Mr.Muskrat - Story of Lucy the Canada Goose

Sometime during the Summer, we realized that we had another guest in our pond. One that none of us were very thrilled about. It was a Muskrat. When he was first discovered, he would surface briefly, then be gone again, and we wouldn't see him for a few days. As time went by, he began showing himself more often. One day while I was taking pictures of Lucy, Lucky, and the wild mallards, I observed them quickly swim towards shore. It seemed odd until I spotted Mr. Muskrat swimming after them. I wasn't sure why Mr. Muskrat was after them. It seemed as though it was just a game for him. He would swim toward them and they would swim to shore. He would hide and after they got back into the water, he would surface and chase then back to shore again. During one of these episodes I had my camera focused on him and saw him swim up to one of the wild mallards. The next instant I saw feathers. Mr. Muskrat had feathers in his mouth and there were feathers in the water around him. He obviously bit the duck, but I have no clue why. For the rest of the Summer, Mr. Muskrat became the unwanted guest at the pond. Although he never harmed any of the fowl, they were always wary when he made an appearance.

As the Summer wore on, Mr. Muskrat became bolder and bolder. He decided that he liked the cracked corn we were feeding Lucy, Lucky and the wild ducks. He became bold enough to come out of the water while we were standing there and eat corn out of the feeding dish. We would hiss like Lucy and chase him back into the water, but he would always return. Just another game at the pond.

Mr. Muskrat was still around as Fall turned into Winter. When there was a thin coating of ice on the pond we could watch him swim under the ice. He would find an air pocket, take a breath, then continue his swim under the ice. He has disappeared for now, but I guess we can expect to see him again in the Spring. I'm sure that Lucky and Lucy wish he would find a home in a pond that is far away.