Thursday 19 November 2009

what lurks in the woods?

I heard a strange animal in our neck of the woods. Motivated by my blog buddies, who keep careful track of their local critters, I decided to talk a walk and figure out what it was.

I saw big tracks on the road.
I could hear the noises of this woodland creature. With big paws they make a less than joyful, but a powerful noise, that rumbled down in our basement!

I was curious and anxious to capture another example of Muskoka fauna!

Actually, these beasties are a necessity in our part of the world. A lot of our hydro crews spend time away from family, staying over night in motel rooms across Muskoka, ensuring that our hydro lines are kept up.

Muskoka is made up of lakes that nestle in the granite of the Precambrian Shield. The glacier scoured the land and left little topsoil. It would be great if our hydro lines were buried, but there is nothing in which to bury them. Even our mature trees have had a falling out.

Moving in closer, I found BIG trucks!



Drilling the hole (YouTube - 2) is a fabulous process.


Man and his machine!


Then there is filling up the hole. 



 Backhoe filling the hydro pole - 3
Putting our tools away - 4 
(How did he do it? Right up the ramp!)
Jack hammer - 5 
Before they left they used the jack hammer to make a hole for the guide wire. 


Back home they will go. Never to be seen again. I will know that I have power to run my computer!



5 comments:

EG CameraGirl said...

I see you found some friendly critters!

Hydro works hard in Muskoka!

You'll be interested to know that our hydro, telephone and cable lines aren't buried either...even though we don't live on the Precambrian Shield. I think you have to live in a new community to get that kind of service.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Jenn: My grandson loves to watch big machines at work. They are fun to show.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Wow, what a treat. Big manly machines. Sign me up.

Jenn Jilks said...

I knew my male followers would like this one! Me too! Work fascinates me. I can watch it for hours, in the cold and rain! We have interesting men and women who work in Muskoka. Always eager to show me how they do what they do. There is a blessing in working outdoors - most of the time!

Kahshe Cottager said...

I feel for the hydro crews that work here especially in the winter. Last year they were here in our area every week to deal with power outages. This year it has been much better. I did photo the hydro helicopter bringing in a pole for a neighbour this fall. It was amazing to watch how quickly and precisely they placed the pole.