A Farm Visit and Other Miracles
Mornings on the farm begin mostly in the dark for me this time of year. The exceptions are on clear nights when the moon is still above the horizon and its luminance scatters an otherworldly light around trees and over clearings. The result is a strange world of shadows and stillness. It was such a morning about a week ago as the light from waning gibbous moon reflected off of a skim of winter’s first ice on the pond behind the farmhouse. My habit upon rising is to gaze out the bedroom window over the pond and surrounding fields and trees. After all these years, I’m still startled at the beauty of this farm.
My attention was immediately drawn to the only movement in this frozen scene. I focused on the end of the pond where water, gently flowing over the damn, resists freezing. There, in the small unfrozen patch, were the concentric ripples of something that had just surfaced or dove under. I strained to see other movement in the moonlight for several minutes but there was none. I scanned the edges of the pond for signs of a duck, which is usually the only active visitor this time of year. The fish are quiet and the muskrats, turtles and frogs are tucked away in deep slumber. Nothing. Then at the other end of the pond where the creek flows in, the surface of the still, open water was punctured. The moon lit the rounded hump of an animal’s back as it surfaced and dove again with the smooth graceful movement of an aquatic dancer. I instantly knew what I had seen. I had seen it only twice before in the last decade; a North American river otter. The other two (or one that visited twice) were over 4 feet long which would suggest adult males because females are about a foot shorter. The pattern of otters in the pond, this time of year, is to swim the 150 feet beneath the ice from opening to opening, so I again focused on the water at the other end of the pond near the damn and sure enough, the otter effortlessly glided up from the water and onto the little damn with a sunfish in its mouth. The light was just enough to see the shape of the weasel like visitor, a glint of wet fur and the flopping breakfast. This was a young otter or perhaps a very small female.
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There are 13 species of otter in the world and this was a real treat as the North American river otter is on the sensitive species list to which they were upgraded from the endangered list at one time. They can be found throughout North America from Alaska to Florida and most parts of the U.S. except the Southwest but their numbers dramatically declined from the ‘50s to the ‘80s because of loss of habitat and the fact that they are at the top trophic (feeding) consumer of the food chain. This position means they are exposed to elevated levels of environmental contaminants such as PCBs, DDT and other persistent pollutants as well as heavy metals including cadmium and mercury and lead. This “end of the line” position is called bio-magnification. As contaminants accumulate in the organic materials in the sediments of waterways, they become ingested by aquatic invertebrates such as snails, mussels, and insects. These are then consumed by fish, which may then be eaten by larger fish, all of which are consumed by river otter. Many of the chlorinated hydrocarbons (PCBs, DDT, Chlordane, etc.) have been taken out of use and much of their remnants are gradually covered by less contaminated sediment which is then less available to the population of invertebrates down near the beginning of the food chain. |
The river otter in the pond was thinking about none of this as she munched on the sunfish. All animals have a level of satisfaction when eating and I’m sure some achieve real enjoyment. I know my Lab does when I splash some chicken drippings on her food. This otter was enjoying her meal.
The otter is one of the few wild animals that seem to truly enjoy most of their life and in fact I would even go so far as to say they have fun. They don’t spend much time worrying about building nests or dens, they just find an unoccupied beaver lodge, muskrat burrow or some other readymade dwelling and move in. They don’t spend much time hunting for food either. They travel waterways from pond to pond or the banks of rivers where there is always an abundance of fish, snails, crawfish, and even the occasional bird’s egg or wild blueberry bush. They do, however, spend a lot of time in what might be called frolic. I’ve watched them bounding in their loping gate up the little slope on the side of the pond in the snow, turn around and launch themselves in a belly flop, head first, sliding down the snow bank with their front paws tucked by their sides out onto the ice, sometimes somersaulting at the end of the journey with, what I’m pretty sure can be called, “glee.” They then run back up the hill and do it all over again and again.
This member of the weasel family was once common throughout all of New York State. They virtually disappeared in central and western New York as well as many other parts of the country over the last century but in the late ‘90s, the New York River Otter Project aimed to restore the river otter to the watersheds of western New York. Volunteers and DEC staff live-trapped otters in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. From 1995 through 2000, 279 river otter were captured in eastern New York and released at 16 different sites across the western part of the State. Other States, such as Pennsylvania, have similar programs. To date, it appears the efforts are working as otter families have been spotted in areas that haven’t seen them for a hundred years.
That’s good news and at a time when the world seems precarious at best and on the verge of calamity at the worst we can all use some good news. I’m not sure what miracles really are but this seems like the perfect time of year to ponder that. I think everyone gets to decide what a miracle is for them. It might be something as simple as a playful little animal whose visit reminds me I’m not taking enough time out to just have fun. It might be as breathtaking as the silhouettes of a V of migrating geese that just happen to pass the full moon on a winter’s night at the very moment I look up at it. It could well be when all the vagaries of wind, moisture, temperature, pressure and gravity conspire to create that one, unique, crystal snowflake. It might be the friend that unexpectedly shows up when you need them most….or the simple birth of a perfectly innocent child who, at that moment, possesses infinite promise. On the farm, I’m awash in science and miracles and I find no conflict between the two.
I send you all the warmth of good wishes for this season of miracles,
Greg
 Greg Quinn |
In 1999, Greg Quinn, a culinary and horticulture expert, also known as WNYW’s “Garden Guy,” grew interested in black currants and founded CropPharms, located in Clinton, New York, an area in the Hudson Valley well-known for its culinary and farming heritage (the Culinary Institute of America and specialty farms, ranging from garlic and wine to goat cheese, are nearby). Working with leading experts in the field, he decided to attempt to bring back the U.S. black currant industry by first getting the ban lifted in New York State, giving hope to a struggling New York farming industry with the first, potentially-viable crop to come along in more than a half century. Check out the Walnut Grove Farm website here and check out all the great Currant products grown right here ! |
Miss an installment?
Thanksgiving and Owls - November 30, 2011
Chopin and Currants - October 3, 2011
There's a fungus among us - September 13, 2011
Tomatoes August 18, 2011
Snapping Turtles August 2, 2011
Monarchs & Milkweed July 5, 2011
Tree of Life June 17, 2011
Spring comes to an end at the Currant Farm June 8, 2011
Geese eggs are hatching! May 6 2011