Apple Island fauna

The Apple Island Resort is not exactly in the middle of nowhere; it is on US Route 2 – a heavily-traveled road – on the shores of Lake Champlain, just a few miles from Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. Yet I have been surprised several times by the sudden and unexpected appearance of wildlife of various sorts. First, two fawns (the second is just barely visible above the white post) surprised me on the third hole of the golf course. They just came out of the adjoining woods, walking straight onto the fairway and headed straight for my ball. They were maybe 50 feet away from me. They were unafraid and, for a moment, walked directly at me. I was somewhat fearful that a doe or buck would charge out of the woods and try to butt me, to protect the young-uns. But the fawns turned and romped back into the woods and I continued my round, unmolested.

Then there was the fox that crossed our path as I walked the dogs down one of the resort roads one morning. It just ran by us, probably no more than 25 feet away. I was totally surprised, having never seen a fox in the wild(?) before. It happened so quickly that I couldn’t get a photo. And it apparently surprised the dogs as well as they just watched it run by, mute. Rusty barks at and chases anything that moves, so having him remain silent and motionless as he watched the fox was a huge surprise.

The marina also has some wildlife. There is the crane that lives in the area and uses the marina basin to fish. I haven’t identified the type of crane, but it is smaller than a sandhill.

A large-mouth bass for several months was living under the launch dock. I would see it every morning as I was working on the boats. I regarded it as my pet and admonished people to not fish for it (fishing off the docks is prohibited anyway, so I was well within my rights to yell at them). But someone must have gotten it as I have not seen it for a month.

Then there is the muskrat that startled me one morning by popping his head up out of the water near the dock as I was walking by. Again, his appearance was so brief that I didn’t get a photo, but it is another animal that I have never before seen in the wild.

Finally, there are the dogs. We allow dogs to be taken aboard the pontoon boats. They are not exactly wild animals, yet one of them was responsible for the only animal-inflicted injury that I have received this summer: a bite on the calf. The owner assured me that his dogs were friendly, but I know dogs and one seemed to be acting aggressively, so I kept my distance. But as I was carrying the paddles (he and his companion were renting the canoe) to the shore, I got a bit too close and the damn dog lunged and nipped me. Not a bad bite, but bad enough to break the skin. Fortunately it did not get infected and is now nearly healed.

Didn’t he know that I am a dog person?