When we saw this animal swimming in Little Cliff Pond, we definitely thought it was a beaver. And when it put its tail up in the air while it swam, we knew it must be a beaver. Wow! How cool was that?! (Click on blog link for other photos.)
To verify the animal’s identity I asked our good friend, who is also the director of Wild Care Cape Cod, if this was truly a beaver swimming at Nickerson State Park. I’m sure she got quite a good chuckle when she saw our photos.
She replied, “That’s a muskrat! There are no beavers on Cape Cod!” And we thought we had scooped her. She certainly got the last laugh!
We were so surprised to see 2 seals swimming about in Arey’s Pond. We thought it must be a fluke, but we’ve seen them there several times now. That’s a long swim from the ocean through Pleasant Bay and Little Pleasant Bay and down the river to Arey’s Pond.
It was so cool the other day to see this eastern Box Turtle laying her eggs in the sand on the side of our house. We saw her when she was almost finished so we got to see her cover up the nest with sand and then hide it. She did an amazing job. You could never tell where she had been. (Click on blog link to see other photos.)
Good thing I marked it with sticks as it rained so hard that night it would have been hard to find. In order of photos: 1. Laying her eggs. 2. Filling the hole where the eggs were laid with sand. 3. Covering the entire area so it looks untouched. 4. Walking away from the nest into the woods, never to see them again. 5. Wire cage to protect the eggs and hatchlings.
It takes 70-90 days for the turtles to hatch, so it should be at the end of August to the middle of September. Because we don’t want any predators to get the eggs, Phil made a wire cage to protect them. So exciting! I can’t wait to see the little ones when they hatch. Two years ago we had 6 Eastern Box Turtle hatchlings in our yard. It was so cool and they were so tiny!
It’s that time of the year when you can see the horseshoe crabs scurrying around in the water and occasionally when they mate. There was so much commotion in the water at Hemenway Landing that I decided to go investigate. (Click on blog link for other photo.)
You can see all of the horseshoe crabs along the shore moving about. I took a few photographs where you can see the ripples in the water as they propel forward. I had never noticed their eyes before… another first this season for me!
Have you ever noticed the horseshoe crab’s eyes?
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
