His canvas is wood, his inspiration, animals.

Ferocious grizzly bears stand upright ready to attack, majestic eagles and hawks are poised in flight, nimble squirrels and sluggish turtles are eternally at play. Skittish fish are jumping in and out of a front yard pond, and a stealthy 10-foot alligator lies silently in wait.

These are but a few of the wondrous wood carving creations that dot the 200 acres of verdant farmland and countryside at the picturesque Hidden Creek Farm in Goshen.

Farm owner and Goshen resident Paul Schmidt has taken a personal passion and talent for artwork and turned it into a unique hobby of carving animal forms into tree trunks.