Beast of the Bay

  Occasionally (but not often), I come across a critter that I find a tad distasteful.  I really cannot say that I "hate" them as I find that term a bit strong but I have no fond feelings for some critters.  Tonight, I was on the pier catching shrimp when I found just such a critter.  I was shaking shrimp out of the net when I felt a familiar "sting" on my hand.  Uh, oh! That sting was just the beginning. Soon my entire arm started burning.  Oh, geez!  A Sea Nettle had made its way into the path of my net and was hauled onto the pier with the mess of shrimp.  Since I use no lights while shrimping, it is difficult to tell just what I am grabbing and anyone who has ever been stung by a Sea Nettle will tell you not to grab one!  I did.  I paid.  It hurt.  Still the shrimp were "in" and I was not about to leave just because of a bit of pain.  I started to throw the net once again and realized too late the folly in my ways.  I am one who puts a part of the lead line between my teeth to help in tossing the net.  As soon as I did this, my entire mouth felt on fire!  Obviously, a single tentacle of the Sea Nettle was still wrapped in the net. 

  Sea Nettles migrate into the Bay every so often.  They float gracefully around in the water trying to catch some unsuspecting meal.  They eat other jellies, small fish and shrimp!  Well, that fully explains why these rascals were intermingled in my school of shrimp!  After my tangle with the Sea Nettle, I decided to see just how many Sea Nettles were floating in range of my net.  Goodness, there was one about every ten feet!  It was going to be impossible to avoid catching them.  This was when I noticed my brother "fishing" the things out of the water and tossing them up on the side of his pier.  Ahh, smart move! If the critters were sitting on the pier, they could not possibly be caught in the net. Perhaps I should follow his idea. I looked around for something to scoop the jellies out of the water but could find nothing but two fishing rods, a bucket and my net. Well, there was no use in trying any of those so I decided to ignore the Sea Nettles and just go back to my shrimping.  

  Thank goodness I did not get up close and personal with any more Sea Nettles tonight.  Once is quite enough, thank you!