I finally managed to get the canoe out this weekend. It is always nice to get on the water. The weather wasn’t as spring-like as earlier in the week but acceptable. The trip, which usually takes well over three hours during normal summer conditions, took only about two and a half due to the increased flow rate from the recent rain and snow melt.

One of the highlights of the float was a great-horned owl I encountered. I would have paddled right past it if not for a group of raucous crows (or murder of crows, if you prefer) that were scolding it. The owl didn’t like the fact that it had been noticed so it became nervous and left the nest (which can be seen to the left of the owl in the photo) to perch on an adjacent branch. That caused the crows to get even more excited than they were before as they subsequently increased the intensity of their vocalizing. I wanted to stay longer to get a better picture but I felt bad about disturbing the owl and keeping it from tending to the nest, so I left after taking just a few more photos. I couldn’t tell if the owl was still incubating eggs or possibly brooding young so it will be fun to return in a month to see how the downy little owlets develop. I’ll have to be sure to bring my binoculars next time.

Aside from what wildlife one would normally expect to see on a trip like this (e.x.; geese, ducks, etc.) I also caught a glimpse of a red fox as it scurried away from the river’s edge after seeing my boat approach. Unfortunately, the fox was long gone before I could even get my camera turned on.

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We’ve had several days of warm weather here in western New York and the snow is melting and the water ways are beginning to open up. Between that and all the buzz about Canoecopia happening this weekend, the urge to get the canoe out of winter hibernation and ready for action has been overwhelming. In anticipation of this coming paddling season, I went about making a canoe pole. I have never made a dedicated canoe pole before, as I’ve always just cut a sapling or conveniently found something suitable along the shore that had been previously cut and prepared by beavers. It can sometimes be difficult to find a decent pole and this is usually the case when you really need one.  I opted to make a simple pole instead of purchasing a manufactured system mainly because I’m a cheapskate. I found some plans online that you can read here and went to work. Basically, this is a store bought 1 1/4” wooden closet rod that is used for coat hangers and the like. I found a nice, straight piece with near parallel grain, purchased the rest of the hardware, then went home and put it all together. I haven’t tested it out yet, but if the weather continues to cooperate, I’m hoping to get on the water this weekend.

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I recently acquired a woodchuck that was trapped out of a farmer’s soy bean field. Often in agricultural settings a nuisance animal like a woodchuck would be euthanized then disposed of. Farmers have little tolerance for woodchucks because of the damage they cause to crops. Since I like to experiment with different types of wild foods, I took advantage of this culinary opportunity to sample ’sub-terranian whistle pig.’

In his book Stalking The Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons writes mostly about foraging for plant foods. However, he briefly covers some basic preparatory guidelines and recipes for some of the more unconventional game species including fish, frog, snapping turtle, raccoon, opossum, etc. He also provides a small section on woodchuck that I chose follow. I’ll spare you the details involved with the processing of the animal other than to say that I used a couple of waste flakes left over from flint knapping to skin and eviscerate it. They worked well initially but quickly dulled when removing the feet & head due to contact with bone. The only other difficulty I had was locating the scent glands that are supposed to be removed prior to cooking. Apparently two of them should have been found under each forearm and the other two at the small of the back, presumably the anal glands. I searched thoroughly but just couldn’t find any of them and assume they were obscured by a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and probably came off with the hide during the skinning process. The carcass was then soaked for 24 hours in a bryne-like solution of vinegar and salt, after which the cooking process began as described by Euell.

Now, bear in mind that part of the intention behind preparing the woodchuck in this manner was to make the transition to straight woodchuck a little easier to swallow. However, I don’t feel that the time and energy involved was worth the trouble. It would have been a lot simpler to just roast it on a spit over an open fire. The meal as a whole was acceptable, but there was so much done to it during the preparation that any residual taste of woodchuck that may have remained was completely overpowered by everything else that went into it. A little disappointed? Yes! But now I can say I’ve tried woodchuck and eating it again in the future will be a lot easier.

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I also forgot to mention that I enjoy paddling – a lot. I took the canoe out today and paddled the Oak Orchard River through a portion of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Genesee and Orleans Counties, NY. With the exception of all the downed trees that I had to portage over or around, it was an enjoyable, flat water paddle.

Adding to the pleasure of the trip was the abundance of wildlife I was lucky enough to see. Right on the onset, I saw a redtail hawk (you might be able to make him out perched in the snag in the middle of the photo above), a heron, a woodchuck, some deer, and then I saw these guys: there were three of them in a maple tree that was covered in wild grape vines. The young raccoons were gorging themselves on the grapes. I watched them for about 20 minutes then continued on my way. Because this section of the Oak Orchard passes through a large swamp, the river is all flat water. So, I paddled in as far as I could until I had to turn around so I could get back to my truck before dark. The funny thing was that on my return, the raccoons were still in the same tree enjoying their grapes.

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