Milly, Molly and Mick Rat, of the Perth Pond Pilers!!!

Yam, a blog buddy in Dunoon, Scotland, suggested the names! I only spotted one, however. With their short shelf life, the others could be gone. We had a fox nearby the other day. It's hard to say.
However, we have at least one. No cats accompanied me this day. As I walked towards the pond, I could spot an open spot in the middle. The videos are in this post. It was comical watching him dive, get some food, come back up on the ice to eat.
The ice is very thin, I could see his brown body under the ice. You can see it in the video.

From here I could see the open hole,
and the waters moving as Mick disappeared.
The leaves are noisy as I walk.
They can hear me coming.

The pond is frozen over, for the most part.
These small holes were thawing in the 2 C. weather.

Dummy me - this wasn't wide enough to cover me!
I stood there, my arm started to go to sleep!

Hiding behind a larger group of trees,
I stuck the videocam around the side.
On the left is the open hole.

Daisy and I went skating on the frog pond!

It's one of those iconic rural stories, skating on the pond.

Now, my skates are really rusty, but I thought I'd try it. I spotted the turkeys in the back yard, and thought it would be good to get outdoors.

What the heck. Thing is, the flat frog pond wasn't so flat after a night of cold, cold temperatures. There are lots of deer tracks in the forest, and a wolf ambled by, too.

Not much blood, a few drops
- dunno where from.

I found deer tracks every where. Including a spot of blood on the snow in our backyard, on the Honourary Rick Wilson Grassy Knoll. Rather ironic. A potential kill, not quite killed.
The dratted turkeys had been walking across the pond. The deer, as well.

I pulled on my old skates and tried to skate. My feet hurt, but the cold, fresh air was bracing. It was terrible skating, though. Very bumpy.

Daisy is such a great moral support! Buster was sleeping. She thought she'd take a walk on the wild side!

She checked the perimeter of the pond for me!

The pond seems frozen over!
A critter breathing hole?!

But the wetland is NOT frozen. Beware those who travel on it.

I should have gotten a soaker,
but I was quick!

Time to go, Daisy. My feet hurt!
She lags behind (bottom, center), eager to explore.
She's a weird little girl! Follows me like a dog.

She hunkers down in my tracks,
then runs on ahead!
It's all a game.

Back up at the house, I was trying to adjust the tree lights. I'd done a really bad job, but then the winds blew over the star. Guess who was my helper?!

Up there, Mummy?

She's a cutie!

Linking to:
Our World Tuesday