BIG KANDIYOHI LAKE, Minn. — Like a tornado in slow motion, a free-floating bog larger than a football field came crashing into docks and boat lifts on the south shore of Big Kandiyohi Lake in west-central Minnesota on Aug. 23, pushed by gusty northwest winds.

It would hit a dock, spin ever so slowly, and careen into the next, damaging a dozen or more along the shore a week ago.

Eight pontoon and two power boats did the pushing on three days later.

The volunteer armada, organized by the Big Kandiyohi Lake Association, took advantage of a westerly breeze Tuesday, Aug. 26, to push the tightly woven mat of cattails to a location where an excavator with a 90-foot reach could be used to rip it apart.

The bog, estimated at 150 yards long by 75 to 80 yards wide, proved troublesome to move.

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