January 2020
Posted from the eastern Florida Panhandle where the temps got to 29º around 7 AM and will not make it to 50 today. Tonight is expected to be a bit colder. No complaints since a freeze is a good thing to knock back some bugs that persist into winter and weedy plants that do not belong here. Also a freeze helps in spotting the cold-hardy invasives as the more tender native plants like woodland ferns die back and prepare for spring - which is maybe 2 weeks away.
If it seems like I am rambling, well yes I am. 2 of the photos I'm posting (dead critter) might be offensive to some, especially as this Daily Bucket floats across the DK front page. Fair warning, after the break I will show those.
Some of you may recall that I've had a beaver problem for a few years now. They have slowly expanded their way up a trickle of a stream from the man-made pond by building a series of dams. Some of the dams are near a foot high; the biggest right to my south across the fence at the bottom of my hill is over 2' high. From there they built another in the middle of a woody pasture in an awesome U-shape that must have been 100 feet long.
I say "must have been" since the farmer next door decided he had enough of the beavers and started destroying these dams. A couple years ago I got yelled at for crossing the fence and doing the same thing. At the time I figured he liked this beaver pond for the ducks that were drawn in. OK, that’s cool too but as the water got higher, it flooded over to my side and the beavers tunneled under the fence to build a small dam to block the flow downstream.
That rising water was close to innudating the state-listed Twayblades on my side which is why I have spent so many hours fighting off the beavers. Well, the exercise, the hard physical labor too.
Neottia bifolia or as it was called a couple years ago Listera australis (darn taxonomists and their ever-changing classifications.) So hard to get the tiny orchid in focus — the “bifolia” is about 1 inch.
OK, last warning, here it comes after the break…
Down at the bottom of my hill is a no-man's land. None of the fences are on the property line which totally favors me by 20-30 feet. I guess the first fence put up decades ago was spotted using a compass - magnetic north, not true north as the surveys have it. The farmer to the east can't get to the corner, and especially not the people to the southeast. The contractor to the south in the $1.2 million home does not care - not caring to the point of dumping leftover construction trash at this wet corner by his pond. Yeah, he actually owns most the pond as part of his 20 acres for which he paid $7,500 an acre, or $18,000 a hectare which sounds even more outrageous. My lovely 4.7 wooded acres is valued at $2,700 per acre by the county. But I digress…
So, I went down yesterday to check on the status of the beaver dams. They had been active but it appears the farmer was keeping the big dam open. I jumped the fence to the SE side to clear a very small dam and then walked a bit farther to open a bigger dam (30' by 2' high). That is when I saw this.
At first I assumed it was a beaver but when I reached out with my big rake and brought it closer I realized it was a River Otter and caught in a trap.
I do not know who set the trap, done over the weekend I assumed. I looked up Florida Fish and Wildlife regulations and yes there is a winter season for taking otters. Special permits are need for using a steel trap but that is kinda iffy when it comes to private property. It was in the SE pond but the farmer may have set it 20’ upstream and the otter dragged it away in its death throes. I realized also that I better be more careful where I was stepping.
I don't like it and thought to report a violation to FWC but I'd only be making more trouble for myself with the neighbors. I left the carcass and trap there and will go down later to check.
My best story about otters is from several years ago when I was sitting right here at my desk looking out the back window and saw a family of 4 otters come up the hill (using my trails of course), turned at the house, went past the firepit and then turned at the trail to go up and over to big pond to the west. 2 adults front and back, 2 frisky kids in between - too fast for a photo but the image sure is stuck in my mind.
And from 2 weeks ago — nature in action. A hawk, in what is left of the beaver pond, drowning a duck, dragging it to the bank then back out into the water and finally out and up the bank and into the weeds. Gotta love these chance sightings.
That's it for this bucket; time to get the photos ready and maybe a few links. Hope you found it interesting, and see ya in the comments where you are especially welcome to post your nature observations.