Tell Us Your Secret!

  I am bewildered.  How in the world do egrets stay so spotlessly clean? Their brilliant white plumage never shows a speck of mud even though they slosh around in some of the ickiest sludge known to man.  Bayou mud sticks to everything and is nigh on impossible to remove.  If there is one thing that I have learned living this close to marsh, mudflats and brackish water, it is to always wear your oldest clothes if you are out hiking.  A pair of jeans, an old shirt and either hiking boots or leather moccasins are my choice.  Just never....ever...wear white!  If you do, you are just asking for trouble.  This mud won't even bleach out of clothing. But those birds...those gleaming white birds never seem to get muddy.  I love to watch the Snowy Egrets as they stalk their prey in the shallows of the Bayou.  They are gorgeous birds. 

  The other day, Mark pointed to a feather in the marsh.  Obviously, it came from an egret as it is molting time for them.  They are getting their breeding plumage now so a feather can be found in the marsh or on the shoreline occasionally.  This feather was found near the mudflats so was covered with the dark crud.  Idea!  I would fish out the feather and see just how easily it cleans!  Why?  Curiosity.  

  The feather was washed, soaped, scrubbed and finally bleached.  It was still stained and nasty.  With all of my work, I still had no idea how the birds stay so immaculately clean.  What a breakthrough in the laundry world it would be if we could only figure out their secret!  Oh, and take a hint from me....do NOT wear white on the Bayou!