Dam.

* 1 pair Black Ducks
* 1 pair Wood Ducks
* 8 Mallards
* 32 Canada Geese
50-pound bags of corn continue to turn up missing on the bank. Quite a mystery!

Then. An odd ripple catches our eye. No duck, this, it's a mammal, gliding through the muddy water. A Muskrat. No, an enormous Muskrat. No, way too huge for a Muskrat. It's a Beaver! The likes of which we have not seen here in twenty-one years.

O squeals, "Damn beaver!" Then I realize he actually said, "Dam, Beaver!" Then he's rooting for them to cut down our trees. O's like that. Sure, it would be sad to lose trees, but then we could plant more trees, the thing O loves best. Next to critters.

It's too soon to know if Beaver is just passing through or scouting for a dam site, but either way, the reappearance of a long-gone beast is a very good thing, indeed.