A Muskrat Nest on the Skokie Lagoons

While hiking along the banks of the Skokie Lagoons the other night during dusk, I 

spotted a muskrat. I hadn't had time to photograph waterfowl in a while, and I thought 

that it was late enough in the year that there would be some on the Lagoon, but other 

than a few mallards the Lagoon was deserted. As I passed a collection of reeds next to a

 fallen branch, I heard a splash and a muskrat (what looks like a mini-beaver) swam out 

of the reeds and dove under the water.

I read an article in the Winnetka Historical Society's Gazette about the swamps that 

were around prior to the New Deal, and the diversity of wildlife that was around sounds

 extraordinary. It makes sense that wildlife in Winnetka is now limited to this finite stretch

 of wetlands which is surrounded by major roads and highways, but it's odd how few and

 scattered the zoological population of the Skokie Lagoons is. It's nice to see something like

 a muskrat every once and a while just because it shows that the conservation effort of

 the Lagoons is amounting to something.

Winnetka

Taken in November 2012