A Short Day In the Field

Sailor tries to exit past a root after bolting a groundhog.


I went out on new land Sunday. It was a short day for no other reason than I was feeling a little lazy. The dogs bolted one, and we dug another from a steep wooded hill. The ground was not too bad, but a bit stony in places, and there are some large chunks of stone on this land that have not yet degraded to flints and rubble. Fields are still farmed, but a lot of this 2,000 acre tract is in woods or left fallow between the fields, and there is an area of flooded forest as well. All in all, this is a very good-looking location for fox and raccoon later in the year when the weather gets cold again.



Sailor and a spring groundhog.


I can report that the snakes are now about -- I caught the first one I've seen this year -- a little garter. My son said he saw a very big black rat snake down by the river cliffs two weeks ago.

Around here snakes generally come out of their winter dens between the first week of April and mid-month. This little fellow probably overwintered in the shale rock faces just above where I was digging. I let him go -- a harmless little thing.