Centennial woods has a interesting use history. Initially the land that is now designated as a natural area was farmland. Most everything was clearcut except for a few trees that one can see evidence of in the forest now. Then after the field was abandoned pines began to repopulate the area. The largest pines in the pine stands in centennial can be up to 150 years old!
Centennial woods also has had development around all of its edges. Houses and communities have gone up around its entrances and a baseball field, soccer field, and electrical plant are all in the same area right next to my entrance and spot. These human developments all have dangerous consequences. Dangerous runoff from the developments can affect Centennial Brook and the woods. To mitigate these problems a series of three retention ponds have been created. These human developments actually seem to be benefiting the wildlife in the woods. The retention ponds are where I see the highest concentration of wildlife. Once there was a beaver, muskrat, and two mallards in the ponds with a woodpecker on a snag next to the pond and a hawk flying over it. The bird sightings were probably just coincidences but the muskrat, beaver and water fowl greatly benefit from these ponds.
Other than these developments the woods are heavily foot trafficked with families, runners, dogs, classes, and other naturalists.
Is that a muskrat?. Looks like a capibara (carpincho). Nice shot.