Oh, Those Tomatoes!

 When will I ever learn?  Every year when I start to sow seeds for the garden (early spring), I have dozens of folks claim, "Oh, I would love a few plants for my garden!"  So....I sow.  I plant far too many seeds and, when the time comes, I cannot pawn the plants off on anyone!   Well, two of my sisters-in-law, took a few plants but, other than that, the others made excuses.  I heard..."I cannot dig my garden plot." to "Gardening seemed like fun but now it is too hot."  Yeah, well, what am I to do with a bajillion tomato plants?  I plant...and plant...and plant.  The garden plot has nothing but tomatoes this year.  Then, there are those that are dotted in the flower beds and any other available spot.  Thankfully, Mark made a ton of garden boxes this spring so the cucumbers, squash, peppers and green beans all have their own space...but, oh, those tomatoes.

  The plants grew to unheard of heights and started plopping over onto each other.  Each was crated but they soon outgrew the crates and decided to hug each other.  I hated to try staking simply because each plant was loaded with tiny fruit...seriously...loaded!  For the past week or so, those tomatoes have started ripening.  Usually, they are allowed to fully ripen on the plant as that gives them the sweetest flavor.  Even the cardinals that also occupy the Small Gardens decided that the fruit were delectable.  Before I knew it, five large tomatoes were half pecked to pieces by the male cardinal as he toted tidbits back to his ladylove on the nest.  While this is awfully heartwarming, the critter was ruining my plans of harvesting ALL of the tomatoes.  (I am also positive that he ate his share, as well.)  There was nothing to do but pick the ripest tomatoes. 

  While I understand the cardinal's plight of finding food, I have difficulty seeing the positive side of people's desire for my ripened tomatoes.  Sorry, folks.  If you cannot make the least bit of an effort to care for a plant after it is offered to you, do not assume that you can raid my garden.  Yep, I am that way.  I will give and give to those in need, the elderly and any who lift a helping hand but not those that come across as lazy and greedy.  It appears that the "Little Red Hen Syndrome" is spreading.  (If you are not familiar with the term..look it up.  It is a real thing...just based on a children's book from back in the day.  It says volumes even though it is a short, lighthearted tale.)  Folks, my advice is this...if you wish to reap the rewards, lend a helping hand.  I will give "til the cows come home" but not to those who will not help themselves.  But...in the meantime, oh, those tomatoes!  Those beautiful, ripe tomatoes that will soon be tasty sauce for the pantry shelf!

Ham Is Not To Their Liking

   The conundrum of the starving, displaced critters is saddening but I can only do so much to help.  Thankfully, I have had to "clean out" one of the freezers as it is starting to go bad.  The freezer is old so this is just what I have been needing to get myself in gear and do a purge.  Instead of just tossing everything at one time, I have been doling the foodstuffs out over a series of days.  This is probably a bad idea as it draws critters like a magnet.  Still, since they are starving and the food is beyond its prime, it is helpful on both ends.  Last night saw me tossing some ham that had been in the freezer for some years.  It had gotten down under other things and was forgotten.  As I chopped the sliced ham in small portions, I figured that the coons would, at least, enjoy the meal.  I was wrong.

  Just before dark, I peeked out the door and found that four young raccoons (last year's litter) were nibbling birdseed.  Their round, little mama had obviously brought them to introduce them to a free meal.  She will soon abandon them while she has her next litter.  The youngsters will then be on their own...ready or not.  The coons, however, were not one bit interested in the ham.  It sat in the old pan untouched.  Wow!  That sure makes you wonder about the edibility of ham!  If coons won't eat it, something is amiss!  Coons eat just about anything!  (I am glad I do not eat meat.)  Nary a coon tasted the ham.  They kept  nibbling birdseed.

  A bit later, I peeked again and found that there was one critter that had no qualms about munching down the preservative laden ham.  A box turtle had made its way to the buffet and was right up in the pan enjoying the ham slices.  Go figure.  

  The coons are going to be in for a big surprise soon as the foodstuffs from the freezer are dwindling and soon the handouts will be scarce.  Hopefully, the youngsters will have enough sense to find their own meals from this point.  There are plenty of fiddler crabs and bull minnows just waiting to be caught so they had better learn to hunt real soon.  At least, my handouts will have given them something to munch in the meantime.  Sorry, my critter friends, the free ride is about to end.  Now go be a coon and not a wannabe pet.  The turtle, on the other hand, is welcome to stay in the gardens.

Looky! I Am A Duck!

  Early in the morning just about sun up, the critters of the Bayou all seem to get along fine.  The heat of the day has not yet caused tempers to flare nor greediness to head.  All is well in the critter world.  Sometimes, however, I do think that some of the youngsters get a bit confused about who they really are.  Take this morning, for example.  A  juvenile laughing gull came swimming by the pier.  Yep.  While gulls are more often seen flying above our heads or perched on the pier posts, this little guy decided to swim.  He paddled happily about the pier as if it was perfectly normal action.  Perhaps, he had been watching the ducks and geese and figured that they were getting handouts so he would give it a go.  "Maybe if I act like a duck, I will get a tasty treat!"

  

  The laughing gulls normally nest in large numbers out on the islands or front beach.  It would be rare for one to nest here on the Bayou as there are too many predators that would make short work of the eggs or chicks.  When nesting in colonies of hundreds of birds, there is a community effort to protect the nests.  This youngster has been on the Bayou a few days so he is well on his way of being independent.  He has made his way to our Bayou and will most likely spend a good bit of time here.  The food is plentiful and, if he behaves himself and acts so adorably cute, handouts will be proffered on a daily basis.

  The young gull swam for most of the morning before he flew to a nearby pier post.  There, he perched and preened as most birds do.  He came back to the pier as Mark cleaned our catch of fish.  The bird received plenty of scraps to fill his belly this morning!  He will be back.

The "Happy Dance"

  Have you ever noticed how critters seem to fully appreciate even the tiniest act of kindness?  Without words, they can let you know that your actions mean the world to them.  Today was the sort of day that all things went well and it was topped off with a show of gratitude that brought smiles to the face.

  Mark and I had a busy day so late in the afternoon, we called it quits and headed to the pier.  The fishing poles had sat idle long enough and we needed to put them back into action.  The Bay was teeming with menhaden which is our favorite bait fish.  Those shiners really can lure the fish to bite.  We settled in with our baited lines to await the first nibble but it was not long before I was feeding our bait to a different critter!  A Great Blue Heron came to visit us and the poor thing looked so hungry!  This was a young bird that obviously had not mastered the art of fishing as well as it should have so it had taken to begging for a handout now and again.  I was ready to oblige the bird and tossed it a nice sized menhaden.  

  At first the bird was hesitant to accept the fish. It was a bit skittish of the two humans sitting on the pier even though one was willing to supply its supper.  After a bit of coaxing on my part the bird eased up closer to snag its fish.  Another fish was tossed and the bird was quicker on the take.  After six more fish, the heron would dart in to grab its fish with no qualms whatsoever.  After a couple more fish, the bird did a happy dance to show its gratitude for the handout.  Mark made the comment that I had made a new friend and I thought "Yep, and it will be back for more of our bait!"  I guess we had better catch twice as much as we need if I plan on feeding this fine, feathered friend each day!

"Where is my food?"

  While out weeding the garden, I kept hearing a screeching that was all too familiar.  This was that of a fledgling bird calling for its parents to "Feed me!".   At this point, the youngster should be well on its own but it has grown so accustomed to being waited on hand and foot that it feels that it cannot possibly forage for itself.  Weening time had come and the parents were making fewer and fewer visits to their youngster. Instead, they were off searching for food for themselves.  This left the lazy teenager to do nothing but screech and go hungry.  After a long enough time, the goofy kid will get the idea and decide "Well, I guess nobody is coming.  Maybe I can catch something for myself."  It is either do or die.  The parents were practicing a bit of tough love here.

  The fledgling in question was none other than a young osprey.  It was perched far in the top of the old, dead pine and was watching as the parents were practicing the fine art of catching mullet in the shallows of the Bayou.  The young osprey expectantly awaited for lunch with each plummeting parent.  Nope.  It did not happen.  As I watched, the parents actually let a few small mullet drop back into the water just to nudge their offspring to take action.  That lazy thing did nothing but screech.

  This kept on all afternoon.  The young osprey only left its perch twice and only attempted a catch once even though the parents had dropped several injured fish for easy catching.  The bird went hungry while the older ospreys moved further and further away.  In a couple of days, they will no longer be around to feed this offspring.  If it has learned its lessons, the youngster will be ok.  If not, it will have a rough time finding food until it can perfect the technique. Happy hunting, Squirt. You are going to need all the luck you can get here real soon.

Hey! I am your best friend! Give me FOOD!

  Happy New Year!  It rained...and rained...and rained.  Then!  Then, it rained some more.  At times, the storms were so severe that I could not hear anything save the water pelting the rooftop.  Thunder, high winds and torrential rains seem to have settled in for the duration.  Once it started yesterday, it seems that the system forgot to move on out of the way.  Last night, it poured.  Today, it poured.  And now. it is doing the same.  Nonstop, torrential rains seem to be the norm.

  Since I could not get out to the pier today, I sat looking at some of the pictures that I took just before this storm settled in on the Bayou.  One made me giggle since it was of Cinderella, the pelican.  She (or he? I am not sure which) is such a friendly thing and will follow me around just begging for a handout.  The day of the photograph, Cinderella was almost too friendly.  I had just gone down to make sure the fishing gear was secure when I turned to find Cinderella following a few steps behind me.  I sat down on the bench to have a chat with the bird.   "Well, now!  I suppose you are wanting your lunch."  I said to the pelican.  I had no intentions of throwing the net but the big, sad eyes made me change my mind.  I got up to retrieve the net.  The bird followed.  As I tossed the net, Cinderella stayed right with me.  The net came back empty.  Poor Cinderella!  No lunch for her!

  I sat down again and watched as the bird sidled up along side of me.  I put out my hand to show that I had no minnows and the silly bird nigh on snapped off my fingers!  It is a good thing I was quick handed!  I pulled back my fingers just in the nick of time!  SNAP, closed with the bill!  Ok, so the bird thought my fingers were little fish!  Not good!  Now, every time I wiggle my fingers, Cinderella and Gus come running up the pier.  They both want minnows!  My bait bucket will never be safe again!