Does She Know Something About The Weather?

  While it seems early for them to do so, the fiddler crabs are making their way up the hillside.  Normally, this departure from the mucky marsh takes place in August.  Then, the critters vacate their muddy tunnels and work their way up the hill.  They even go as far as the paved road which is some eight hundred feet or so from where they need to be.  The fiddler crabs do this mass, mini "migration" at odd times.

  The reasoning behind their move is still up in the air.  No one has been able to convince me of their true motive.  Some folks suggest that the crabs are searching for mates.  This is an odd idea as the entire mating and egg-laying process involves the damp marsh areas.  Other folks state that perhaps the crabs are in search of food.  Well, to answer that, fiddler crabs eat algae and bacteria from the marsh and also filter tiny particles of food from sand and mud.  They need the water to help with the filtering process.  Then there are the folks who say that the crabs migrate to higher ground when they sense that a storm is near.  Hurricanes flood the marshes and hence flood the crabs dens.  In an odd way, this makes more sense than the other claims.  If a fiddler crab can truly "feel" the change in barometric pressure, perhaps they can foretell when a storm is about to hit.  A few of the old-timers around here still cling to this belief and who am I to question them?  Common lore has it that the crabs will seek higher ground about two to three days before a storm is to brush through an area.  Once they leave their marshy home, they dig a new burrow in their newly selected site.  That same bit of lore states that the distance the crabs go inland correlates to the severity of a hurricane.  

  In viewing the weather forecast, I see that there are a couple of tropical storms that need watching.  For now, none are predicted to hit here.  The fiddler crabs, however, are on a hike.  Several have been found as far up the hillside as the board path and one adventurous little lady made it into the Small Gardens.  I sure hope she was a bit disoriented and is not adept at foreseeing the future!  I do not need a hurricane at the moment.

The Bayou Frog! Another Critter Friend...

  While most frogs cannot survive in saltwater, the Southern Leopard Frog does well in the brackish waters of the Bayou.  This frog has adapted to living in the occasionally semi-salty water and marsh.  Other frogs will die quickly if tossed in such an area.  The Southern Leopard Frog not only survives but thrives here.  Not only has it adapted to living in the harsh climate of the marsh, its diet has changed, as well.  It still dines upon insects but has been seen munching on minnows.  Anything smaller than the frog, itself, is fair game.

  Yesterday, Mark and I made our way to the pier to check the crab traps and soft-shell boxes.  Once these were baited, we made our way back up the pier.  An incoming squall had cut our fishing wishes to the bone so we might as well head to the house.  Following behind Mark as we made our way, I noticed that we had a small visitor at the end of the pier.  Just before stepping off onto dry ground, I noticed a Southern Leopard frog in the tall grass.  The critter was enjoying his breakfast but it seems that his choice of the main course was fighting back. Our froggy friend had decided that crab was on the menu!

  The frog had ahold to one of the Fiddler Crab's claws while the other claw was frantically being flailed in attack.  The smart frog had at least had the commonsense to grab the larger claw as the tiny one would not do as much damage to the frog's tough skin.  

  I am not sure if Fiddler Crabs are a mainstay of the Southern Leopard Frog's diet but our friend was sure going to give it a try!  The Bayou Frog is here to stay....at least, until something larger finds him to be a tasty treat.

The "Collector"

  It is strange how some folks "collect" things while others are "hoarders".  What is the difference?  Sure, the term hoarding has lately been removed from its original use of stockpiling needed supplies or money to just never throwing away anything but can't that be said about collecting as well?  Think about it.  There are those who amass huge "collections" of one type item and then there are the rest of us who have "stuff".  I have stuff.  Lots of stuff.  BUT!  The big difference between merely having a collection and having stuff is that I actually use my stuff.  Granted, most of the time, it is as props for the clue hunts we hold here on the Bayou each October but it is, nevertheless, used.  I have always been referred to as the "Collector of Weird and Wonderful Things".  I do not collect things like most folks.  I do not have beautifully displayed racks of commemorative spoons, neatly organized books of stamps or categorized pages of mounted coins.  I have stuff.  Just stuff.  I have shelves filled with dusty old books from eons ago, drawers filled with stiffly starched, handmade doilies and a buffet top filled with antique (lead-filled!) pewter that is unsafe to use.  I have an armless wooden statue of some warrior, a zoetrope and two dead foxes.  (Those are actually antique stoles but dead foxes just the same.)  Weird things.  Wonderful things.  Things that others see as clutter.  Things I like. What is the difference?  

  Collecting, or maybe hoarding, is also noticed in the critter world.  We have all heard of how male crows will steal shiny items to woo their ladylove and how mice will drag small bottles, knickknacks and jewelry into their nests but how about a crab?  This afternoon after I coerced the old dog, Mr. PJ, to take a hike with me, we wound up on the pier.  Here lately, Mr. PJ would rather nap inside instead of hiking but I figured fresh air would do him good.  While on the pier, I noticed that hundreds of fiddler crabs were in the process of protecting their nesting holes.  The males stood waving their large claws at any passerby.  Any "unmarried" males were threatened with bodily harm if they neared an occupied den.  There is nothing unusual about this.  Each summer sees the same thing.  Lots of fiddler crabs being crabby.

  However, one rather large male had another goal in mind. He was not protecting a ladylove and her brooding den.  Instead, he had collected a rather large prize and was busy defending his right to own it.  On the last high tide, a nasty looking tennis ball had washed ashore and the crab obviously thought it was quite grand.  He stood defiantly against all interlopers and waved that large claw violently.  This was HIS prize and his alone!  

  Whether this action was truly an act of love for the tennis ball or whether this was an unattached male who was bored, it made me think of folks who collect and those who hoard.  They are one and the same.  If the collection or "stuff" makes you happy...so be it.  It is no one's business but your own.  If a crab can be in love with a tennis ball...so be it.  It is no one's business but his own.

I know you are there....somewhere!

  Here lately, I have been pondering the survival tactics of critters.  Here on the Bayou, there is a plethora of critters so I have the opportunity to observe things first hand.  One of the things that always impresses is the art of camouflage.  Critters are masters at this.  Most folks will walk past dozens of critters without even noticing them.  Not that I can spot a lot of them but. at least, I look for them!  It has become sort of a game with me to spot camouflaged critters.  Moths blend well with tree bark. Grasshoppers and katydids are sometimes impossible to spot among foliage.  Frogs blend well with logs and mud.  AND...crabs can hide among the bits of debris that washes in on high tide.

  Fiddler crabs, especially, are adept at hiding in the midst of debris lines.  A tiny crab can blend so well with its surroundings that it is easy to go so far as to step on them when hiking.  Fiddler crabs will oftentimes "freeze" as a method of defense if the flight instinct mode is not feasible.  Freezing in place will protect the crab from certain predators.  A bird perched high in a tree is attracted to movement so if the crab stops, it becomes well hidden.  The same goes with most predators.  They sense motion.  This draws attention to the prey.  Let the motion cease and the prey often blends in with its surroundings.  

  I first noticed the tiny crab in the debris line only because it moved.  Once it froze in place, it took minutes before my eyes focused on the crab's shell even though I was only inches away.  The coloring had served the crab well.  Had I been a hungry predator, there was a high chance that I would have given up on finding the crab again.  The camouflage was just that good.  Even afterward when looking at the photograph, it took me several minutes to find the crab. Check the first picture.  Can you spot the crab?  The second picture has been cropped a good bit and, even then, the crab is pretty well camouflaged!   Critters are amazing!

Winter has come to the Bayou!

As strange as it may seem to a lot of folks that have been in full winter mode for some time now, the Bayou is just seeing its first winter-like weather for the season. Sure we have had "cool snaps" but nothing of any real mention. Even yet, the freeze last night is slight in comparison to other places around the country. Still this morning, I awoke to freezing temperatures and a bit of ice on the fishpond. Hmmm..twas a mite cold on the pier so I opted to sit by the fireside with my first mug of coffee of the morning!

The icing of the fishpond would not be worth mentioning except for the fact that when I was out and about this morning, I observed something out of the ordinary. On the edge of the pond, a slight wiggle in the water/ice caught my eye. I pondered just what in the world would be brave or stupid enough to be swimming around in the slushy ice. I stepped a bit closer..the slight movement occurred again. I stared at the pond thinking perhaps I as just imagining things. Finally, my eyes focused on what was causing the ever so slight wake in the water..a Fiddler Crab! Are you daft, Little One? Aren't you supposed to be hibernating or something? None of your buddies are out in weather like this! I have no idea if this little guy has been in the fishpond for long or if some hapless bird dropped him there this morning but I just cannot imagine how cold he must have been!

Not sure of just what I could do to possibly help the Fiddler Crab or even if I should attempt to remedy his problem, I reached for a nearby stick. I thought I could lift him out of the icy water for whatever reason. Perhaps if I toted him back to the Bayou, he could find a burrow of a friend crab and wait out the frigid months ahead. As the stick neared him, however, he darted back under the water. Hmmmm...I stared at the slush and wondered if I had really just seen a Fiddler Crab in the fresh water fishpond in January or if I am going slap nuts. (I was sure glad to have taken pictures..no one would have believed me had I told them this tale!)

The Adventurous Little Crab!

Once in a while, you come across something in the garden that sort of amuses. I was taking a break from cutting grass and sitting in my favorite chair in the rose garden, when a small critter ran across my foot. At first, I was a tad bit startled as I thought it was a spider and I have already been bitten by those far too many times! But closer inspection revealed that this was not something that should frighten me at all..it was a Fiddler Crab. A Fiddler Crab in the rose garden?? Now that is not where she belongs! Fiddler Crabs should be down closer to the marsh! They should be digging burrows in the mud, not in my garden! I watched her as she tried to maneuver through the lawn. The grass presented quite the difficult situation for this tiny crustacean! She would sidle between blades with some of her legs only to get stuck with the others. Still she did not give up..she kept trying and soon reached her goal...the railroad tie that edges the tiered section of the garden. The railroad tie would have seemed to be an insurmountable object but the little crab kept going. Climbing was evidently a lot easier than navigating through grass! I pondered.."Just what does she think she is going to do once there?"

The rose garden is several hundred feet from the marsh edge where all the other Fiddler Crabs were holding their usual confab. There, in the marsh, were thousands of Fiddler Crabs. They were all doing crabby things like digging burrows and eating. The males were busy waving their one gargantuan claw about trying to intimidate all of the lesser males and the females were busy admiring the intimidating claw. This being the usual daily procedure for Fiddler Crabs. Not this little crab..she was busy exploring the gardens! I am not sure just how long she had been in the rose garden nor just what inspired her to make the trek all the way up the hill. Perhaps she had just heard about the sweet-smelling flowers there and had to see for herself. Perhaps she was going to visit a neighboring crab and got lost. Perhaps a bird had picked her up with the intention of eating her and somehow dropped her far, far away from her home. Somehow she ended up in the garden and now she sat on the railroad tie. She stayed there for a good twenty minutes..just looking around..admiring the view. She was a rogue crab! She had broken out of the usual rut of other crabs and had been adventurous!

Finally, she climbed down the other side of the railroad tie and made her way to the board path that leads to the pier. She seemed to know just where she was heading. It was a long hike but if she hurried she was sure to make it back home before dinner! She skittered through the area where the birds were at the feeders. Once a Blue Jay, pecked at her and I thought sure she was a goner but she hid under one of the boards. Eventually, the Jay grew tired of waiting and went back to eating seeds. At this point, the little crab made a dash for it and raced down the rest of the path straight to the marsh. I lost track of her in the crowd of crabs! Here she was safe! She was back home and had fabulous stories to tell!