Where the Wild Things Are

It's a beautiful day at Camden Yards.  Crisp, sunny, and not too hot.  Perfect day for planting the crape myrtle that has been rooming with me in Bin 400 of the Warehouse for the past two weeks.

The Muskogee will someday bloom a lovely shade of purple at the southern gateway to M&T Bank Stadium.  Along with the one planted a few weeks ago along the Ostend Street bridge, it will also edge the rain garden that helps to control stormwater runoff from the stadium lots.

(Note:  no government time or dollars have been expended in this landscaping enhancement.  Strictly volunteer.)

So armed with my trusty shovel, I headed to the edge of the ornamental grasses.  Although installed just a year ago, they've done a splendid job of stemming erosion and filtering ground water.  They also make a much more welcoming approach to the stadium complex.

I had just finished digging the hole when one of the security guards came by.  He asked if I'd seen the visitor who ambled through just a few minutes before.

No, I responded.  It was pretty quiet here in the rain garden.  Just me, the crapes and a couple of butterflies. No misplaced Yankee fans.

Well, you have company, said he.  And he pulled out his trust BlackBerry to show me who strolled into the grassy swale shortly before I arrived.

Look at the critter at the base of the tree.  He's about 20 inches long with a broad tale (not visible behind the tree)  He wasn't in any hurry, just meandering along into the marshy lowland.

The guard thought it was a beaver, but Bucky wasn't smiling so he didn't get a good look at choppers.  The idea of an urban beaver is not so far-fetched when you consider our remote stormwater pond just below the swale.  There's a veritable wild kingdom down there. Enough rodents and reptiles to keep even Eagle fans at bay.

It could possibly be a groundhog, though.  We displaced a coterie when we planted the butterfly garden below the pedestrian bridge.  But this fellow looks a little big (and slow) to be a groundhog.  And his tail certainly didn't fit the species.

Whatever he is, he seemed friendly to the guard.  And as long as he doesn't sharpen those incisors on my crapes, he's welcome to hang around.  Never too many stormwater engineers in a fragile watershed like ours.