The Wise Froglet

   If you watch the wild animals that live around you, it becomes apparent that it takes a lot of wit to survive.  Every day, there is a battle to find food and stay safe.  In a sense, it is a never-ending battle.  To my way of thinking, critters are a lot smarter than most people think.  Humans are always touted as "the smartest" or "wisest" but once you get to really studying the lives of critters, you will see that...well...that is probably just not so.  Humans may be smarter in some instances but animals have us beat in many ways.  Not many folks would ever stand a chance of survival in the wild.

  This morning, I was watching as a box turtle slid into the Frog Pond.  She does so daily as she is hunting tadpoles to fill her belly.  There has been competition in the pond lately as a water snake is in the same search.  The defenseless tadpoles seem to be the underdogs in this pond life.  They are soft and squishy with no defense mechanisms going for them whereas the snake and the turtle are stronger, faster and better protected.  I am starting to feel sorry for the tadpoles.  It seems that my once billion or so frogs are fast dwindling to predators.

  As soon as the turtle slid into the pond to forage beneath the waterlilies, a slight movement on the far side of the pond caught my eye.  One tiny froglet had climbed out of the water and slowly made its way up the stem of a Mexican Petunia  (Ruellia Simplex).  I shifted my position to get a better look at the tiny frog.  The little one was still morphing from being a tadpole as it had a tiny tail.  Even at that wee age, the frog knew it had to vacate the pond to escape being eaten.  It sought the supposed safety of land versus the dangerous water.  Little did it know that now it had other predators to fear.  Cats, coons, snakes, birds, lizards, other frogs and many other critters would be on the lookout for an easy meal.  Poor little froglet would have to learn how to hide and learn that art quickly. 

  Being a frog for only minutes, the little critter was already pretty smart.  After sunning for a brief time, it carefully made its way to the blackberry vines.  It clung to the bottom of a leaf in the midst of a veritable fortress of thorns.  The little frog could gain strength here and perhaps even catch a few tiny flies that were visiting the (past prime) berries.  Hopefully, the froglet will stay safe and that circle of life can continue.  In the meantime, a lot of its siblings were being chased relentlessly in the pond.  Life in the wild is not easy....critters have to be smart.  Good luck, tiny froglet!  You are going to need it.  I wish you well.

The Good Excuse!

Back behind the Little Bayou House, there is one garden that is pretty much devoted to the blackberry vines.  These vines have multiplied quite rapidly and have grown to be rather large.  The fence rows are pretty much covered with the long, draping canes that are, at the moment, covered with berries in all stages of ripeness.  I know that a good many of the berries are eaten by the birds, squirrels and turtles that inhabit the area and I suppose they deserve their share.  I am, however, fully surprised to see a new visitor come to dine upon my berries.

This morning as I was sipping my second cup of coffee, I stared out the window at the blackberries that needed picking.  I was in no hurry to start work so I was hunting for any excuse to sit a spell longer.  Then I spied my excuse!  A rather large swamp rabbit hopped into the garden.  I watched her as she sniffed the air.  She was wary of my scent, I suppose, as I was a mere twenty feet or so from her..only the window screen sat between the two of us.  After a few minutes, she must have decided that I was not a threat because she started munching away on the tender grasses that were starting to come up in the freshly planted soil.  I had just put in another row of squash seeds about three days ago.  Those seeds had not sprouted yet but the weeds were already about an inch high.  The rabbit was actually weeding my garden!  She would eat a few bites then turn to the berry vines and search for the ripest berry within her reach. Snip!  Off went my plump berry!  She would nibble that one before returning to the tender grasses.  I watched as she at about a dozen or more berries!  Yep, that rabbit was reason enough for me to sit a while longer!  Why, I wouldn't want to scare a mama bunny!

A bit later, the swamp rabbit moved down toward the canebrake.  It is there that I think she has a nest of little ones and I am sure she wanted to keep a watchful eye on them.  I wonder if she will bring her little ones to feast upon the berries in the coming weeks.  It would bring great joy to me if I could sit at my table and watch the little family romp around in the garden.  Well...it will bring great joy until they start munching my plants and not the weeds and berries! Son just had to put up a higher fence to keep the deer out of the pea patch and now, I am thinking he will need to fence this area!  It sure is a tough year to raise a garden with all these critters dining on my produce!!  Oh well..at least I had entertainment while drinking my morning coffee!

Hidden Dangers!

Sometimes you just can't help but smile and go with the flow of whatever is happening. Certain occurrences are just beyond our control and to interfere is fruitless. I like birds. I feed the birds. I watch the birds. None of this makes me a "birder", I just find it relaxing to sit and watch birds of any sort dart in and out the many feeders. Needless to say, I do not like it when something maims or kills one of the birds in the yard. I know it is all a part of nature but still it is a might unsettling to find..ummm..body parts dotted around the lawn. Just as an example, I was out in my favorite chair watching the birds and enjoying the bay breeze when suddenly a hawk swooped down and grabbed one of my feathered friends! I was in shock to say the least! Feathers were flying! The little bird shrieked one last time and it was over. The hawk took its prize back to the nest to be dinner for its hatchlings. I sat there stunned. I was fattening the birds to be supper!

Then today, I intruded upon another incident in the making. Near the berry vines, a predator had camouflaged itself perfectly. Sort of hidden in plain sight. I knew it was only a matter of time before another bird was being munched. This time..as much as I knew what evil lurked..I had to smile. The camouflage work was just too good! I would not have even realized that the danger to birds lurked in the garden had it not been for two tiny flaws in the disguise. Two little, white paws were the only evidence that could be seen. Ms Put had hidden herself well. Like I said, I just couldn't help but smile. I had just told Son that the birds were reeking havoc upon the berries and that we would have to rise before daybreak if we wanted to get our share. We would also have to pick several times a day as the berries ripen in the sunshine. Then..Ms Put went into action..she would save my berries! She hid herself under the Montbretia plants. Their draping leaves provided the perfect cover for her and her black fur blended well with the shadows. If only those two little white paws did not stand out so much! They were like beacons shining in the night! I giggled. Ms Put glared at me. She seemed to say "Go, away! Can't you see that I am working here??". I giggled some more..the birds flew away..Ms Put glared again. Finally, she had enough of this game and dozed off. The birds flew back into the berry vines and

I realized it might be best for me to just let nature take its course..birds eat berries..cats chase birds. I could try to "shoo" the cat from the garden but that would mean that I had to stand watch around the clock. Ms Put is an outdoor cat. She graces us with her presence only when it suits her and then it is usually only during inclement weather. Otherwise..she is outside doing cat things..things like hunting. So..Ms Put was not shooed from the garden..she was allowed to stay and protect the berries..or take a nap!

Sticky business..

Oh, my! I told you that yesterday I tried poking all of the blackberry vines back onto the fence line. That was a very, very scratchy job! But then, today, it did not get much better. The blackberry vines came back into play. Not the ones that I worked with yesterday, but some new "runners" that came up everywhere. They were all over the squash garden and that would just not do. I do not desire to get poked every time that I want to eat squash..squash don't have thorns! These runners are what are planted to start a new patch of blackberries and I hated to waste them. There are already three rows of the plants in the garden so I put out word that if any of my neighbors wanted a few, they were welcome to come get some. Several people responded so I was out early this morning digging the vines. Well, actually, Son was digging..I was pulling. Just from the squash garden, we dug out forty-seven vines! I know that in a few weeks there will be just as many to remove, but it is getting awfully late to move them. After we finished digging, I tied the vines in bundles of ten with jute string and stuck them all in a bucket of water to await their new owners. One came...the others...I have not heard anything from them. Hopefully, they will come tomorrow. (Thank you, Becky, for being prompt!) If the vines are not claimed by this weekend, I suppose there will be four fence lines of blackberries in the garden!

The next job..pick all the remaining grapefruit and kumquats. Yes..there were still some on the trees since I grew tired of picking several months ago. If you recall in earlier posts, I mentioned that both the grapefruit and the kumquat trees have thorns..huge thorns! More scratches! As if this was not enough..I came up with the bright idea that a few of the new growths on the kumquat trees needed to be trimmed. Son grabbed the snips and started cutting. One of the new limbs had started growing at the very bottom of the tree and was sort of woven in between the older limbs. We had no idea just how long this limb was until he pulled it completely from the tree. It was over eight feet long! Eight feet of needle sharp thorns! To give you an idea of the wickedness of these thorns..each was about three inches long! Not something you really want to encounter on any occasion! With the recent armed robberies and home invasions in the area, Son made the comment that it might be prudent to plant kumquat trees around the house! A natural security system! Hmmm...this could work!

Then one last sticky, pokey job was accomplished before quitting time. The climbing cluster rose was retrained onto the arbor. This is the Seven Sisters rose that was planted several years ago and has completely engulfed the rose garden fence. The picture below shows just how full it was last year so you can just imagine what I am fighting this Spring! In a few weeks, though, it will all be worth the effort! Hubby and Son built two arbors over the gateways to the rose garden last summer, so now the rose canes needed to be intertwined to encourage growth in that direction. The only problem I had with this job was that the roses had enmeshed with the Confederate Jasmine making one big tangled mess. To top it all off? A wisteria has joined forces with the other two making it almost impossible tell where one ends and the other begins with the exception of the ...thorns! After all of this..I will probably dream that I am sleeping on a bed of nails like some fakir or something!

Topsy-turvy!

Sometimes I work hard..and sometimes I work hard at nothing. Today, I did both! The springlike weather beckoned me to the garden early this morning with the promise of a productive day. I weeded, fertilized, transplanted, pruned, planted and watered. Then I went to work! Actually, after doing all of the above, I had the fun job of retraining the blackberry vines on the fenceline. They are all putting on buds and if I don't get this done now..well..I just won't get it done this entire summer! Even though I had pruned them back tremendously this winter, they have sprouted new shoots everywhere creating a big, hairy wall of thorns! This was not the easiest of tasks as the aforementioned thorns have a way of biting into flesh and leaving nasty scratches. Still, it needed to be done, so I worked away for an hour or so...then I had enough! Let the vines be free! Let them take over the garden! Let them be until the next time I am ambitious enough to attempt this!

After the blackberry struggle, I became totally enthralled by a small critter. I had noticed Ms Put, the cat, batting at something in the mulch. Thinking she had cornered another lizard, I set out to rescue the poor creature before it was mortally wounded and became breakfast. For being such an old cat, this feline can still hunt rather well and has no fear of animals twice her size. Thank goodness whatever she had this time was rather small. As I neared, she skittered away and left me staring at the ground. It took a few minutes for the old eyes to focus on the critter in the midst of the mulch. There it was..a poor garden snail trying its best to right itself after being flipped upside down by a giant furball. It almost seemed to be an impossible feat as the pink shell appeared to be far to heavy for the snail to flip. Try as he might, he was not getting very far. Poor little, topsy-turvy snail!

I watched as it strove to upright itself and in horror realized that the poor thing was being attacked by a single ant..or perhaps the single ant was being "en-slimed" by the snail. Either way, I think the snail received notice that the ant was present because suddenly with a jerk (as much as a snail can jerk) it withdrew into its shell. I could not stand to see the little fellow in pain so I lifted him from the mulch and sat him in a little puddle of water. This seemed to relieve its agony a bit. Soon, it started out of the shell again..and since this is not necessarily a snail that would do well in water, I moved it to the flower garden. There it can happily munch on my bulbs and I can blame it on the slugs! It is a wondrous thing that snails are so readily accepted whereas slugs are bane to a gardener's bliss!

Salt Marsh Asters, Briars and Cow Killers!

The Salt Marsh Asters are in bloom now, which is nice since they brighten up the marshes around the Bayou. These can range in color anywhere from white to purple and although they are very small flowers, they are highly visible against the drab marsh grass. These wiry plants have unusual stems that sort of zigzag back and forth. Maybe this has something to do with growing in the marsh and having to fight for space. It is also one of the few plants that thrive in salt water. Their roots can be completely submerged in the briny water and they will still grow and bloom. The one in this picture was actually growing in about two feet of water, right on the edge of the marsh. The Salt Marsh Aster..one overlooked tidbit of beauty that seems to have no other purpose than to make us smile. Priceless!

Today, I tackled the blackberry vines. These brambles had multiplied to the point that they were taking over the entire garden space that should have been shared with squash and beans. I cut, slashed and ripped my way through a huge mass of them. And they cut, slashed and ripped their way through me! I came out looking like I had just tangled with a bobcat! I admit that I am foolish for not wearing protective clothing and gloves when I do something like this but then again, it was like an inferno out there. Yes, yes it is Fall..but we still had temps in the nineties today. Getting dressed in something other than a cool, cotton shirt and jeans just seemed to be asking for a heat stroke. After trimming back one side of the row, I had to dig out about twenty new vines that were growing in the garden away from the original row. This time, I did use my head.."Son, I need you to dig "a" plant for me." Little did he know that these plants have teeth! Still, he dug them all and even continued on to dig the rows for my Fall garden. The berries he removed had such nice rootstock that I hated to put them on the trash pile. For the time being, they are being stowed in the edge of the pond in hopes of finding a new home. Perhaps some kind soul will adopt these briars and give them space in their garden. If not, I suppose another row is in the making and this entails digging in posts and putting up a new fence. This summer, I picked three or four gallons of blackberries everyday off of the existing vines..what am I to do with another row?? Berries, berries everywhere! I keep threatening to start selling jams and jellies and I suppose these berries would be a good place to start!

While digging trimming the vines, I came across a Cow Killer! This bug is actually the Red Velvet Ant..and on that note, it is not an ant at all but rather a wasp that looks like an ant. A great, big ant wearing velvet clothing in the brightest of reds or oranges. It is the female that is often seen crawling around on the ground..the males have wings so they don't stick around long. She runs around looking for an underground nest of any other insect and then proceeds to lay her egg on the larva found there. This larva will play unwitting host to her larva and will also serve as its dinner. I often wondered about the "Cow Killer" moniker that has been attached to this beautiful creature. Could it really kill a cow? Should I get rid of this beastly bug? If so, how?? Yes, it can pack a wallop with its sting but it turns out that no where in history is there a record of a cow being taken down by our winsome wasp. Whew..that is a relief as I have seen dozens of them scurrying about our yard this summer. Not that I have herds of cows munching grass in my yard, but it is good to know this fact just in case I ever do! It is also a relief that these do not cause any damage to speak of in any way so I will not be inclined to exterminate it. But if anyone feels the need, the recommended method of disposal..a foot with a sturdy shoe! My bug shall live!