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One of Weston’s favorite local wildlife characters, Mabel the Muskrat, was recently freed from a no-good, very-bad day at the Weston Reservoir. A local resident called Weston Police Animal Control Officer Karen O’Reilly to mention that there was a fluffo in the chain-link fence and said fluffo was not getting out.

ACO O’Reilly and the Weston Fire Department managed to free the beastie –while Karen gently held down Mabel, the Fire Department, firefighters cut a few pieces of fence out and untangled her.  There were no injuries to Mabel (possibly a little hurt feelings) and she scurried back and jumped in the water after being freed. By the way, the Ash Street Reservoir is a back-up water supply for the metrowest, and now we know that there may be a few muskrat hairs coming out of the faucet at emergency times. Oh just kidding, people, get a grip.

There is an unfounded rumor– and never ask the question because that never works out in your favor–that Mabel may have put on a few pounds due to pregnancy.

Muskrats are cool beasties. Here are some fun facts from Encyclopedia Britannica: Muskrats can stay submerged for up to 20 minutes and swim as fast as 5 km (3.1 miles) per hour. If you want to learn more, check out this blog post from MassAudubon: https://blogs.massaudubon.org/yourgreatoutdoors/tag/muskrats/.

Wild Weston! Never a dull moment.