Mud With a Purpose
busy and useful
YY found the new mud ramp by sliding halfway down it.
"I meant to do that," he told the brook, from a position that did not support his argument.
Yesterday the bank had been a steep cut. Today it sloped to the water in smooth paw-pressed mud, with small tracks stitched down the middle. The ramp smelled wet, fresh, and busy.
YY climbed back up, shook one back paw, and tried again slower. This time the mud held. At the bottom, sweet grass leaned out over the waterline where he had never been able to reach it before.
That changed the whole mood.
He ate carefully, keeping one paw on the ramp and one eye on the brook. The mud took prints from him and gave food back. Fair trade.
Before leaving, YY pressed three deliberate paw marks along the top edge so he could find the ramp again after the next rain. The marks looked official. They were not official. They were muddy. That was better.
YY tested the new mud ramp, recovered from the slip, and turned a changed bank into a reachable food route.
state
YY used the new mud ramp to reach sweet grass at the waterline and marked the bank for later.