Possums and Trains Don't Mix

It has been a pretty long week for me.  I've been sick most of the week, and actually still am a bit.  I've slowly gotten a bit better each day.  I don't stay down well!  I've been laying around watching TV and movies and thought I was going to go mad today, so I decided I was going out!

I went over to the Hennepin Canal Museum area and did a short, sloooowwww bike ride.  I didn't want to take too much out of myself.

My favorite bridges are the railroad bridges that cross over the canal, so I headed to bridge #4.  I haven't been here for quite some time.

I decided to ride instead of walk.  I tried a bit of a hike yesterday and felt pretty crappy when I got back.  The bike was perfect.  I just kept it in granny gear and kept it at about 2 mph:)

Once at the bridge, I wanted to go up top to get some photos.  I love black and white photos of old bridges.  I like how these came out.

I could see something on the tracks on the other side, so I crossed the bridge.  The sight was not a good one:(

Opossums were lying everywhere.  There were actually four carcasses of varying ages lying around.  All four were in the same spot.  I missed the best shot of the day shortly after this.  When I was done inspecting the carnage, I was going back to cross over the railroad bridge.  I took one look back and a coyote was sprinting down the center of the tracks headed right for me!  I was so surprised, I didn't even think to raise my camera!  That would have made an awesome photo, but as I finally decided to raise the camera, he bolted off the tracks and into the trees.  I'm pretty sure he was planning to scavenge a meal.

On the way back I did find some living wildlife.  A lone goose was hanging out on the ice and didn't seem to startled by me.

It was also nice to see a living opossum on this little trip.  This was a young one!

By the time I got back home, I was pretty worn out, but felt better that I got some blood circulating!  Finally.  I hate lying around.

Night Hike

It's time to start patrolling the canal at dusk and dark.  As it begins to get cooler, the snakes will begin laying on the paved walkway to get some heat.  Tonight it was not quite cool enough, but still I had a very nice hike.  Mr. Beaver greeted me 3 or 4 times with the thundering slap of the tail, and my face is still covered with spider webs crossing the trail as I walked.

I love the night sounds!  They really get the imagination going, although I take more pride in knowing exactly what is making a sound without seeing it.  It is really a learning experience to turn the light off and just hike by moonlight.

Anyway, enough babbling!  There really wasn't much to see tonight, but I did get a couple of different young bullfrogs on jpg.

I also stumbled across this whole opossum skeleton along the trail.  It is odd that it was on the canal trail, and away from the road.  It always amazes me when something like this completely decays without being disturbed.  I guess I would not eat opossum either:......or would I? :))

More night hiking trips to come.  Hopefully some snakes will grace me with their presence, as well as some tree frogs.  Anything will do, as long as it makes a decent picture.