| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| |
| Getting to Know Your Lake | |
| |
| |
| Lake origins | |
| |
| |
| Lake anatomy | |
| |
| |
| Important features of your lake | |
| |
| |
| Watersheds | |
| |
| |
| Flooding | |
| |
| |
| Lake health and water quality | |
| |
| |
| Environmentally friendly cleaners | |
| |
| |
| Assessing water quality, part 1: Physical characteristics | |
| |
| |
| Assessing water quality, part 2: Chemical characteristics | |
| |
| |
| Assessing water quality, part 3: Creature characteristics | |
| |
| |
| Assessing water quality, part 4: Animal indicators | |
| |
| |
| Acid rain | |
| |
| |
| Water hardness | |
| |
| |
| Wetlands | |
| |
| |
| |
| Boating | |
| |
| |
| Canoes | |
| |
| |
| Kayaks | |
| |
| |
| Maintaining canoes and kayaks | |
| |
| |
| Windsurfers | |
| |
| |
| Steering your windsurfer | |
| |
| |
| Motorboats | |
| |
| |
| Winterizing your boat and motor | |
| |
| |
| More water fun | |
| |
| |
| Essential knots | |
| |
| |
| Navigating big lakes | |
| |
| |
| Weather | |
| |
| |
| Lightning and thunder | |
| |
| |
| Rainbows | |
| |
| |
| Wind and waves | |
| |
| |
| Wake | |
| |
| |
| Shoreline erosion | |
| |
| |
| Building a dock | |
| |
| |
| Types of docks | |
| |
| |
| Dock damage | |
| |
| |
| |
| Swimming | |
| |
| |
| Water temperature | |
| |
| |
| Sandy beaches | |
| |
| |
| The toe-tanglers: aquatic plants | |
| |
| |
| Your swimming companions | |
| |
| |
| What's in an average glass of lake water? | |
| |
| |
| Swimming fun and safety | |
| |
| |
| Swimming games | |
| |
| |
| A swim to the island or the other shore | |
| |
| |
| Body surfing waves | |
| |
| |
| Snorkeling and scuba diving | |
| |
| |
| Diving | |
| |
| |
| |
| Fishing | |
| |
| |
| Where, when and how to fish | |
| |
| |
| The basic tackle | |
| |
| |
| Live bait for lake fishing | |
| |
| |
| Gathering and farming worms | |
| |
| |
| How to fish | |
| |
| |
| Preparing your catch | |
| |
| |
| Flyfishing basics | |
| |
| |
| Your winged competition | |
| |
| |
| About the fish | |
| |
| |
| Unwelcome invaders | |
| |
| |
| Smart fishing | |
| |
| |
| Safe eating | |
| |
| |
| Ice fishing | |
| |
| |
| |
| Living with Wildlife | |
| |
| |
| American black bear | |
| |
| |
| The ungulates | |
| |
| |
| Dog kin: wolves, coyotes and foxes | |
| |
| |
| Cat kin: lynx and bobcat | |
| |
| |
| Raccoons | |
| |
| |
| Hares and cottontails | |
| |
| |
| Weasels, skunks and musky allies | |
| |
| |
| Beavers | |
| |
| |
| The busy beaver | |
| |
| |
| Porcupines | |
| |
| |
| Chipmunks and other small rodents | |
| |
| |
| Shrews and moles | |
| |
| |
| Bats | |
| |
| |
| Snakes | |
| |
| |
| Cottage bird life | |
| |
| |
| Hunted birds | |
| |
| |
| Hunting birds | |
| |
| |
| Noises in the night | |
| |
| |
| Insect-eating birds | |
| |
| |
| Making a birdhouse | |
| |
| |
| Nocturnal bugs | |
| |
| |
| Biting bugs | |
| |
| |
| Stinging bugs | |
| |
| |
| Spiders | |
| |
| |
| Unwelcome cottage visitors | |
| |
| |
| Snails and slugs | |
| |
| |
| Living with wildlife | |
| |
| |
| Poisonous, noxious, nuisance plants | |
| |
| |
| Foreign invaders | |
| |
| |
| Edible wild plants | |
| |
| |
| Mushrooms | |
| |
| |
| |
| Cottage Operations | |
| |
| |
| Buying your cottage | |
| |
| |
| Basic tools and hardware | |
| |
| |
| Septic systems | |
| |
| |
| Basic plumbing: toilet problems | |
| |
| |
| Mending pipes | |
| |
| |
| Water sources | |
| |
| |
| Foot valve menace: zebra and quagga mussels | |
| |
| |
| Potable water at the cottage | |
| |
| |
| Powering your cottage | |
| |
| |
| Let there be light | |
| |
| |
| Woodstoves | |
| |
| |
| Firewood | |
| |
| |
| The importance of forests | |
| |
| |
| Firewood, lumber or nuisance? | |
| |
| |
| Woodpeckers | |
| |
| |
| Cottage projects | |
| |
| |
| Remote access | |
| |
| |
| Basic first aid kit | |
| |
| |
| Basic first aid kit for pets | |
| |
| |
| Plant remedies | |
| |
| |
| Lost in the woods | |
| |
| |
| Campfires | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Other Seasons | |
| |
| |
| The annual temperature cycle | |
| |
| |
| Fog Closing the cottage: a checklist | |
| |
| |
| Packing up the kitchen | |
| |
| |
| Sure signs of fall | |
| |
| |
| Autumn colors | |
| |
| |
| Favorite fall tress | |
| |
| |
| Hibernators | |
| |
| |
| The hardy ones | |
| |
| |
| Winter at the lake | |
| |
| |
| Birds at the winter feeder | |
| |
| |
| Animal tracks in the snow | |
| |
| |
| Ice | |
| |
| |
| Nasty ice | |
| |
| |
| Ice terminology | |
| |
| |
| Ice safety | |
| |
| |
| Fun on the ice | |
| |
| |
| Fun in the snow | |
| |
| |
| Sure signs of spring | |
| |
| |
| Opening the cottage: a checklist | |
| |
| |
| Acknowledgments | |
| |
| |
| Bibliography | |
| |
| |
| Credits | |
| |
| |
| Index | |