We were hiking at Fort Hill in Eastham, on the National Seashore, the other day when this huge crab landed about 6″ away from me with a loud thud. I was pretty startled. I looked up and there was a crow who must have been having lunch when dropped it out of the tree. How bizarre. It almost hit me on the head. I have never been hit by a crab before!
The funny thing was… I had just read a story on the news about a hawk dropping a five pound fish on a lady walking down a city street and I was telling a friend that morning. This hawk was eating a fish up in a tree above her and he must have lost his grip when it fell on her head. She got a couple of cuts and scratches. That was one big fish!
I haven’t seen a Box Turtle in our yard since the very beginning of summer. Yesterday this Box Turtle sauntered all the way across our back yard into the woods. I wonder if he was looking for a place to hibernate for the winter.
Prior to hibernation, box turtles tend to move further into the woods, where they dig a chamber for overwintering. Eastern box turtles hibernate at depth of about 10 centimeters and frequently stay within .5 from their summer habitat.
This cut, little baby bunny was just munching away along on the trail at Fort Hill on Cape Cod. I did not faze him at all. He would look at me and munch away. I was so close that I had to step back to get a good photograph.
After he finished eating, he lay down on the trail to take a nap while I clicked away.
We took a walk on Coast Guard Beach in Eastham down to Nauset Spit and saw what was a huge “island of seals” not far off of the beach. There were hundreds of them. We had seen a few seals here and there along the coast but never this many. No wonder the Great White Sharks like to come nearby waters to feast.
There must be a sandbar where they all congregate. It was low tide when we took our walk…I wonder if they are still there at high tide?
We were taking a hike along the Silver Spring Trail at the Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary the other day when I saw some movement among the Pond Lilies. A turtle could not cause that much movement. What could it be?
We watched this little Muskrat swim across the little inlet and then come up on shore about 3 feet from us. It was very dark in the shade and there were a lot of branches and leaves, but we got a couple of photographs of him.
He’s about the size of a rat. Look at those feet and that long tail. Have you ever seen a Muskrat?
Just as we were going to sleep the other night our Motion Detector lights went on in the back yard. I thought it was probably the racoon that comes by periodically, hoping to raid the bird feeders. But I got up anyway, just to see what it was. And there…standing by the bird feeder was this huge coyote. It looked like a silhouette against the dark woods and the light in front. He was big and muscular and looked just like a wolf.
So I went online this morning to read about coyotes on Cape Cod and this is what I learned:
“It has been known for several years that the coyotes in the Cape Cod area have much in common with wolves. Mainly wolf DNA. Some coyotes in MA that have been tested have come up as 90% eastern wolf. I have received a number of reports where people claim to have seen large, wolf-like canines on Cape Cod.”
This certainly looks like what I saw. Wow!
(This is a photograph of a coyote that I took a few years ago in Colorado as the one I saw here was gone before I could get my camera and get a good photograph. But the one I saw here looked very similar.)
I saw plenty of seals playing in the ocean at Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod the other day. I know they are the primary food for the Great White Sharks, so I kept my eye out for that prominent “fin” in the water.
There were some boogie boarders who thought it was cool to paddle out to try and get closer to the seals. I don’t think they know that a Great White Shark was spotted there several days ago. That would not be cool!
When the tides get low, you can see Fiddler Crabs swarming the little ponds at the salt marshes on Cape Cod. I was walking home the other day when I saw hundreds of Fiddler Crabs coming out of their little holes in the salt marsh.
“Fiddler crabs are found along sea beaches and brackish inter-tidal mud flats, lagoons and swamps. Fiddler crabs are most well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males’ major claw is much larger than the minor claw while the females’ claws are both the same size.
Like all crabs, fiddler crabs shed their shells as they grow. If they have lost legs or claws during their present growth cycle, a new one will be present when they molt.”
Cape Cod daily articles and photography on places to hike, experience and enjoy. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
