Bring Home the Bacon!

  Mark and I were on the pier when he spied an osprey dive into a school of mullet.  This was not a futile effort as the bird did indeed make its catch!  As we watched the osprey fly over us, we could see the mullet flopping in a desperate attempt of escape.  It was not happening, though, as the talons of the osprey were tightly gripping the fish.  The bird flew right above us and headed northward to the wooded area. There a nest of little ones waited hungrily for their breakfast.  The bird had a job to do and it was performing it well.  The daily fight for survival had been upped a bit with the little ones demanding food.  The parent birds were on a constant search for meals.

  This "bringing home the bacon" was fitting with the catch of a mullet. The fish has long been called "Biloxi Bacon" for good reason.  In lean times, most families could be readily fed with a good catch of the fish. Since the fish are plentiful and rather easy to catch in a net, it used to be a rare occurrence for a family to go hungry.  The term is said to go back as far as the Civil War when the menfolk were at war. Young lads could use a fishing net to provide for the family that was left behind. The fish was cleaned and fried for just about every meal.  When the Union soldiers tried to cut off food supplies to the Coast, not many folks even noticed.  Being a resourceful people, it was an easy task even for children to catch mullet.  Then, years later, during the Great Depression, the term, once again, became popular.  This lowly fish pulled many families through tough times.

  Now, the term is used quite often by locals.  Newcomers are a bit confused when they are served a meal of fried mullet, grits and toast. Yep, Biloxi Bacon is here to stay!  The osprey truly was bringing home the bacon....Biloxi Bacon!