The Mclean Furgang: Another Adventurous Walk

Today I loaded up the furgang and we headed out towards Riverbend park. I just love the path that goes next to the river and eventually up into the woods. The footing is soft and it almost feels like walking on the beach, and the dogs love to romp around in it.
Here you can see what it looks like:

We did get some rain on and off and so it doesn't look as 'fluffy' as it usually does. The ground was a bit firmer, but still very nice to walk on. Bica hates walking on gravel and I think it does hurt her paws, because whenever we walk on good footing like this one, she gets very cheerful and bouncy. (When she's not seen somewhere in the underbrush gnawing away on grass.) I just love the colors of spring. That fresh and luscious green of the ferns covering the forest floor:

After a while we came upon "Black Pond". It's an amphibian's dream come true:

Rodney being Rodney has to check out, if there's anything worth hunting hidden there somewhere. I suspected some frogs, maybe some water turtles, but it was going to be something entirely different. Let's roll the footage:

Here we have the canine surveillance team at work. (Leashes were removed via photoshop - they looked quite disturbing in that picture.)

Some - like Rodmeister - a bit more intense and serious than others......

. . . and right before Bica's eyes he disappears underneath that wooden landing. I see something moving out of there into the open pond real fast, blowing huge bubbles. My first thought was: A SNAPPING TURTLE ! I saw Rodney's paw hanging by a thread, not knowing how on earth I would manage to carry him out of the woods to the car, which was parked at least forty minutes the other way. About 20 feet further out, I saw a brownish looking head popping out of the water which was attached to a body that was at least twice the size of Rodney's, if not bigger:

You guessed it: It was fully grown beaver and Rodney wanted him real bad.

I on the other hand was very grateful, that beavers are herbivores and not into eating teckels. I was also grateful, that this humangous looking vermin did not dig his tree felling teeth into my dog's body or drown him, as he was trying to swim after it. I had to reel him in real fast and here's yet another reason, why it's so important to keep your dogs on a leash while hiking in the woods. Especially when your blessed with a hunting maniac like Rodney. He discovered his genes at an earthdog trial and never looked back....... After I got him back to shore safe and sound, he was convinced that there must be a way to get to this beaver. All we ended up with were frogs jumping into the pond. Nonetheless - that was fun too.