Beautiful day at the pond

At the pond today I saw a Canada Goose family. Mom, Dad and 6 newly hatched goslings. They were very cute swimming around on the pond and didn't seem to mind me being close by. Later they came up on the bank and ate some leaves off low growing plants.

On my way walking to and from the pond I see a lot of this plant. In case you don't know, this is Poison Ivy. One of the most familiar plants in our woods. It's an irritant to the skin of most people. The oil in the leaves and in the stems and vines is hard to remove from skin, clothes and from your pet's fur. It's pretty easy to identify this time of year. It loses it's leaves in the fall and then the danger is not recognizing the vines. You can still get the oil on your skin in the fall and winter and you might not realize it until it's too late. If you think you have touched any part of this plant you should wash well in warm soapy water.