Hiking Nature

June 17, 2008.
There was more introspection than wildlife viewing this evening, although there was one wildlife sighting worthy of mention.

It was late dusk and I had finished hiking. I was walking down the Otter Creek Road hill, nearing Radnor Lake’s west parking lot, when I stopped to peer down at the spillway-fed creek. It looked to me as though there were more ripples in the water than there should have been, but I saw nothing to create such ripples, as far as I could tell. A few seconds later, a raccoon became visible as it walked downstream at water’s edge, foraging and hunting food. They’ll eat a wide variety of smaller creek inhabitants. It quickly disappeared from sight, taking cover in some creekside bushes to continue its hunting.

I cannot recall ever having seen a live raccoon in Nashville, so as bland as a raccoon sighting might seem to some, I was glad to have glimpsed it.