Cleared brush & saw raccoons

This morning, we cleared some of the brush that had grown up west of the dock so that we could put one of the small research vessels into Third Sister Lake. I can also now see the end of the dock from the cabin.

Much of the work was facilitated by the use of the chainsaw, well-sharpened loppers, a hard-tined rake, and two masters' students who will be using the lake to calibrate their equipment for their main summer research sites within the Muskegon River watershed.

Also, when conducting my evening rounds, I heard some grunting and scrabbling in the trees near the frog pond. As I looked up, I saw two masked faces staring back at me, and soon saw a third raccoon clambering up yet another tree. I guess the pickings along the road - the pickings of civilization - are a little bit dried up at present. Maybe they know that the garbage won't be put out until Tuesday night and so are foraging for more "evolutionarily traditional" food down by the frog pond. Hopefully the deer flies aren't getting to them as bad; the buggers were flying all around my head as I did my rounds.