Elk Rapids Almanac-March 2018
 

March 4-I was enjoying my morning infusion of caffeine when I heard what I thought was the howling of a neighborhood dog.  On looking to see what was going on I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful Coyote on our beach not 20 yards from our deck door.  It was baying at nothing in particular then wandered along the shore and out onto the Elk Lake ice.  It trotted out about 200 yards then turned left and proceeded out of sight toward White Birch Lodge.  The next day I saw it coming across the lake but it stopped about half way and turned around and went back the way it had come. _Wally Hibbard
 
March 10-"A sap-run is the sweet good-bye of winter. It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost". John Burroughs, Signs and Seasons, 1886.
The public is invited to see this process in action. Come out to Maple Bay Farm, 3 miles south of Elk Rapids on Saturday, March 24, from 1-3 pm.
Hosted by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. This family friendly event will include syrup making, tree tapping and syrup treats. _Gary Stauffer, preserve steward at Maple Bay Farm.
 
March 12-Imagine our surprise when we looked out our window on a sunny winter afternoon and saw an opossum ranging around the commons!  I looked them up and found that opossums don’t hibernate and are generally nocturnal.  The exception is when it’s really cold at night and warmer in the daytime.  We’ve seen him/her numbers of times this past two weeks and have named “our” opossum BB for Bay Breeze.  They do many good things, like eat pests, grubs, roadkill, and have a very Low potential for rabies.  Opossums are our friends! _Kim Sibilsky