Yeah, I'm Watching You

  Early this afternoon, I headed to the pier to check the crab traps.  Lately, we cannot seem to catch crabs since the are several other denizens of the Bayou that wish to eat our bait.  The otters go into the trap, undo the bait boxes and then steal the bait.  Other than being a thief, they are just considered to be a nuisance.  Alligators rip the entire crab trap to pieces, steal the bait then eat the crabs as well.  Then there are the snapping turtles.  Those rascals tear open the traps, bend the wire in a thousand directions, steal the bait and then have the nerve to sit on top of the smashed up trap as if to say "Hey, I did a good job!"  Nope, you did terrible!

  As I stepped onto the pier, a blotch of green under the water caught my eye.  An algae covered snapping turtle was stalking the bull minnows that were swimming about in the shallows.  It stayed motionless inches beneath the water's surface.  The minnows either are not too smart or have very short memories because just a few minutes after the turtle would snap up a minnow, the remainder of the school would come right back to the same spot.  SNAP!  The turtle had another tidbit.

  I watched the turtle for a good while as it fished.  The turtle saw me but made no effort to retreat beneath the mud. It was on a mission and was not going to give up quickly.  The turtle did, however, poke its head above water to eye me for a couple of minutes.  Then, it slowly sank back beneath the surface to continue its fishing.  At least this turtle is not bothering my crab traps!