Playful Pups!

This morning, I awoke long before daybreak and for the life of me, I could not get back to sleep. As soon as the sky in the east started turning a bit orange with the rising of the sun, I was heading out the door to the pier. This is my favorite time of day as it is so peaceful and quiet. I breathed in the morning air..there was a touch of coolness this morning! We had a nice, light rain shower during the night that cooled things down a bit and that, along with a north wind, made the morning actually feel like Fall. Nice! I was enjoying every step of the trek to the pier. Once I neared the water's edge, I could make out the ripples caused by menhaden swimming near the surface. Ahhh, bait! I was just pondering the fact that it would be a nice morning to catch a fat redfish when there was a huge splash near the marsh! Something was in the water! I watched as two large "wakes" made their way out from the shore! Still dreaming of catching a fish, I immediately thought, "Wow! Those are two HUGE fish!" My brain began to reel with thoughts of hooking into one of those! The wakes showed where the "fish" swam straight out about thirty feet and then stopped. Good! Now if I can catch some bait without disturbing them too much....huh? Two heads popped up from the water! Now that would be the craziest fish ever! It was hard to focus on the heads as it was still slightly dark. The camera came into action! Using the flash, I could barely make out that these were definitely not fish!

The two were otters! Both were in no haste to leave the area and actually seemed to almost "sit up" in the water as they stared at me. Ezzy, the dog, started to whimper. She had seen that these were not fish and thought she should be chasing them! The otters both started "barking" at us as we stood on the pier staring at them. What ever could be the matter with these nutty otters? That question was answered within a minute..in the marsh, I could hear the distinct cry of babies! I told Ezzy to sit and stay while I eased my way back to the marsh edge. Sure enough, there were three small otter pups hiding under the layers of grass. Mama and Daddy Otter were near hysterical by this time with me being in the near proximity of their pups. With Ezzy between them and me and me being too close for comfort to their young, they were in a frenzy. I quietly slipped back to the end of the pier to be near Ez..and let the Otter family reunite. Such a happy find this morning!

These are River Otters even though they are in my Bayou. Once, these were abundant in most waterways in the country but like many water mammals, they were nearing extinction. This was due to fur-trapping, water pollution and habitat destruction. We nearly lost this playful entertainer of the rivers and bayous because of our encroachment of their territories. Since awareness of this sad fact, huge leaps have been made in assuring their survival. Each year, the Mama Otter will give birth to one to three little ones. She will care for these pups until they can be on their own, teaching them to catch crabs, fish and frogs. She and Daddy Otter will teach them to crack open mussels and clams. They will teach them to raid my crab traps! Oh, my! I realize they sometimes do raid the crab traps and bait boxes but since they are so cute and playful, they are safe! These mammals have a place in my heart and in my Bayou! Tomorrow before dawn, I will try to slip down a bit more quietly just to see if they make another appearance!