Being Cautious Is A Good Thing

   Bat, the Bayou Prince Cat, is normally a pretty brave (if not heroic) cat.  He has no qualms about attacking anything that he thinks is a threat to me.  I have had dogs be protective but never a cat.  Bat is. More than once, he has come to my rescue.  Snakes seem to be his number one target.  As I age, my eyesight is far from what it used to be so tromping around the Bayou is a bit iffy.  I feel safe, however, as Bat never leaves my side and can sniff out a snake in a heartbeat.  

  Lately, things have been a bit different.  He still is always at my side but his demeanor has changed. Where he was always audacious, he is now cautious.  Highly cautious...almost always on edge as if there is a great threat lurking just around the next bend.  It was curious but, last night, an answer to his wariness was found.

  Son has been setting out a game camera recently.  Mark bought this just to see what was prowling around the property while we sleep.  Most nights, the camera picked up the usual raccoons and possums but last night was different.  A large coyote was traipsing just where Bat and I usually go on our predawn hikes about the hillside.  While the photograph is blurry due to the movement of the animal, there is no denying its identity.  Also, it is obvious that this is a predator much larger than Mr. Bat.  The cat honestly needs to be on high alert while out and about...and...I suppose I should be, as well.  I feel sure that Mr. Bat would come to my rescue as usual but, at the same time, there is no need to put him in danger.  Coyotes are not to be messed with and usually where there is one...there are more.  Mr. Bat and I shall have to be alert as we hike.  

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!