White!

  Usually in wintertime when one mentions white, the thoughts turn to snow.  That does not happen so often this far south.  White can mean a totally different thing on the Bayou.  Instantaneously, my thoughts turn to pelicans!  During the colder months, we are visited quite frequently by the beautiful White Pelicans.  Their snowy feathers seem to shine most brilliantly during the sunny days but even during the cold, gray days of winter, the white sparkles against the dark waters. Those, the Great Egrets and the Little Snowy Egrets all intrigue me.  It never ceases to amaze me how these birds stay so clean while out and about the Bayou.  They traipse about the mudflats, stand tall in the marsh or swim in the muddy waters yet their plumage is always dazzling white. How?  How can they do this while I become quite muddy just thinking about that mire!  

  I do a lot of critter watching and have noticed that these are not the only visitors to the Bayou that manage to stay clean even during the muddiest seasons.  I watched as a red fox trotted along the marsh edge.  The tip of his fluffy tail stood out like a white flag but never muddied.  The ospreys, ducks, grebes stay clean.  The rabbits', nutrias' and otters' fur never mats.  As matter of fact, the only two critters that I have ever seen grimy with mud are Ms. Ez when she fell off the pier and any raccoon that digs for clams.

  There has to be some secret of fur/feather cleaning of which I am not aware.  I sure wish I did know!  This secret would make laundry day a breeze!  Imagine!  Just imagine!