On High Alert For The Marsh Monster!

  As a rule, the cat and I are the first to awake in the morning and it is our habit to spend a good ten minutes snuggling before either of us rises.  She loves to get her ears scratched before starting her day.  Then, Ms. Nycto decides that it is breakfast time so we venture into the kitchen for her to eat and me to brew the first pot of coffee of the day.  Our morning ritual rarely varies.  After her meal, she goes outside to wander the hillside.  She has to make sure that nothing has changed over the course of the night.  I usually head to the pier at the same time.  After a bit, the cat joins me and we head back to the Little Bayou House.

  This morning, things went as usual but when she trotted herself out the front door, she turned in her tracks and trotted right back up the steps, raced inside and hid under the big rocking chair in the corner of the room.  She was not budging from her hiding spot! Well, now!  I pondered what could have scared my sweet cat to the point that she refused to go outside.  I peered out in the near darkness of the early dawn and could see nothing intimidating.  Well, if the cat was not going out in the dark....I was not either!  This was a case of being led by a cat's intuition.

  About an hour later, she and I both headed out the door.  She was still leery but made her rounds as usual.  I did not go to the pier as I had chores to do in the garden and it was already getting late. She did but was not the happiest of cats.  Once there, she stared down into the marsh as if there was some monster hiding beneath the marsh mats.  Ms. Nycto was on high alert!  It did not take her long to scurry back up the hillside to be near me and, as soon as my chores were complete, she was ready to retreat to her hiding spot beneath the chair.  She made no noise about going out again all day.  

  I am still not sure just what frightened the cat so much that she refused to bask in the sunshine but something strange must have wandered about the yard last night and, perhaps, was still there this morning.  I may just have to set up the night camera to catch our "monster" in the act of traipsing around the hillside.  It would be interesting to find out what is out there!  My poor Ms. Nycto!  

The Growling, Hissing Marsh Monster!

Sometimes things can be a bit eerie down on the pier in the late evening.  Then, again, sometimes things are not what they seem.  When the sun is setting and the night critters are starting to stir about, what normally would be a cute, furry friend could be misidentified as something downright creepy!  Take this evening for instance.  Ms. Ez, the dog, and I were fully enjoying our trek to the pier to watch the sunset.  We did not stay long as there was heavy cloud cover and the sun seemed to have disappeared well before nightfall.  On the way back up the pier to the Little Bayou House, she and I stopped dead in our tracks!  Something was hissing at us!  Then.....growl!  A low gurgling grunt of a growl but still a growl!  What was between us and the shore?  Ms. Ez tensed!  The hair on her back bristled!  Yep...must have been something unseen in the marsh!  I peered into the reeds.  I saw nothing.  Perhaps it was my imagination?   My hand reached for the comfort of Ms. Ez.  She was there but nervous.  I started toward the end of the pier again.   Hisss....grunt....grunt...grunt!  Ok...maybe I should wait a minute!  It sure was getting dark....FAST!   Ms. Ez returned the growl this time.  She moved in front of me.  Her head was held low and the muscles in her body were rippling.  I had never seen her in this stance!  Alrighty now...this was getting a tad curious!  Not knowing what was growling and hissing at me, I decided to sit down and wait it out.  The pier is high enough that not too many critters can get up on it from the mire below unless one has wings!  So...I sat and waited..camera in hand!   Hiss...grunt...grunt...grunt!  The noise did sound familiar but my brain was just not wanting to recognize it.  Ms. Ez again returned the growl and looked as if she wanted to jump into the marsh and attack whatever was there.  I held onto her collar not wanting her to leave.  I quietened her.  She did not make another sound but held her stance.  We waited...and waited.  I wanted to see just what was angry about my presence.  After a few minutes, a weird crunching sound came from the spot where the hissing started.  My critter was eating!  Perhaps that is why it felt threatened! Maybe it thought I wanted its supper!  Then...a few squeaks?   Crunch, crunch, squeak, squeak.  What a strange critter!

Mama Otter glaring at me with her eyes glowing red with the camera flash!

After about ten minutes or so, I heard a rustling in the grasses.  Whatever was there was now on the move!  The reeds bent this way and that.  Ms. Ez was beside herself with curiosity..as was I!  We watched the movement and listened to more grunts and squeaks.  Then Ez leapt to her feet....her fur bristled again!  Growl!  She let out a loud growl and the critter answered with a hiss!   Much rummaging in the marsh let me know that the critter really was not happy!  Then about twenty feet from us, a head popped up through the thatching..then another and another and another!  Grunt! Grunt!  The three smaller heads disappeared under the marsh again! I snapped a picture and noticed that the flash from the camera made the eyes of my beast glow red!  OOOOH!  Hehe...my family of beasts had taken cover...afraid of me!  All that was left visible was Mama Otter!!!!  Wow!  Mama Otter evidently did not want Ms. Ez nor me to get too close to her pups!  She grunted again and again.  Then grabbing a half-eaten fish, she led her pups a bit further away.  They hid under another thatching and started eating their supper again.  Munch, munch...crunch..crunch!  I giggled!  My growling, hissing monster was Mama Otter!  Ms. Ez looked at me questioningly!  "Should I chase them?"  No, Ms. Ez, you did well...they are gone.  I patted her head and we, once again, started our trek back up the hill.  The lights in the Little Bayou House beamed brightly..welcoming us back up the hill and away from all of the monsters of the marsh!