Whatzit?

  While out in my daughter's field, we came across an animal track that was not immediately recognizable.  What was it?  Our first thought was a cat.  Yep, sure seems like a cat footprint since there were no claw marks visible.  So, perhaps a bobcat had made its way through the soft mud.  Then again, something seemed a bit amiss with this idea.  The footprint had five toes.  Cats usually have four toes that are visible in a track with the fifth toe high enough on the foot that it does not leave a mark.  So...what else could this be?  We checked print charts to see if we could identify the critter.

  Most of the tracks that we found confirmed the fact that cat tracks do only show four toes.  BUT!  If the cat made the track with the front paw them placed the back paw into the same track, the toes could show up as five!  Well, we pondered this fact and were still not sure.  What in the world could this be?  Well, the best thing we could think to do was ask my brother.  I have one brother who seems to be able to identify most critters by their tracks, sounds or smells. Yep, he is just that good. So..we sent the picture to him in hopes that we would find the identity of our elusive print-maker!  Do we honestly have a five-toed cat roaming about the area?  Could be!  One came to visit the Little Bayou House several years ago.  "Blinky" was a five-toed, cross-eyed, Siamese mix.  (Sure miss that cat!)

  Robbie and Elizabeth's place is so full of neat things! We tromped around the field and through the woods.  There are more wildflowers, mosses and critters than I could shake a stick at!  What fun this is!  I do think I should find more excuses to come explore here!  Hopefully by tomorrow, I will know the elusive, catlike critter's name and we can at least know what is tromping about after dark!

 

Muddying up the Works!

I have been noticing a lot of muddy footprints around the hillside lately!  It seems that someone is running around and absolutely refusing to wipe their dirty feet. Every night, this muddy-footed culprit climbs up on the back porch to see if Ms. Put left any cat food in her dishes.  He leaves behind a great mess!  Today, when I finally made my way down to the pier, I noticed little footprints in the old skiff that sits by the pier.  Hmmm..the critter had definitely decided to investigate the skiff to see if there were any leftover fish sitting in there.  Obviously, it had been hunting its supper and was willing to accept any scraps as a free meal.  Sorry, there are no scraps in the boat today!

These footprints explained a lot.  Over the years, I have noticed that most of the raccoons that visit the gardens are muddy.  My friend that left the muddy footprints had come up out of the marsh, traipsed across the boat and then made his way to the back garden. At the moment, nothing is producing in this garden except a lone Jalapeno pepper plant.  Not finding anything desirable to eat there, he went for the compost pile!  There, I am quite sure that he dined upon scraps from my kitchen! The raccoon's visit made me realize that a lot of the critters are crossing the marsh of the Bayou just to visit this compost pile!  No wonder there are always muddy footprints on my backporch!  It (and Ms. Put's cat bowl) is just a hop, skip and jump from the compost pile!

The raccoon that wandered about the garden, compost and back porch is only one of many that prowl around the hillside every night.  Mark's "GameCam" caught the rascal as he made a detour through the garden.  During the low tide in the Bay, they can be seen scavenging for Fiddler Crabs and mollusks on the mudflats.  The compost pile seems to be the second choice for dinner but is still visited regularly.  I would not mind so much if they would only learn to wipe their feet!  Mud!!  Everywhere!

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!!!