Wild Surprises

 

Sometimes Mother Nature surprises us. Such was the case recently when Dick and I spent time up the Gunflint Trail. We set out on a cruise around the east end of our lake. As I lowered myself into the boat, I noticed several creamy white water lily blooming alongside the dock.

“Look.” I pointed. Dick dutifully looked. “Oh, there’s a yellow one!” I’ve always been a big water lily fan. We took off.

As we moved in and out of the lake’s small bays, I was constantly surprised by the number of water lilies on the lake. These luscious water plants bloomed everywhere, forming lush carpets in quiet coves and bays, filling the air with a sweet scent. It was heaven for a flower lover.

We took a break and returned to the lake much later that afternoon. I was looking forward to enjoying more beautiful water lily scenes, but to my surprise, the lilies were now closed. Apparently, water lilies are sun-sensitive. We finished our lake tour, and the lakeshore was still beautiful, but the lilies had closed with the waning sunlight. Nevertheless, I still felt privileged to have seen so many earlier in the day.

Ears

When the next surprise from Mother Nature happened, it was on another day, and I had to experience it vicariously. This experience belongs to my husband as he drove a wilderness back road.

He drove past the opening of an unused road where daisies grew thick as a jungle. He was driving slowly, and the road was rough, but he did a double take. Did he see wolf pups? Fox kits? Maybe coyote pups?

Four ears were sticking up through the white and yellow daisies. What were they? Deciding to investigate further, he slowly got out of his vehicle. However, he remembered the words he once heard from a game warden. The game warden said he had never been confronted by a wolf except when pups were involved, and then one snarled and snapped at him. Dick decided to get back in his truck.

As he did so, one pup walked off and into the woods. The other stayed.

He decided to leave the pup alone and slowly drove away. Later, he returned by a different route and came up behind the pups. They were still there, but in his presence, one stood up and walked into the woods.

The other stayed and, when it decided to get moving, walked right under the truck window, giving Dick a great close-up view before finally disappearing in the woods.

We later researched the pups. They most definitely were timberwolves. A photo of a wolf pup at The Wolf Center in Ely confirmed it.