This afternoon, I went out to help Son a bit. He was up on the rooftop doing more home repairs after our bout with termites. It seems that he is rebuilding the entire house. Anyway, my help was obviously not needed so I started to clean up a bit of the scrap lumber. While I was bent over retrieving a small piece that had fallen under the house, I came face to face with a critter. On the side of the house was a Daddy Longlegs or Harvestman. When I was younger, I was under the impression (as are most folks) that this was a spider of some sort. It is not. It is an arachnid in that it has eight legs but it is not a spider. (Mine must have met with a horrible accident because it only had seven legs!) The Harvestman is closer kin to a scorpion. Those long, lanky legs make us think of a spider so the critter is often mistakenly called one. The Harvestman does not bite (that I know of anyway) but can emit a pretty foul-smelling musk if feels threatened.
Finding the Daddy Longlegs made me take a trip down memory lane. Growing up, we always called them Granddaddy Longlegs and would often catch them in the barn. To us, these critters were playthings. It never ceased to amuse us that once the Granddaddy Longlegs got over its fear of us, it never made an attempt to escape. My folks had shown us how to hold one in the palm of our hand and in a sing-songy voice ask it "Granddaddy, Granddaddy, where are the cows?" Invariably, one long leg would slowly rise and seemingly point to where the wayward cows had strayed. As kids, we were thrilled that the "spider" had helped us in our quest to find the cows! (This was back in the day when the cows pretty much had free roam of the farm and were often hard to locate.) Now, I realize that this ploy was to get the kiddies over the fear of critters but it was great amusement as well. The barns and chicken houses held a wealth of critters other than the farm animals so it was rather useful thing for us not to be fearful.
There is a long-standing myth surrounding Harvestmen. They are often claimed to be the "most poisonous spiders in the world". When questioned why more folks are not suffering from bites, the myth explains that the critters' mouths are too small and weak to break human flesh. Well, that is pure hogwash on so many points and we won't even go there. Just remember that you can hold them, they are not spiders and they help you find the lost cows. That is all that is needed. "Granddaddy, Granddaddy, where are the cows?" Enough said.
The other day, Son and I were talking about the herons that visit the Bayou. He made the statement that their long necks seem to be ineffectual and far out of proportion to the rest of the body. "It would not take much to snap that neck. Just like the spindly legs, they are almost a hazard." I imagine if a predator tried to overpower a heron, the neck and legs would be the first attack and, true enough, it would not take much to break either. Still, the length of legs and neck do come in handy at times. (This being said by a short person!) The heron is a wader. The long legs help to keep the body up out of the water and allows the bird shuffle along the bottom. That long neck allows the bird to see down into the water and also lets it snatch minnows that would otherwise be just out of reach. Both of these lanky features do, indeed, help the bird survive.
When Moe came to visit the other day, I was able to observe first hand the usefulness of these long, birdy features. At first, Moe was a bit leery of coming too close to the old dog, Mr. PJ. Knowing the bird was hungry, I tossed a few menhaden up on the pier post so Moe could dine a bit more comfortably. To my surpirse, the heron flew to the pier although he knew that the minnows were on the post. Those long legs and that long neck were put to use. Moe was able to stand on the decking and still snatch a minnow from the 4 ft tall post. He ate a few minnows in this manner before flying to the top of the post to finish his meal.
I went back to the Little Bayou House and called to Son. "Check these photographs!" Once he studied the pictures, he said "I stand corrected. The legs and neck are useful but still appear to be quite fragile and cumbersome." I have to agree. They do but Moe was happy with himself, regardless.
While the weather here would be deemed nigh on perfect for many (me, included), we are experiencing our first real "cool spell" of the season. The temperatures are to dip down as low as 42 this week! This makes me happy and also gives me hope that we will actually have a winter this year. We need one. The persimmon seeds have predicted one. I am anxiously awaiting one. The critters on the other hand, may not be on pin and needles with excitement of such weather. While most do have fur or feathers, that cold air can make life a bit miserable for the critters of the Bayou. It is a tad hard to get warm when you live in the marsh.
This afternoon while out taking the dog for a hike, three birds rested on the pier. One was a Great Egret while the other two appeared to be Cattle Egrets. It was hard to tell at the distance from where I stood. I eased nearer trying to get a positive identification but with the first step on the pier, Mr. PJ, the dog, got excited. He trotted down the pier as per our usual custom. The first thought was to call him back but, hey, they were only birds and he was fully enjoying himself.
What I did notice about the birds was that they were all doing the one legged stance. Most large wading birds like the herons and egrets do this while resting. No, contrary to what Darling Daughter told me one time....the birds are not pretending to be flamingos! The idea behind it is that the birds are conserving body heat. With their long, thin legs, a lot of body warmth will be lost if both legs are exposed. If one is kept tucked up in the feathers, the bird stays warmer. Periodically, the bird will switch legs.
The north wind today was already chilly enough to cause the birds a bit of discomfort. Their uni-pedal stance was serving them well but, if Old Man Winter does throw us a nice bit of frigid weather this year, the birds better think of finding a place with a bit more shelter than what the pier offers! That north wind barrels down the pier something fierce!
