Well - no, not really a new species . . . but maybe a "habitat extension" - in any case, I wanted to get your attention so I could tell you this story.
One thing I've learned a long time ago was that you never know what you'll come across when you are working on the water. We were finishing up our sampling on 4/8/09 when I noticed an unusual dark object in a shrub about 150 m from the shore line. Of course this needed investigation. Upon closer examination, Doyn (Emiquon Tech.) and I found that it was a raccoon! Well, raccoons are by no means uncommon in the Illinois River basin, but the curious thing was that this one was all snuggled up in this small tree quite far away from land (and about 7 feet above water!). We circled the raccoon several times to get a closer picture (and, to tell you the truth, to get a positive i.d.!) and it did not stir. Come to think of it, not a bad place for a nap - nobody to bother you (except those pesky researchers!), swaying away in a gentle breeze - to tell you the truth, it sounds pretty good - maybe the raccoon is on to something here!
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