Local Wildlife

Muskrat, Muskrat, candle light
Doin' the town and doin' it right in the evenin'
It's pretty pleasin'
Muskrat Suzie, Muskrat Sam
Do the jitterbug at a Muskrat Land
And they shimmy, Sam is so skinny

And they whirl and they twirl and they tango
Singin' and jinglin' a jangle
Float like the heavens above
Looks like Muskrat Love

There appears to be a family of muskrats living in our pond. They have chewed up a number of the tall iris stems and leaves and built themselves a little lodge. Research assures me that there is an underwater entrance to their little home, no doubt underneath the thick, bothersome rhizome roots of the irises. The irises, while they are lovely in the spring when their little yellow flags bloom all over the place, are an invasive plant. Not only are they firmly cemented into the ground via a sprawling rhizome root, but the sap from root and stems is a skin irritant. We have not successfully found a useful way of digging them up yet. So, still they sit there.

Well, that's not quite true. The muskrats have made a real mess of them: knawing and knocking them down. A number of the long, snake like leaves are now floating on the water cluttering up our lovely little pond.

I was sad to find that Ted Andrews had nothing to say about muskrats in his book Animal Speak, but a quick search on the net yielded encouraging news:

"Identifying animal tracks of the Muskrat indicates resilience, detachment and adaptability. Muskrats have many attributes such as inhabiting both land and water, able to adapt to surroundings, being relatively waterproof, and having a knack for going about their business undetected. Given this, when we cross paths with the Muskrat we are encouraged to tap into our own ingenuity and adaptability when dealing with our present circumstances - realizing that everything has a potential for positive outcome (no matter how bleak appearances may seem)." From http://www.whats-your-sign.com/identifying-animal-tracks.html

I am especially willing to work with the part about "being relatively waterproof." My husband has a saying, "Be a duck." He means that we should let it roll off of us like water down a duck's back. Don't get upset. Don't let it bother you. Don't dwell on it.

I wish there was some way of showing people how much more calm, patient, tolerant, open-minded, and unflappable I am these days in comparison to the person I was 15, 10, even 5 years ago. The difficulty I have, however, is that while I am often capable of keeping my cool and keeping my mouth shut, I find I am still often raging inside. Perhaps it is my skewed perspective on things, but I swear that the more tolerant I become, the more difficult/stupid the people around me get.

I don't look so much like a jerk when I'm dealing with them...but it takes all my willpower and energy to manage it just the same. Personal growth comes at such a price. ;)

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