Teeny, Tiny Tracks!

  Mark and I like to take our coffee mugs to the pier with us on our early morning treks.  It is relaxing to sit in the coolness of the predawn.  We watch the world around us as it wakes to a new day.  Sometimes, we sit there silently sharing the peace.  It is just one of those things that makes living on the Bayou perfect.

  A couple of mornings ago, as we were just about to step up on the pier, I noticed some small animal tracks.  They appeared to be that of a dog but this would have definitely had to be a tiny dog!  Compared to Ms. Ez's big paw print, this mark was minuscule!  I tossed my extra camera battery down beside the track to get an idea of how small the thing was. The battery dwarfed the footprint. The entire track was smaller than a quarter.  It had the nails and pad prints that looked a lot like Ms. Ez's footprint, yet, if this was the track of a dog, it was tiny!  Hmmm?  Ponder, ponder?  I wonder what type critter made this track?  

  For several days now, I have seen more tracks but never the animal. Since I usually find the tracks in the uninterrupted sand after an overnight rain, I am assuming that the critter is nocturnal.  Could this be a coyote pup's track?  If so, the critter is still a wee, little thing and should not be out roaming by itself!  I never find an adult track nearby.  Is it a fox's track?  I am so at a loss!

  If anyone has any ideas or can identify the tiny footprint, I would love to hear from you!  Until then, I suppose I will watch the tracks to see if they get larger.  Perhaps then, I might make the assumption that this is a whelp that has been orphaned which might account for the lack of adult tracks.  Poor little pup!  Or, poor, teeny, tiny dog! Or, poor, little critter of some sort!

Zig-zaggy Tracks!

Some days were just not made for outside work...outside play, now that is a different story! It was another grey, drizzly day here on the Bayou. The sun only made an appearance for about two minutes before it was completely engulfed by the thick cloud cover. In all fairness, I suppose garden work could have been done but it was far more fun to use the rain as an excuse to idle away the day. I piddled around inside just long enough to say "I accomplished something!", then I headed for my walk. Once on the pier, I noticed some odd tracks in the mud. One was a wide, smooth sliding track. I recognized this as the path of an otter as it slid along the soft mud. I suppose it is just a lot easier to slide on one's belly than it would be to walk in that muck! The path followed the usual path that the otters take when heading from the main bayou area to the small tidepools and mudflats. In the tidepools left behind during low tide, hundreds of little mullet and minnows are trapped. The otters will come in and feast on the easy pickings! Sometimes there are just so many little fish in such an little pond, that the otters will over-catch. I have seen times when the extra little fish were laid up on the mudflats but not eaten. Neat little rows of fish were left possibly for a later snack. Inevitably though, the shorebirds snatched them up before the otters return! A feast for all involved!

The other track confused me a bit. It was a long sliding track like the otter slide but was more zig-zaggy. It resembled a zipper track or the tire marks of some strange but tiny vehicle! I pondered the indentations..what could make such an unusual track? Whatever had gone through the area had come down the same cut in the marsh that the otter had and by the looks of it, not long after the otter. The track had me stumped! I started looking around the marsh..perhaps whatever made the track was still nearby!

Just beyond the edge of the pier, a lone Night Heron stared at me as I stared at him. "Did you make these unusual tracks?" I thought of asking. The bird was standing in about three inches of water so there was not following its tracks!

Just a bit further down the shoreline, another bird! This time, a large Snowy Egret waded in the shallows. "Did you make these unusual tracks?" The thought crossed my mind again. I thought of the two birds that I had just seen. Surely, they do not make tracks like that zig-zaggy thing. Their legs are too long and their toes too pointy!

A bit further down the shore, a pair of Mottled Ducks padded softly on the mud. Ahh..now we were getting somewhere! Their wide, webbed feet do leave large tracks! I, also, noticed that their fat "bottoms" were dragging as their feet sank in the soft mud. "Did you make these unusual tracks?" Hmmmmm??

As I sat pondering the possibility of the Mottled Duck tracks, I heard a slight rustling behind me. I slowly turned to venture a look. "Aha! Perhaps you! Did you make these unusual tracks?" The raccoon just stared at me as if I was a bit daft and carried on with its quest of breakfast!

Out in the marsh, I could see a turtle trying to catch any smidgen of sun that could warm its back. Now I might be onto something! The wide track and splayed out steps could have come from this guy! "Did you make these unusual tracks?" Nary an answer crossed his lips..or none would have if a turtle had lips. He said nothing.

I was perplexed to say the least! I was getting nowhere fast! The mist was getting heavier causing droplets to form on my hair. My light jacket felt damp to the touch and I was starting to be chilled.The tracks would disappear with the rising tide and I still had no answer. Ahh! What an enigma! A conundrum! A riddle! This would have to be solved at another time...but now, I was heading back to the Little Bayou House before I was soaked to the bone!

Things that go bump in the night!

Have you ever thought of just what is outside your window at night? Or what creatures might be creeping around in the wee hours of the morn? Many do not realize nor care to realize just how many critters are out and about when we are snug inside our homes. There are the obvious.. raccoons, 'possums and owls..but there are so many more that invade our yards. Ones we do not even realize make an appearance. All you need to do is rise early enough in the morning to see plenty of signs of that life was abundant during the dark of the night. Tracks.. investigate the soft sand around the driveways.. the mud around ponds and bayous.. the tilled soil in the garden. There are tracks everywhere. Some were definitely left all throughout the night while others were imprinted just minutes after sunrise. Bobcats, nutrias, coyotes, foxes, deer and a plethora of birds have all left telltale footprints along the Bayou. Plus weasels, rabbits, rats, mice and otters add theirs often enough. With the coming winter, our winds are turning more from the North. This pushes the water from the Bay and Bayou creating mud flats that extend far out from the marsh edge. While this sort of impedes (ok.. definitely impedes) any fishing, crabbing and shrimping from the pier, it does make for interesting tracking. All types of animals come to the flats to dine on the shellfish and minnows that become trapped by the receding water. Tracks abound in the mud and along the sandy edge. This morning was one of those "low tide" times and there was plenty of opportunity to view tracks.. footprints of the night world.

While out "tracking" or at the very least "observing" tracks, I noticed an egret stalking minnows in the shallows. This snow white bird was carefully stirring the muddy bottom with its foot in hopes of rousting some breakfast. Then a thought! How does this bird stay so gleaming white in all of this mud??? I can merely look at the Bayou and somehow mud seems to jump out and grab a hold to my clothing. And this mud is not something that you really want on a nice white shirt. It does not come out in the wash! Sooo..as I watched this elegant bird, I pondered just how it stayed so clean. Alright detergent makers.. observe this bird! I want a "pre-treat" that will prevent me from staining my clothes with bayou mud!!!