My, you have such large feet!

  I see a lot of things down near the Bayou.  Critters abound in the marshes and one can get a good view of them by just sitting quietly and waiting.  The pier sits high enough above the marsh grass that it allows for the perfect coverage of what creeps beneath it.  This is where I wait....and wait....until some creature crawls, walks or swims into my view.  Most have no fear of me since I spend a good deal of time there. The birds in particular seem to accept my presence with no qualms. Of these, the rails have come to know me and will actually bring their broods out to feed while I am within just a few feet of them.  They are sure that I mean no harm and probably feel a bit safer with me being there.  

  I pondered the rail, today, as one youngster hunted for his mid-afternoon snack.  Obviously, this little fellow was new at being on his own as he had not perfected the skill of hunting.  He would scamper across the mudflats while chasing fiddler crabs or wade a bit in the shallows hoping to snatch a minnow or two.  He was not having the best of luck.  My thoughts went more to how he was able to move so quickly across the soft mud.  Any other critter would have difficulty staying atop the mushy stuff.  From personal experience (don't ask!), a person would literally sink up to their thighs in the Bayou mud. The rail, like all other shorebirds, have extremely large feet.  Although they are mostly toes, the bird uses its feet for stability.  The toes being splayed outward lets the bird distribute its weight across a greater area thus allowing it to walk on top of the mud.  We, unlike the birds, have our weight centered on relatively small feet.  The small surface area under our feet is not able to support our weight on the softness so we sink.  A rail weighs less than four ounces so the large feet can easily keep the bird from sinking deep into the mud.

  This tiny rail easily tripped across the mud in search of food.  I am happy to say that the bird finally did manage to catch several minnows so his belly was full for the night.  Come morning, he will be on the hunt again and those large feet will serve him well!