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I don't believe there is a documented history of anyone ever taming a swamp.
I plant stuff.
It dies.
I cut down stuff.
It grows back.
I plant trees.
The beavers chew them down.
I lay stone.
Swamp grass grows to cover it.
I dig creeks.
Storms and rain fill them with mud.
I make plans.
The swamp changes them.
I am always hearing "you can't do it" from one person or another. When I hear that kind of stuff, I'm even more determined to prove I can do it. My husband Russ never tells me that I can't do it. Russ just wonders why I'm willing to face snakes and snapping turtles and probably the swamp plague in order to accomplish my goal. From time to time he will even do a "he-man" chore for me, to help move me along on a project. ( This week he took time off from making a 3-D Robot movie to fire up his chain saw. Don't you love it? I sure do!)
I asked him to cut up a large fallen tree so that I will be able to dig it out and make a larger water area. Then I asked him to remove some large brush that my lopping shears couldn't handle. I will be busy for weeks now, working these new areas. The swamp is fed by a spring fed lake and empties into a river. I am hoping that, over time, the flow of the water will finish what I have started. I think there is at least one beaver who has moved back in "to help me with my task."
Micah is five years old. He loves to wear waders, in or out of water, but especially in creeks and swamps. He and I wore our waders out into the swamp water yesterday. We dug out the section circled in red. (We are trying to make a shallow lake with shovels!) During the process, he encountered a small black and yellow water snake, which didn't phase him. He didn't even raise his voice (and he has a whopper of a voice) when he told me about it.
Lack of excitement is no way to describe my reaction to Micah mentioning a snake was near him! However, I never saw the snake. Micah said it was small and pointed it out in my field guide later. It was apparently a benign water snake. Still....Whoa!
Then later, with Micah away in a much safer location, I had my own frightening swamp encounter. Below are two pictures of the big turtle's offspring which were taken several years ago. I believe this turtle is an alligator snapping turtle. It looks very different from the other swamp turtles and the largest turtle discovered in this swamp probably weighs about 80 pounds. None of the other varieties of swamp turtles grow anywhere near that large. Why wouldn't there be younger, smaller family members?
Anyway, when my shovel hit this turtles now much larger shell, I thought I had discovered a nice big rock to use in my landscaping. I reached in the water with both hands to pick up the rock. As I lifted it from the water, it snapped at me and I dropped it screaming. Then I made this jumping and scrambling commotion as I tried to get my shovel under it and lift for Micah to see. Unfortunately it was too big and too heavy for a standard shovel. I only succeeded in catapulting it forward to swim away and out of sight.
Micah wasn't moved but he thought his Grandmommy was pretty funny.
