A pond resident comes to visit.

Just as the ice begins to set up in December, we frequently will spy a mink or an otter enjoying a meal of fresh fish at the ice edge. When Mary spied some activity in the pond in front of the house, I assumed that I would find one of those pond dwellers in my camera's lens. What came into focus was another resident - a muskrat.

Muskrats feed mostly on vegetation, but the foraging evidence they most often leave for us is a pile of fresh water mussel shells from the previous night's meal near the water's edge.