Could it be?

There is one thing that is certain about the weather this far south.  It keeps you guessing.  You never know from one day to the next what to expect.  Forget trying to create a wardrobe by the season.  There is no such thing as "packing away the winter (or summer) clothes".  One day the temperatures are in the teens, it is sleeting and the wind is blowing mightily.  Three days later, the temperatures are pushing the seventies and the sun is bearing down for all it is worth.  Then, without notice, you have days like today. (And these are quite often!)  FOG!  Thick, pea-soup type fog that makes one's mind wander off into the mysteries of werewolves and vampires!  The Londonish fog that feels like it is closing in around you.  The kind that is a bit stifling and causes commonplace sounds to echo through the Bayou and makes every tree and bush a bit eerie.  Yep, that pretty much describes today.  FOG.  Lovely, thick fog cloaking everything while making those of us with imaginations go wild.

I actually took a hike about the hillside regardless of the fact that I was getting quite drenched.  Ms. Ez was scouting out the area ahead of me when all of a sudden WHOOSH!  Something large took off through the marsh.  This was not to the dog's liking causing her to turn and hightail it back to my side.  She stood there trembling not sure just what had startled her so.  Try as I might, I could not see what had made the loud noise and tremendous splash.  The usual critters of the Bayou do not frighten Ms. Ez one bit.  Raccoons, nutria rats, otters or any of the large birds never give her any reason to be upset.  In fact, she always wishes to play with them.  (This dog so needs a friend but at this point...no way.)  I edged my way closer to the marsh to investigate.  Ms. Ez tagged along behind me now.  She was not too sure that we should be moving closer to whatever was there.  I peered into the marsh.  Nothing.  I could see nothing.  The fog blocked my view.  Only my imagination could see and that was working overtime.  Hmmm?  Has our swamp critter returned?

I am pondering the idea that perhaps the ruckus in the marsh was created by the doe that has been frequenting the front yard.  I think she might be visiting the bird feeders.  What the birds and squirrels do not eat during the day, the raccoons and perhaps this little doe eats at night. Silly dog!  Why are you startled by a deer?  Or.....was it something else?  Something that was masked by the thick fog.......ahhh, foggy, foggy mystery of the Bayou!

The "Screatures"!

Years ago, I remember my grandfather telling me a story about the "Lost Boys of the Swamp".  His tale told of how two fishermen were doing a bit of late evening fishing near the Bayou.  As the sun started to set in the west, the fishermen heard what sounded to them like a couple of young boys that had lost their way in the swamp.  With darkness falling, the boys became frightened and started wailing.  Their mournful calls filled the fishermen with despair and they searched the swamps.  This was done to no avail as they could not find the boys.  After searching for quite some time, the men sadly left the Bayou and went home.  From that day on whenever they fished late in the evening, they could hear the woeful calls of the lost boys.  Grandpa's story went on to explain that the calls were that of a bird known as a Limpkin.  This bird is found down in the Everglades of Florida so I am assuming that his story took place somewhere other than my Bayou.

Still, there are calls at night that anyone with a vivid imagination (who else..me?), might construe as being lost boys.  Starting in late fall and running through the winter, mournful calls can be heard echoing across the marsh.  I have told (scary) folks that these are Banshees!  Or that these are, indeed, some poor lads that lost their way in the marshes and walk the Bayou forevermore.  I must admit, there are a lot of folks out there that listen to my fully fictional tales and believe every word!

The calls do happen but they are far from being lost souls.  These are the Loons that migrate here during the late fall. They will spend winter filling our Bayou with great tales of eerie things!  Just let one yell across the marsh at the opportune time!  Any folks that happen to be in the yard look at me with big eyes and ask the obvious question.  "What was that?"  A year or so ago, one niece posed that very question and received the well-prepared answer of "Banshee!"  She was a tad nervous and rambled on about bayou creatures that screech.  Her next sentence came out a bit twisted and she called them "Screatures".  Well, it makes sense!  Since that time, Screatures have visited the Bayou every winter!  I love the name!  It is perfect!  Kammie always makes me smile with her visits and with her charm!

The (Not So) Mystery Critter!

Yesterday's mystery critter still remains at large!  Our GameCam only caught photos of a raccoon, a 'possum and a rabbit.  I must admit that the raccoon did look like a possible suspect as in the picture, I am not at all sure if it had a tail.  Our tailless, mystery critter might just be a tailless raccoon!  It is possible..if there is such a thing.  Here on the Bayou anything is possible.  I suppose a raccoon could lose its tail to an alligator!  Anyway, for now the mystery critter from yesterday's post remains just that..a mystery!

This morning when I was on the pier, a not-so-mystery critter paid me a visit.  Ms. Ez and I were just sitting there minding our own business when in popped an old friend!  Of course, this was my old friend and, well, Ms. Ez's possible critter-to-chase!  A fat nutria rat waddled in to munch a bit of the marsh grass as breakfast.  While Friend Nutria ate, Ms. Ez and I made no effort to conceal our presence.  This did not seem to bother the nutria one bit.  Breakfast was evidently more important than having an audience.

This is not say that the critter was not watching us.  Periodically, the nutria would look up and stare at the dog and me as if pondering why we were so peaceably sitting there.  If it only knew that Ms. Ez would have jumped in that marsh after it had I let her.  Her legs were twitching with anticipation while watching the critter!

Not once did the nutria show fear of either the dog or me.  Perhaps it knew that we meant it no harm.  It did, however, shuffle away quite quickly when a large heron flew in to hunt for breakfast!  Hmmph, I like that!  The nutria is more afraid of a bird than of me or the dog?  I cannot see the reasoning behind that idea!  With the nutria gone, Ms. Ez and I decided to spend a bit more time watching the heron!  Life on the Bayou is fascinating..if you have patience!  Ms. Ez and I have no problem sitting on the pier watching critters!

Mystery Critter!

Michael and I bought a "GameCam" for Mark as his Father's Day gift.  He had been saying he would like one just to see what crawled, hopped, scurried or wriggled about the hillside at night.  Since he set it up, we have caught pictures of mostly rabbits and coons.  It seems that either not much else is coming within camera range or the critters of the Bayou are camera shy.  Every morning, Michael checks the pictures.  Sometimes there is nothing at all in the picture so we have come to the conclusion that wind can also trigger the camera.  We had a bad storm whip through the area and that goofy camera took two hundred pictures of a leaf!  Our most exciting series of pictures was of the growth of a mushroom!  Yes, a raccoon triggered the shots but in the background we could actually see the progress of the mushroom's growth!  That was fascinating..sort of...

Nothing unusual was ever caught roaming about the hillside..until we checked this morning.  Three pictures had been taken.  The first two showed nothing.  However, the third caught a nice size critter roaming through the garden.  At first, I thought this was a raccoon albeit a very pale colored one.  Then Michael pointed out that the critter had no tail!  Sure enough, the familiar ringed tail had gone missing!  A rabbit...a very large rabbit?  Perhaps..but the fur did not match any rabbit that I had ever seen!  Ponder, ponder...just what was this critter?

Later this evening, I sent the picture to my brother.  He is pretty astute when it comes to critters.  He thought it looked a lot like a 'possum.  I was not completely convinced as 'possums have tails and this one did not.  At least, I could not see one in the picture.  Maybe my picture is of the Bayou Critter!  This elusive critter is not to be confused with Big Foot, Yeti or Chupacabra but, like these, is rarely seen.  My picture being blurry and not showing the face of the animal could very well qualify it for being of the "unknown"!  Maybe I should call all the news people and tell them that I photographed the legendary Bayou Critter!  Or maybe I should hope for a better picture tonight so I can fully identify this thing as a 'possum!

And the critters prowl.....

Here I sit in the early evening listening to a combination of wind and drizzle.  In the distance down toward the Bayou edge, I can hear the yipping of several fox.  When I hear them, I think that at least this time it is not the pack of coyotes. Why this makes a difference to me is befuddling as both will feast upon the local bunnies if they catch them.  Still, there is something a tad more comforting knowing it is the fox.  Their yipping does not send chills up my spine like the barks and howls of the coyotes.  Ms. Ez is tense.  She knows something is near and feels the need to be on guard even though she is inside.  She watches the door with expectations of attacking anything that dares to enter!  Good dog! Sometimes the sounds of the night make me ponder just what all is on the prowl around the marsh after sundown.

Early some mornings down by the pier, I come across where some cat has done its business. This part of the ground is covered with beach sand that washed in with several hurricanes and makes it the perfect "bathroom" spot for cats.  Covering their "business" in the soft sand is much easier than up on the hilltop.  From the scratch marks on the ground, the area is being used by a very large cat.  Apparently, one that must be at least three to four times the size of Ms. Put, my house cat.  Each time I have found the scat mounds, the area scratched is nigh on two feet across! This compared to Ms. Put's dainty claw marks of six inches tells me that whatever is burying its poop here is large!  I, personally, have not been inclined to dig up said scat to examine it so don't even ask what it looked like!  Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that along with the noisy and rambunctious coyotes and the sly, sneaky foxes there must be a few bobcats roaming the hillside.  All of these make for some sleepless nights for the dog and some quite interesting nights for me.  Just by sitting and listening, I can tell that there are numerous critters on the prowl outside my windows.  By inspecting the ground early in the morning, I can tell just where the critters have been and how many visited the yard.  The Bayou after dark is a busy area.  Predators abound..just waiting to pounce on whatever is deemed edible.  The loud squeals of a rabbit, the terrified squeaks of a mouse or the shrill, unsteady calls of a shore bird means that a meal has been found.  Unsettling as it may be to some, I view it as life continuing or survival of the fittest.  In a way, it also makes me appreciate my snug Little Bayou House that much more.  For in here, I am safe from the predators on the Bayou....and the old dog, Ez commences to growl.

Myth or.....?

This morning opened with whiteout fog. The type fog that almost makes it difficult to breathe. The air was so thick with moisture that everything was dripping wet..from the twigs on the trees to the spiderwebs dangling in the marsh grass. As I headed down the board path to the pier around mid-morning, everything was still quiet. Usually by this time, the Bayou is alive with activity but not so this morning. One lone pelican paddled around the pier...nothing more. Again, this was almost eerie..the quietness itself lent to mystique of the marsh. This was the type morning that makes for the perfect "swamp-critter" tales.

Back in the day, when the children were younger, we experienced our own "swamp critter". To this day, we are still not sure of just what we had tromping around in our Bayou and woods area. It all started with a crying..like that of a wee babe. My oldest son and I, worried about some lost tot, ventured as far into the mire as we dared..searching..searching for the crying infant. We did not find the source of the sounds and were forced to give up our quest as darkness fell upon us. All that night, we fretted about the infant as we could hear its cries. By morning, however, instead of being weaker, the cries were stronger..more robust. This gave us hope and we searched again..to no avail. By the end of the week, whatever was in the Bayou had become much stronger. It gave us the idea that this thing was maturing at a rapid rate..unlike anything we had ever known. In jest, we nicknamed it the "Bayou Creature". Soon, its cries became more howl-like and were definitely from some quite large animal. If you sat outside in the late evenings, it was not unusual to hear its footsteps as it sloshed through the mucky mudflats. It was on the hunt. Several unexplained incidents were attributed to this "Bayou Creature". One of the most vivid in memory was the break-in of the chicken house. This left us to think we had a visit of something unexplained. We were used to the periodic break-ins by the raccoons or possums but this was far different. When the chickens started squawking, we had run out fully expecting a coon. My oldest son, who was about thirteen at the time, was armed with his pellet gun. Once we neared the hen house, we knew that this was no coon! The smell was awful..unlike anything we had ever encountered before! It was not like that of a skunk...just rank...awful rank! Not sure at just what we were going to find, Mark (son) unleashed our dog, Annie. She was a very large, protective dog..a mix between a Great Dane and a German Shepherd. Annie charged after whatever was in the hen house and chased it down into the creekbed. Mark and I checked out the poor, terrified chickens and found that one was gravely injured. It was still alive but had been crushed beyond mend. That was when we noticed that this critter had used the door..not torn the wire! The doorlatch had been ripped from the door! No raccoon could ever do that! Soon afterward, Annie made her way back to us. She was trembling and refused to leave our sides as we took to cleaning up the mess left by this visitor. Sad to say, the poor hen had died from her injuries but I cannot imagine just what the other chickens had witnessed. Horrors..I am sure.

There were other times when we would smell the rank odor and hear the howls of our Bayou Creature but none were so devastating as the hen house raid. From that point on, our creature kept its distance. Mark (son) could actually mimic the call quite well and would occasionally let loose a howl across the Bayou. Several times, the Bayou Creature would return the call as if to let us know that it was still alive and well. Lately, however, it has been quiet. I tend to believe with all of the building of houses around the Bayou, our critter has sought out a more remote area. I have not heard the wails of our local banshee for several years now and it almost grieves me. I sort of miss the mystique...the allure of the unknown...the mythical essence of the Bayou. Somehow, the whiteout of the fog this morning brought a bit of that back to me. It shut out all of the "progress" occurring around me and let me for a short time feel as though I was once again in my bit of wilderness. Was our "Bayou Creature" real? Was it just overactive imaginations? I do not know for sure just what type of critter inhabited the depths of the Bayou but whatever roamed the fen added a bit of mystique. It was a "real" creature..just unidentified as of yet. Oh, how I love the foggy times on the Bayou!

Fog on the Bayou

A thick fog hovered just above the marsh grass this morning as I sat on the pier. It was about 6 AM and I was there with my first cup of coffee. It was not a "white out" fog, just enough to make things a bit eerie. There was not a breath of wind..it was so still. The steam from my coffee mug just made swirls as it had no where to go. Still..so still. It reminded me of the old movies where some unknown creature would lurk around in the edge of the marsh just waiting for some unsuspecting victim to wander too close! Was there something watching me? I was sitting on the end of a pier with no place to go if something happened to wander my way. I was only armed with my trusty camera and a cup of hot coffee. Hmmm?? We have a tale of a "Bayou Creature" that screams in the night and "might"..just might..be watching any who dares to enter the area. We have heard this "Thing" on many occasions and still have no clue as to its identity. I had written a poem about it way back in the day when my children and I had first heard the screams. The last few lines sort of lent themselves to the mood of this morning's fog.

..Heed this warning with nary a doubt,

If you wander in, you may not come out..

where the snakes crawl and alligators creep,

Way down in the murky Bayou deep..

The fog would seem to make it a perfect time to see such a thing as a "Bayou Creature". Today however, I did not see any such thing nor did I hear any screams. Other than an owl hooting down in the wooded area where the Bayou turns to a creek or an occasional splash of a mullet jumping, all was quiet. The stillness was almost overwhelming. Even Ezzy who is normally a busybody while on the pier, sat quietly by my side. The Bayou seemed like a different world during foggy weather. Being the only one out and about this early in the morning, I felt isolated from the hubbub of civilization. I was in my own corner of the world..just me and whatever critters happened to be slinking around at 6 AM. I loved every minute of it!