Our crayfish dug homes in the river floor
They’d dart in their holes when we neared
Their sharp little claws were like lobsters
Nonetheless, it was humans they feared
Snapping turtles drifted by at dusk
Steve shot a huge buck with his bow
We towed it to shore with our green rowboat
Turtle murder, that made us feel low
The Great Blue Heron is a wading bird
She grows over four feet in height
And loves to eat fish and water bugs
So thrilling to see her in flight
The otter had nests on the river bank
Steve captured a bunch with his trap
He sold their pelts for fifty cents each
To a down and out grungy old chap
Mallards are the most handsome duck of all
The male shows off his green head
I went hunting for ducks with Dick Sawyer
But never took a shot, when all’s said
Mudpuppies surely are the ugliest
And they live over twenty long years
They like to eat minnows and fish eggs
Near the top of my childhood river fears
The loons lived together in the Channel
These are birds that can fly very fast
They swim underwater to hunt for fish
And head South when the summer is past
The clams lay quietly near the shoreline
We’d step on one when we’d go in
For kicks we would pry their shells open
An act which I now call a sin
There were millions of minnows all summer
They swam in the shallow warm water
Life as a minnow was perilous
Being favorite snacks of the otter
We might see a seagull every now and then
Though Green Bay was three miles away
I worried the seagulls had gotten off course
Though they never seemed to show much dismay
Water bugs swam near the river bank
They flitted about, here and there
There were hundreds of buglets in each big swarm
Every one of them heading nowhere 
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