Leech Lake's Animal Kingdom
There are far, far more animals living in the Leech Lake area within 50 miles of Trappers Landing Lodge than people. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says that besides humans, those living in norhern Minnesota include: 80 different mammal species, 21 amphibian species, 29 reptile species and 428 bird species.
A partial list of those 80 different mammals includes: badgers, bats, bears, beavers, bison, bobcat, cougar, coyote, deer, fox, lynx, minx, mole, moose, muskrat, opposom, otter, porcupine, raccoon, shrew, skunks, weasels, wolves.
Before we go into details about the mammals, let's address the reptile issue first. Guess what? Great news! There are NO poisonous snakes in northern Minnesota! Isn't that another bonus about vacationing in these parts. You might come across the occasional fox snake, bull snake or gartner snake, but all are harmless and will slither quickly away from you if you come upon them. The only other reptile of consequence in these parts is the snapping turtle, which can grow up to 20 inches and weigh up to 70 pounds. I saw one that was at least half this size crossing the road near Walker. Take care not to run these creatures over with your car. Their hard shell will not save them from being smushed like a piece of fruit.
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There are an estimated 1.5 million deer in Minnesota, and northern Cass County may be one of the best wild-venison hunting grounds in the continental United States. It is almost impossible for you to go on a walk in the woods, or drive down a country road here in this area, and not see a couple deer, or at least a couple of dead ones by the side of the road that tried to cross the road at the wrong moment. The largest member of the deer family is the moose, and there are estimated to be up to 7000 of these 1000 pound, elusive animals in northern Minnesota. A moose will smell you long before it sees you, and will do it's best to avoid you. Black Bears
Hunters come from as far as Michigan to hunt black bears in Minnesota.
What part of the bear do you eat, I asked some bear hunters. Whatever part will fit in a pan, they chuckled. It is estimated that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 black bears in the north woods of Minnesota, and about 3000 are harvested every year. Black bears in the wild are actually much smaller than you'd think, weighing only between 100-300 pounds. (I say, only; as if a 200 lb wild animal with 3-inch claws shouldn't be intimidating.) If you come across a black bear, it will likely run from you, unless it is busy eating honey from a bee hive, in which case, it will ignore you and continue eating. Wolf
The wolf has been protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1974 and before that, Minnesota was the only state in the lower 48 states that had not exterminated its wolf population. There are about 3000 wolves in northern Minnesota today. The most common cause of death of wolves in Minnesota is by other wolves: they fight over territory. The gray wolf has a sense of smell 100 times stronger than humans. Gray wolves run in packs of six to 12 animals, which makes it much easier to kill deer or moose. They can run up to 40 miles without resting. Lynx and Bobcat
Lynx and bobcat are both big cats, but the bobcat is very common in this area, while the lynx's territory is more in far northern Minnesota. You can tell the difference between a bobcat and a lynx, as a lynx will have a white underbelly and a goatee. Yes, that's what I said, a goatee. If you're walking along in the forest in these parts, and you come across a large uprooted tree or hollowed out log, chances are, someone of the bear, wolf, or cat family has lined the area with moss and leaves, and has made a den/home for themselves there. Don't go poking your nose around such dwellings, especially in May or June when mothers may be on high alert to protect their young from the likes of you. Porcupines
Like pigs, porcupines will eat almost anything, especially things that are salty. A porcupine's natural diet is pine tree bark, but it won't hesitate to eat your canoe paddles or your ax handle. Porcupines are a common site in this area, even close to town. I was driving along near Walker one day, saw a porcupine lumbering along the side of the road, stopped my car, and ran after it, yelling, "Wait, I've never seen one of you up close." But it went down into a culvert and I suddenly remembered my fear of quills. Heaven forbid your dog should find a porcupine and bother it. You'll be at the vet for hours waiting while long, sharp quills are pulled out of your pet's nose. Beaver
The largest rodent in North America, the beaver, which can weigh up to 90 lb, is found everywhere in Minnesota. In the 200 acre DNR Wildlife Management Area about two miles from Trappers, I've come across whole beaver colonies, with hundreds of felled trees surrounding dirt mounds in the midst of a swamp. If you're near a lake and you hear a loud slapping sound, it's likely that sound was made by a beaver smacking its large flat tail against the water. If you're in the lake, look around to make sure you're not too close to a nervous beaver, as that's the sound they make when they get irritated by human proximity. The Common Loon
The Minnesota state bird is the Common Loon. Not the Exotic or the Uncommon Loon, mind you, just the Common Loon, of which there are 12,000 pairs in Minnesota. The thing about the loon that makes it stand out among birds is its distinctive loon caw, or call sound it makes. The thing about loons in northern Minnesota is that it's quiet enough and there's enough of them, that hearing the hypnotic and lyrical call of a loon echo over the waters of a placid lake is something you can absolutely expect to experience if you spend more than 10 minutes in the Leech Lake area in the summer months. Horned Owl
Another large bird common in the Leech Lake area is the great horned owl. My family awoke one morning to find a decapitated rabbit on our doorstep. We called the DNR with concern, and they casually informed us that it was surely the work of a great horned owl. Owls are capable of catching all manner of small animals, including domestic pets, so you may want to refrain from letting your small dog or cat wander about alone at night, when the owls are out hunting for their next meal. Bald Eagles
There are 700 + pairs of bald eagles in Minnesota, and eagle sightings in the Leech Lake area are very common. Most locals can point you to a local spot or road from which you can view an eagle's nest with an eagle perched on a branch next to it. I can. But I had an up-close sighting recently that was nowhere near an eagle nest. I had just pulled into the parking lot of the SuperOne grocery store in Walker last week when I heard a flock of duck and geese making a lot of distressed honking, and looked in time to see an eagle grab a full-grown mallard duck in its talons. It couldn't fly with the duck, so it hopped into an ice patch in the middle of the duck pond, and ate it on the spot. Myself and many other shoppers watched with slight horror and resignation to the brutishness of nature. I'd never seen a bald eagle that close. We onlookers surmised that the eagle must be very hungry, to take out a duck in such close proximity to people.
I had the presence of mind to go into the store and ask the store manager to get a picture of 'the event.' Here it is.
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posted by Leech Lake Blog
A brief history of Leech Lake
Wait. We've been getting ahead of ourselves. Let's back up, way up, and talk about life in the Leech Lake area before Trappers, before white man, and even before Indians roamed these lands and lakes. Approximately 10,000 years ago, all of northern Minnesota was covered by a big glacier. What remains of that glacier, are the 10,0000 lakes that cover the state. In late 2006, about 50 tool-like artifacts were found near the new Walker Area Community Center, on a southern hillside of Leech Lake. Some archaeologists believe these artifacts show evidence of being between 13,000 and 15,000 years old, which would date them toward the end of the last Ice Age - a time when woolly mammoths, mastodons and giant beavers roamed the continent. How /giant/ exactly were the beavers, you ask? About the size of a large dog. This also would indicate that humans inhabited Minnesota more than 5000 years earlier than scientists once thought, and that this area was one of the oldest-known sites of human inhabitation in all of North and South America. While that's not been definitely proven just yet, let's just accept it as more evidence of how special this area is. What is not in dispute is that the Dakota tribe lived in the Leech Lake area in the 1600, and Ojibwe (O jib way) settled on small islands on the lake by the 1700s. By 1847, white men got a treaty from these tribes that pushed them into Wisconsin and ceded the Minnesota territory that is now the Ojibwe Leech Lake Reservation. The first westward-wandering white men established trading posts at Ottertail and Oak Points in the 1780s and lumberjacks came in droves to help harvest the forests. Back in those days there were few white women in these parts, and most of those followed the lumberjacks and worked in the 'service industry.' Leech Lake as it exists today was formed deliberately in 1882 when the Army Corps of Engineers started building Leech Lake Damn, and ultimately raised the water level enough (seven feet) to connect about six separate lakes. No time was wasted in making Leech Lake a tourist destination - the first camping facilities and public launch were set up soon after. The population of the towns surrounding Leech Lake, which support the mill and logging industries, exploded when the first railroad was built through Walker in 1896. The town of Walker is named after T.J. Walker, who owned the local mill which was then located where Walker City Park is now. Some of T.J.'s decedents still live in the area; one is the owner of the restaurant/bar in Walker called Bensen's. In the 50's more Muskies were pulled out of Leech Lake than any other lake in the U.S., which allowed Walker to crown itself, the Muskie Capitol of the Nation. Efforts by the Department of Natural Resources to restock Leech with millions of walleye fry succeeded in returning Leech Lake to its status as a walleye-catching premiere lake. This was in evidence when the Minnesota Governor's Fishing Opener was held on Leech in May of 2007, and Governor Pawlenty and Mrs. Pawlenty both caught several sizable walleye.  Ojibwe landing in Walker Creator: Edward Augustus Bromley (1848-1925) Photograph Collection, 1896 Visual Resources Database Minnesota Historical Society
posted by Leech Lake Blog
Diary of a Winter Vacation at Trappers Landing Lodge
Day One: Ice FishingIt may be cold and snowy outside, but you can always stay warm and dry when you're ice fishing from inside your fishhouse. Haul your own fishhouse to Trappers and drive it out onto Leech from the Trappers marina, or rent a fishhouse for the day. There's no better trophy of a day well-spent, and no better fresh-caught dinner than a winter walleye pulled from a clean, clear, frozen-over northwoods lake. Some folks have been known to 'bring home the fish bacon' while they were sipping a beer and watching their portable television! Ice house rental locations are listed at the end of this blog post. Day Two: Cross Country SkiingNorthern Minnesota may not have Colorado-high hills for extreme downhill skiing, but it is perfect for downhill's good-workout cousin, cross country - which is known to be just about the best exercise a person can get. There are many groomed cross country trails within a few miles of Trappers. Some trails, like the Paul Bunyan and The Heartland, are straight-aways with virtually no hills. If you're looking for a more hilly terrain, you'll find it on the Trails at Shingobee Hill, which are marked with maps at various intervals. There is a warming lodge at Shingobee that is open on winter weekends. To get to there, drive 5 miles west from Walker on Highway 34 and park at the trailhead. Day Three: SleddingWhile you were at Shingobee you probably noticed the huge sledding hill. This hill is a favorite sledding spot for local kids and is big enough to accommodate dozens of fun-seekers. The best, or worst, part of the sledding experience at Shingobee is walking back up the hill after you sledded down. A personal trainer could not have designed a better workout for your quads. Careful though, the hill is so steep, make sure you're prepared for some serious speed on the way down. Day Four: SnowshoeingDeep snow; no problem. Strap on a pair of snowshoes and go anywhere! Snowshoes have been used for thousands of years to navigate successfully over deep snow. If you own a pair of snowshoes, you'll be prepared to hike on any of the trails in the area, or on the frozen lakes after a heavy snowfall. Day Five: Indoor Rock Climbing at Deep PortageDeep Portage is an indoor/outdoor recreational facility where you can rock climb indoors, or explore 11 miles of trails through this nature preserve on cross country skis or snowshoes, and enjoy the rifle, trap and archery range, sporting clays, and weather station. Day Six: Ice skating at the Walker Area Community Center.If it's too cold and blustery to be outdoors, come enjoy some indoor winter fun on the ice-skating rink at the new Walker Area Community Center. For a small fee you can enjoy open skate times, use the fitness center, play basektball in the gym, and take a yoga class. Day Seven: SnowmobilingDid you see my previous blog on snowmobiling? There are so many snowmobiling trails around Trappers, you could do this single activity for days. The town of Walker is lives up to its reputation of a being a quant and cutsey little tourist town, with many shops containing original art from local artists, up-north clothing and home decor items. You could easily pass a day browsing through all the shops along Minnesota Avenue in downtown Walker. In the evenings you could stop at the Walkere American Legion for karaoke, bingo, cribbage, or a free Texas Hold-em Tournament on Saturday nights. Or, if you want to play with the higher rollers, head over to Northern Lights Casino, just a few miles to the west of Trappers, play the slots, blackjack, or buy in to a different poker tournament every night of the week. Also at the Northern Lights Casino, big comedy and music acts appear almost every weekend: including George Carlin, Ron White of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Air Supply, and Pat Benatar. Find more information on the events at Northern Lights Casino at www.nothernlightscasino.com. So, you could come out and get busy up north here at Trappers, or you could stay home, see what's on TV, or maybe catch a movie. Oh, wait, you could do that at Trappers too. The Bear Pause Theater in Hackensack, just south of Trappers, has a brand new theater, with four new features playing every week, and a private VIP section you can rent to make a movie a special occasion for your whole family. For more information go to www.bearpausetheater.com. What do you have planned for next week? Roerick Fish House Rentals Leech Lake Area (218) 224-2836 or (218) 760-8266 or (218) 760-0946 Ice fishing and spearing on Walker Bay of Leech Lake and other area lakes. Walker Fish House Rentals Walker Bay on Leech Lake (218) 547-0663Ice fishing on Leech Lake - Walker Bay. Heated, plush houses - 2, 4, or 6 bunks with kitchenettes. Walker Rental, Inc. (218) 547-3656 6037 E. Ottertail Rd. NW Walker, MN. 56484 Extreme Ice House Rentals 12-14-16 Foot houses available. Here's the type of fishhouse you could rent - and stick your fishing 'acommodations' right outside your Trappers accomodations.
posted by Leech Lake Blog
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