BRAINERD, MINN. –
They tried pushing it. They tried pulling it. They tried cutting it in half.
And the monster bog of the Brainerd lakes just laughed.
In the ongoing struggle of man vs. nature, nature won by a knockout Wednesday.
A daylong effort at North Long Lake failed to dislodge the giant floating mat of muck, bulrushes and tamarack trees that grounded on shore last fall at Legionville, a training camp for Minnesota school patrol guards.
"It kicked our butts, let's just be honest here," said Kevin Martini, an official with the Brainerd office of the state Department of Natural Resources. "We never thought it would be this much trouble."
More than three dozen volunteers attacked the bog about 7 a.m. with a flotilla of boats packing thousands of horsepower, trying to pull the bog off shore. The bog refused to budge.
"Six boats? I think we needed 160," one driver said.