The Great Snipe Hunt!

  A "Snipe Hunt" is a practical joke that was highly popular in the years past.  Usually, it involved the conspirators, a victim and a make believe creature dubbed a snipe.  The conspirators would contrive some weird, yet highly plausible, tale of the creature and how its capture was one of intense skill.  It seems that not everyone had the talent to pull off the deed.  The group (having chosen their victim prior) would banter back and forth all the while building interest.  Then the chosen victim was chided about not being wise nor speedy enough to catch a "real live" snipe.  Once the victim tauted their prowess, he would be led into the woods and given a burlap sack.  It seems that the only way to capture the elusive creature was to lure it with calls then bag it.  Said victim would be taught the proper call, which was usually some absurd sound.  While the others of the group went off to chase the imaginary snipe into range, the victim would sit and wait...and call. The conspirators would play the game just long enough to get the victim totally absorbed in their hunt then slip off back to the campsite.  The victim would continue his hunt until it finally dawned on him that he was duped.  The snipe hunt was a sort of rite of passage passed on by older boys to their younger brothers.  At our place, my granddad would play the joke on most of his grandkids...at least those that came to visit.  We, being the "country cousins" were in on the joke and found it hilarious.  We had already had our turn "holding the bag".

  While most folks nowadays are probably privy to the "Snipe Hunt Prank", not everyone realizes there really is a snipe.  Instead of being a magical furry creature that looks like a bird or an animal that is a cross between a rabbit and fox or one that looks like a rabbit but has feathers and two different colored eyes, a real snipe is a rather adorable bird. A Wilson's Snipe is a sort of pudgy bird that can be found foraging on the mudflats occasionally.  It is easy to distinguish from the shorebirds by its bill. The bird has a long, pointy bill that is several times the length of its head.  It uses this bill like a dagger as it prods the mulch or mud in search of food. 

  The snipe is a winter visitor to the Bayou and is rarely seen.  The bird is rather secretive like its lookalike, the Woodcock.  Both are never far from some protective vegetation in which they can quickly dart.  The little snipe, today, did not stay long in the open area of the shallows near the mudflat.  In an instant, the bird darted to the cover the marsh provided and was no longer seen.  I feel fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time to get this photo.  Oh, how I love my Bayou!