the day is spent both basking and foraging. At night, the turtle drops to the bottom of its water body or perches on an underwater object and sleeps.
Painted Turtles
After listening to the wind howl and watching the snow blow yesterday, I much rather hear a babbling brook and watch water falling on a warm summer afternoon.
Babbling Brook
The family of geese are out for a nice summer time swim. The young often remain with their parents for their entire first year.
At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward. The four smallest forms are now considered a different species: the Cackling Goose.
The “giant” Canada Goose, Branta canadensis maxima, bred from central Manitoba to Kentucky but was nearly driven extinct in the early 1900s. Programs to reestablish the subspecies to its original range were in many places so successful that the geese have become a nuisance in many urban and suburban areas. And it is no fun stepping in goose poop!
Swimming Geese
Yesterday the sun was out and some of the snow was melting. Seeing the water running, it reminded me of all the times as a kid when we would play with the water. A stick would create new streams (course they were only few inches wide) or open up a dam where the snow or ice was backing up the water. Hours were spent creating ‘rivers’ in the barnyard and if the snow was melting quickly, a discarded hunk of wood became a boat on the newly created rivers.
But today, those ‘rivers’ are covered over with snow again so I guess I have to wait for another sunny today to ‘play as a kid’ again.
Melting Snow
