Sun Mote Copse To the priest with his broken arrows

If Bronco had been Wraen's first teenager to deal with, then she would have probably felt irritated by the boy's lack of manners. But she had dealt with a difficult Elfie for few months now, had endured temper tantrums, pouted lips and loud arguments, therefore Niamh's son's attitude did not bum her a bit. She just smiled to herself, as she saw him go, and with time and experience the boy would get past the annoying "know-it-all" stage and become a bit more humble. Or not, but by then, if he got on her nerves too much, she would be able to ask him to leave. First politley, then by involving aggressive politics.

She let the kids take charge and only interferred, when they got too far in the wrong direction. After some time they had arrived by the bog, but the Sovereign did not stop there, leading them (or patiently pointing out) towards the corner, where there was the most water. If the cubs were observant, they would notice the first signs of muskrat presence - the surface they were walking from was soft and at some places almost hollow, there were signs of damage alonge the narrow shore-line muskrats had caused by digging their burrows underground.

"Muskrats dig well underground and are good swimmers," she explained to Avery and addressed Bronco as well, if he was listening. "Here," she pointed to the dug-out tunnels nearby, "you can catch a good whiff of what you are looking for." To increase the challenge even the fresh smell was not always too obvious. The water, mud and reeds mixed in and diluted it a great deal. "And, if I am not mistaken - there," she beckoned to the small hills of reeds and twigs, where there was more water than bog, "are their homes."

"Give tracking a go, see, what you can find, if you manage to scare any out, give a shout," Wraen instructed. "They might seem small, but it can take a team effort to trap one."

Photos for reference: 1. Muskrat lodges - http://cdenature.com/wp/wp-content/uploa...Lodges.jpg 2. Shoreline damage by muskrats - http://suburbanwildlifesolutionsllc.com/...t-my-pond/ 3. You can watch some youtube videos about muskrats in nature. I found this one interesting myself - mink hunting muskrats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTg8tys4cSA .