November 2023: Migrating Ducks, Eagles, Otter, Muskrat
Wednesday November 1 On my way out the door this morning, loved the color of the leaves of the fothergilla plant in my front yard. Had a Mass Audubon meeting at the Trailside Museum in the Blue Hills today. First up: visiting the otter who was playing about in her pool, swimming underwater, twirling her body around, putting her paws on the sides of her pool, doing a backflip dive into the water. Fun to watch her. Her enclosure was renovated a few years ago to provide her with a better pool, some rocks to clamber on, grassy area to dig at, hollow log to snooze in. The Audubon staff say that in the winter, when there's snow, she toboggans down the slope on her belly flying into the pool. She's 17, old for even a captive otter (they usually live to 10-15). Still frisky, having otter fun. The backflip dive One of my mechanical engineering colleagues at MIT, Peko Hosoi, has studied how otter and beaver fur keeps the animals warm when they're swimming in cold water - there...