Muscatatuck is a Native American word meaning "land of winding waters". It was established as a refuge in 1966 using federal money from "duck stamps" and set aside for wetlands and wildlife. It is Indiana's first National Wildlife Refuge. Kelly, from Red and the Peanut, is the one that mentioned it to me, and I am grateful that she did! Well worth the trip and I could have happily stayed longer. There are 7, 724 acres and lots of great water areas. I'm having a lot of trouble with my knees at the moment, so we did more driving than walking, but still saw tons of stuff!
Muscatatuck has a very nice visitor center with a nature viewing window. This trip was a wonderful trip for "seeing" things, but not so good for a poor photographer like me who relies on "point and shoot". The light conditions were often gloomy, overcast, very shady.
The only squirrel I got photos of was this little grey squirrel on the window sill of the Nature Center.
Hunting around for left over seeds below the feeders.
Chipmunk! Not exciting to most of you, but I do not see chipmunks in Evansville, so I loved seeing this one at the nature center.
I never realized how pale the tail was on the end.....sort of makes it blend in and disappear.
He was really stuffing his cheeks!
Right below the window of the viewing area this snake was dozing. The next day it was in the same place. If I hadn't seen it move its tail, I would have said it was dead! The guy in the center called it a rat snake. (NOTE: Debbie added some interesting information about rat snakes to my comments. She says this one is shedding. Thanks, Debbie!)
Our coolest find and our worst photo! Two otters playing in the water. I could see them through the binoculars, but Mike couldn't get a better photo before they saw us and swam away. Mike had seen one go across the road into the water and we could see the trail through the grass, so when we drove by a little later, we stopped and there they were.....two heads sticking up! 25 river otters from Louisiana were released at "Otter Marsh" in 1995 and are doing well there.
We spent Thursday night in Madison, IN at the Riverboat Inn over-looking the Ohio River. It was a wonderful place to stay. In the side yard there were 3 groundhogs munching in the clover! This one was standing up looking at something. I'm shooting these from our balcony and it is early evening.
The other two munching away......Mike took this out of the car window on the way to dinner.
The following day we drove around the backroads of southern Indiana in the Vevay, Rising Sun area and this box turtle was in the middle of the road. For once there was no truck riding our bumper, so I stopped for a photo and to move him to the side.
An interesting "farm" along the same road......goat on the left, peacock on the right! Not sure who the peacock is doing its display for....the chicken by the back gate???
Close up of the goat....he was really staring at me!
The only squirrel I got photos of was this little grey squirrel on the window sill of the Nature Center.
Hunting around for left over seeds below the feeders.
Chipmunk! Not exciting to most of you, but I do not see chipmunks in Evansville, so I loved seeing this one at the nature center.
I never realized how pale the tail was on the end.....sort of makes it blend in and disappear.
He was really stuffing his cheeks!
Right below the window of the viewing area this snake was dozing. The next day it was in the same place. If I hadn't seen it move its tail, I would have said it was dead! The guy in the center called it a rat snake. (NOTE: Debbie added some interesting information about rat snakes to my comments. She says this one is shedding. Thanks, Debbie!)
Our coolest find and our worst photo! Two otters playing in the water. I could see them through the binoculars, but Mike couldn't get a better photo before they saw us and swam away. Mike had seen one go across the road into the water and we could see the trail through the grass, so when we drove by a little later, we stopped and there they were.....two heads sticking up! 25 river otters from Louisiana were released at "Otter Marsh" in 1995 and are doing well there.
We spent Thursday night in Madison, IN at the Riverboat Inn over-looking the Ohio River. It was a wonderful place to stay. In the side yard there were 3 groundhogs munching in the clover! This one was standing up looking at something. I'm shooting these from our balcony and it is early evening.
The other two munching away......Mike took this out of the car window on the way to dinner.
The following day we drove around the backroads of southern Indiana in the Vevay, Rising Sun area and this box turtle was in the middle of the road. For once there was no truck riding our bumper, so I stopped for a photo and to move him to the side.
An interesting "farm" along the same road......goat on the left, peacock on the right! Not sure who the peacock is doing its display for....the chicken by the back gate???
Close up of the goat....he was really staring at me!These three photos are from back home. We are having a time with raccoons right now. I have three of the varmints coming every night to clean up bird seed on the deck and eat any suet I forget to take in! I was hoping they would go away while I was gone, but no such luck.
I have chased them with the broom. Mike tried the BB pistol last night to scare them, but they come right back the minute the coast is clear. They must be really hungry, but I wish they would go somewhere else!
One in the seed dish. You can see that he didn't even mind me opening the door to take a photo!
The one in the dish growled at this one and it did this upside down thing going down the post.
I have chased them with the broom. Mike tried the BB pistol last night to scare them, but they come right back the minute the coast is clear. They must be really hungry, but I wish they would go somewhere else!
One in the seed dish. You can see that he didn't even mind me opening the door to take a photo!
The one in the dish growled at this one and it did this upside down thing going down the post.Like all creatures they are interesting, but I really want them to go away! I don't want to stop putting out food, because all the birds are having babies to feed right now and really want the suet in particular. At least I can take the suet feeders down at night....if I remember. Frustrating!
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9 comments:
Your snake is a Black Rat Snake. Here's a link:
http://www.marshall.edu/herp/Snakes/Black_Ratsnake.htm
They are very common here. I don't know about Indiana (??) The one you photographed is not moving around much because it's shedding it's skin. When I enlarged the photo I could see the roughed up scales. Also the bluish hue over it's eyes was a give away. But I still don't think the over all condition of it looks very good. Not sure, maybe there is something else going on with him too.
They are typically very docile snakes. And they can grow over 6 feet long. And farmers will sometimes pay good money for large ones, because they are so good at killing rodents. They also love to feed on venomous snakes, which is another reason they are good to have around.
The only time they tend to be aggressive is sometimes they are temperamental when they are shedding, because they are in a sluggish state and often their vision is impaired due to shedding skin.
Very cool that you caught a photo of one shedding. The only Black Rat Snakes I've seen in an active shed were in captivity. We typically see them out and about a lot in the summer though. And often find their long shed skins in our buildings. :)
The Turtle is a beautiful creature.Inspite of how cute the Raccoons are they must be a nuisance.Have a great day.Hope those knees soon get better.I know how hard it is to walk when the knees are hurting.
Blessings,Ruth
You got good pictures of the 'varmints' at your house, but hopefully they will soon leave. We have to take in our feeders every night because of the 'critters' we have around here. I enjoyed your pictures from the trip.
Otters are so fun to watch! Loved those groundhog photos too! Racoons can be so mean - when I was younger, I had 6 of them chase me from my car to my apartment door! Scarred me for life!
What a beautifully designed turtle thst was. I took a picture of a groundhog from our dining room window this morning.David is worried it will eat his Hosdtas. We love Chipmunks here. We seem to hsve s pair. I hope your knees are better soon. ouch!
Ann
It seems like a lot of people are finding snakes right now as they wake up from their winter sleep. :) I just ove that chipmunk!!
Haha!!! What a surprise to read your blog and see my name! So glad you made it to Muscatatuck, and how awesome that you saw the otters!!! I've never seen one in the wild, but want to. Now I really want to get back to Muscatatuck!
Debbie: Thanks for all the information on the snake!
Ruth: I agree that the turtle is really pretty with the colorful shell.
George: I have too many feeders to take them all in at night,but at least I can take down the suet and try to keep the others fairly empty.
Shelley: The otters were pretty cool....wish they would have stayed longer. Raccoons are a real pain to deal with.
Ann: A pair of chipmunks sounds great. Maybe you will get to see babies.
Joan: Snakes aren't my favorite thing, but they are useful to have around.
Kelly: I really appreciate the suggestion to go there! It was a lovely place.
Wow, you got so many critters. I love that turtle.
Goats will stare at you till you give them a treat. They are always looking for a and out!
No coons raiding my feeders YET! knock on wood!
Haven't seen any chippies either. I think my cats took care of that situation!
B.
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