the long grasses. Ripples on the water betrayed life as it swam
under the surface. Another ripple trailed along after the large bodied
beaver as it traveled upstream to find more tree's to work on.
The sound of long legs getting sucked into the mud underwater
was the only disturbance. A gray wolf struggled to wade into the water
heading towards the direction of the beaver.
Maybe this was a bad idea... the silvery pelted wolf flinched
at the noise of her legs as she pulled them out of the vacuum-like mud.
She nosed the reeds as she passed by them to find the direction the beaver
had disappeared in. Here it is... The female continued to follow the musky
smell of the large aquatic rodent. Even if there was no chance at catching it
Narimé wouldn't be deterred. She would try to figure out a way no matter how long it took.
After a half an hour of slow wading, and "slurping" while her legs plunged into
and out of the mud, Narimé finally began to scent more and more of her quarry.
Her purply blue eyes widened as she took in her newer surroundings. Marsh was
still the dominant landscape, however the tall tree's of cedarwood forest
surrounded the area now. It seemed like some sort of creek was running from the
forest and into the marsh. The sounds and smells of the forest were welcoming to
the yearling and she almost climbed out of the water to go exploring. Until she heard
a "shhwwaaaaack!!!" on the surface of the water to her right. The young wolf jumped
and stumbled around in the sucking mud with her hackles raised. Whatever had made
the noise had surprised and scared her out of her fur.
For a few minutes she looked at the spot where she'd heard the loud noise.
Then a little head popped up from underwater. The beaver was taking a breath
of air and watching the wolf with wary brown eyes.
The she wolf watched the beaver curiously but when she tried to take a step
towards it the animal smacked the water loudly with its tail and plunged underwater again.
The second "Shhhwwaaaaaaack!!" had surprised the young wolf again however this
time she was not afraid of it. Instead she felt even more curious about the large rodent.
So that's what was making the noise? Is it trying to scare me away? She laughed
and smiled at the silly brown furred creature.
"If I'de been on dry land and not stuck in this mud when I heard you the first time
I probably would have run away and let you be!" She laughed again waiting for the
animal to come back up for air. After waiting for a few minutes she realized
that it wasn't coming back up.
Where'd it go? She began wading around again scenting for the creature
around the plants growing in and above the water. She didn't think to look at the
large clump of logs and twigs about ten feet away to her left for the beavers scent.
She wasn't knowlegable enough to know that beavers lived in dams, and
that there was one right next to her. I'm not giving up though!