The Well Worn Path

If you stand at the top of the hillside, the marsh looks not unlike a hay field with the grasses all even and pretty.  The marsh appears thick and impenetrable but if you get down close to the marsh edge and say pretend you are a rabbit, you see things differently.  Bending close to the ground you can see that there is a network of "tunnels" under that thickly thatched rooftop.  It is then that you understand that there is an entire ecosystem at work under and among the grasses.  From my vantage point up high on the pier, I can see only a small portion of this wondrous world of marsh life.  There are hundreds...no thousands upon thousands of critters that live in this grassy world.

This evening, Ms. Ez and I made our way to the pier just before dusk.  Her paws and my moccasin-shod feet padded softly on the planks.  We could hear the quiet rustling of creatures as they scurried out of our sight.  This caused me to ponder just what does actually live beneath the tufts of marsh grass.  The low tide left plenty of mud flats for me to examine for footprints.  I could see the usual raccoon tracks and the multitude of bird tracks.  Quite often, rabbits must make their way down to the water's edge for many  tracks mingle with the otters' and nutria rats' tracks.  Then there were others that I did not recognize..what were they?

The darkness settling over the water sent the dog and me back to the Little Bayou House.  Ms. Ez stopped in her tracks.  She had spied something in the marsh and knew that I would want to view it as well.  I stared through the waning light at the spot she was indicating.  Hmmm...it might be too dark!  Aha!  An idea struck me, I would take a chance at photographing the general area where she was pointing.  Perhaps the camera's flash would pick up whatever critter Ms. Ez had sensed.  I took the first picture and realized immediately what was in the marsh.  The flash made the critter's eye glow bright red!  A rabbit!  I took several more pictures of the darkness and each time could see the flash of red!  Turning to continue up the hill, I realized that three more rabbits were right below us!  The rabbits thought they were hidden behind the tufts of reeds but from high on the pier, I could see each of them. Wow!  Four rabbits in a ten foot area!  Wow!  I wonder how many more were there that I was not seeing??  And...what other critters were literally within arm's reach??  With that many rabbits in the area, I did not need to worry about there being any dangerous predators nearby.  I am quite sure that the rabbits would have made their escape through the network of tunnels if anything else was on the prowl!

Ms. Ez and I were a tad late getting back to the house after our distraction.  The chance to be so close to so many rabbits was sort of enchanting, though, so the hike did not seem so far even if it was in the dark!  I was glad to see what made some of the tunnels under the marsh!