Zig-zaggy Tracks!

Some days were just not made for outside work...outside play, now that is a different story! It was another grey, drizzly day here on the Bayou. The sun only made an appearance for about two minutes before it was completely engulfed by the thick cloud cover. In all fairness, I suppose garden work could have been done but it was far more fun to use the rain as an excuse to idle away the day. I piddled around inside just long enough to say "I accomplished something!", then I headed for my walk. Once on the pier, I noticed some odd tracks in the mud. One was a wide, smooth sliding track. I recognized this as the path of an otter as it slid along the soft mud. I suppose it is just a lot easier to slide on one's belly than it would be to walk in that muck! The path followed the usual path that the otters take when heading from the main bayou area to the small tidepools and mudflats. In the tidepools left behind during low tide, hundreds of little mullet and minnows are trapped. The otters will come in and feast on the easy pickings! Sometimes there are just so many little fish in such an little pond, that the otters will over-catch. I have seen times when the extra little fish were laid up on the mudflats but not eaten. Neat little rows of fish were left possibly for a later snack. Inevitably though, the shorebirds snatched them up before the otters return! A feast for all involved!

The other track confused me a bit. It was a long sliding track like the otter slide but was more zig-zaggy. It resembled a zipper track or the tire marks of some strange but tiny vehicle! I pondered the indentations..what could make such an unusual track? Whatever had gone through the area had come down the same cut in the marsh that the otter had and by the looks of it, not long after the otter. The track had me stumped! I started looking around the marsh..perhaps whatever made the track was still nearby!

Just beyond the edge of the pier, a lone Night Heron stared at me as I stared at him. "Did you make these unusual tracks?" I thought of asking. The bird was standing in about three inches of water so there was not following its tracks!

Just a bit further down the shoreline, another bird! This time, a large Snowy Egret waded in the shallows. "Did you make these unusual tracks?" The thought crossed my mind again. I thought of the two birds that I had just seen. Surely, they do not make tracks like that zig-zaggy thing. Their legs are too long and their toes too pointy!

A bit further down the shore, a pair of Mottled Ducks padded softly on the mud. Ahh..now we were getting somewhere! Their wide, webbed feet do leave large tracks! I, also, noticed that their fat "bottoms" were dragging as their feet sank in the soft mud. "Did you make these unusual tracks?" Hmmmmm??

As I sat pondering the possibility of the Mottled Duck tracks, I heard a slight rustling behind me. I slowly turned to venture a look. "Aha! Perhaps you! Did you make these unusual tracks?" The raccoon just stared at me as if I was a bit daft and carried on with its quest of breakfast!

Out in the marsh, I could see a turtle trying to catch any smidgen of sun that could warm its back. Now I might be onto something! The wide track and splayed out steps could have come from this guy! "Did you make these unusual tracks?" Nary an answer crossed his lips..or none would have if a turtle had lips. He said nothing.

I was perplexed to say the least! I was getting nowhere fast! The mist was getting heavier causing droplets to form on my hair. My light jacket felt damp to the touch and I was starting to be chilled.The tracks would disappear with the rising tide and I still had no answer. Ahh! What an enigma! A conundrum! A riddle! This would have to be solved at another time...but now, I was heading back to the Little Bayou House before I was soaked to the bone!