Photos of Animals, Fish, Birds & Bugs on a Canoe Trip

Rodent version:

Drowned rat by Alan, on Flickr

Alan

YOU WIN!

Yesterday my brother told me last summer while swimming he saw some splashing so floated over to find a grouse (Huh?!?) struggling in the water. Yes a grouse of all things but it gets better...The grouse was partially alive however attached to it was a giant snapper. Eeeeek! Kinda makes one want to wear steel-toe boots while swimming. If I ever come across that photo op I will be sure to share.

Did he manage to catch the snapper? And are we talking the yummy fish, or the ornery turtle?

Oooops. Sorry. The turtle. No, he did not catch it but instead quickly exited the water. I've got some incredible photos of these beasts we've come across. Stay tuned if interested.

This was the smaller of the two that crawled out of the lake & past my dad's cabin the past few springs. Not seen from the canoe but it was only steps away on the top of my van.

About 2 years ago we were fishing and saw a Canadian Goose having issues swimming. Assuming it was tangled in fishing line or something, we ran it down and found a large turtle latched onto one foot. My buddy grabbed the goose (which, surprisingly, seemed to prefer being grabbed by a human to being grabbed by the turtle although the result may well have been the same), I grabbed the turtle and we managed to separate the two. Both were released and we didn't feel too badly costing the turtle his lunch. The goose would have been a wasteful amount of food and the turtle looked pretty well fed already.

That is a grand meal for a turtle no matter how big it is. I can envision a turtle and goose crossing paths but am baffled how a grouse ended up in in that predicament as have never seen one fly over a lake and doubt I ever will. It's always tough to decide where to get involved with Mother Nature but sometimes heart strings get pulled. I lifted a giant snapper off the road once that must've just laid eggs as was exhausted. Took weeks to get the stink off my hands & out of my olfactory. Still looking for that photo I have of the leviathan snapper that haunts my father's cabin...

mwaalen said:

That is a grand meal for a turtle no matter how big it is. I can envision a turtle and goose crossing paths but am baffled how a grouse ended up in in that predicament

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Maybe it got nabbed as it came to the water's edge for a drink?

Or perhaps it was picked up by a hawk or owl and then dropped in the water.

mwaalen said:

I lifted a giant snapper off the road once that must've just laid eggs as was exhausted. Took weeks to get the stink off my hands & out of my olfactory.

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I once used my canoe paddle to scoop one off the road and move it to the ditch. It peed, or whatever is is they do, all over the paddle blade. When I put the paddle back in the car Sadie was sniffing it like crazy. A few miles down the road I felt something drip on my arm and when I looked over at Sadie she was watching the road like nothing was wrong but her mouth was covered in foam and drool was running out like crazy.

Alan

Alan Gage said:

Or perhaps it was picked up by a hawk or owl and then dropped in the water.

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I bet you are right about the raptor culprit. Lots of eagles around here as well.

Terrible photo but somewhat believable tall tale in brief: Heard splashing from far behind. Spied cow moose in water with binoculars. Hurriedly paddled closer. Spied again and saw 3 critters in line with cow in front. Befuddled as to what the other 2 forms were. Paddled closer and found in succession...mama moose, calf, black bear. They all reached shore and the bear immediately trounced the calf and hauled it behind a bunch of brush. Lots of shaking brush, grunting & moaning. Uggggh. Next up was for me to walk/lead the canoe through a flooded narrows precisely where we last saw the distressed cow as it was they only path. Prayed for a quick death which was not granted that day.

Clarification: Photo showing the cow splashing around and bellowing as her calf was being eaten. She did this for possibly 15 minutes in utter distress walking into the water, staring directly at us and bellowing, then back to shore. Back-n-forth.

Wow. That would be hard to witness. The circle of life is brutal.