Creatures in the creek

The South Fork of Chester Creek borders our backyard and that means we see lots of critters in, on, near, or over the creek. Usually they are not scary. Usually.

Salmon swim up the creek looking for that perfect place to start a new family. Duck parents float about on the creek while mom and dad teach the young ones the ins and outs of duck culture. Moose moms with their calves regularly hang out around the creek and the neighborhood.

We regularly have a family of merlins nest near the creek. They make eerie cries and scare away the songbirds. Eagles periodically fly over the creek looking for something yummy, but they are often attacked and driven away by a squadron of feisty magpies defending their little ones.

Most days, summer and winter, I take a two-mile walk around the neighborhood for exercise, crossing the creek several times as it meanders through the community. I always take a peek in the creek to see what I can see. One day something yellow and bobbing by the edge got my attention. Two large ripe pineapples were caught in an eddy. I’m sure there was a story there...

Another time, in the fall, I looked down the creek and about half a block away there were five or six leering heads bobbing in the water mocking me. Someone had strung a line of carved pumpkin heads across the creek. Gotta be another story there...

But all of this pales in comparison to the time I came upon the creatures in the inky black waters of the partially frozen creek. The creek runs under the street through metal culverts just around the corner from where I live. This happened a few years ago when we had a lot more snow than usual. There were four-foot snow berms on both sides of the street.

Just for the heck of it, as is my habit, I stepped up to the snow berm and took a look over it, downstream. The winter water was jet black, but much to my surprise something large and dark was swimming around in circles by the culvert. In fact, there were two somethings. I figured they were beavers. I had never seen beavers in the creek before, but I had seen them in one of the upstream ponds, so I thought, “beavers.”

In an instant they disappeared into the culvert, so of course I had to cross the street and take a look. I walked right up to the berm and leaned over to see them. They were doing the same thing, just swimming around in circles.

All of a sudden there was a disturbance in the water and a large animal shot out of the creek and stood up on two feet on the metal culvert. We were maybe two yards apart staring eye to eye over the berm. He was looking me up and down, like he was going to take measurements for a new suit. I was looking him up and down too, but I was backing away into the street hoping he wouldn't follow. He had big teeth. He had big claws.

After a brief stare-down he jumped back into the creek and swam off with his mate, heading upstream. I was in the middle of the street breathing hard. It was a river otter. They can be big and intimidating. I had never seen one before or since in our neighborhood creek.

Here’s my final thought on the matter: I am glad I saw him. He was a magnificent animal. But in the future I will be perfectly content to encounter bobbing pineapples and leering pumpkins in Chester Creek. They don’t leap out of the water and stare you down.