Early this afternoon, I took a break from painting the arbor that Son just built. It is a fine arbor that is to replace the termite-ridden one. Painting anything around here always seems to be my job. I do not mind but this afternoon, I needed a break from the ladder so the pier called. While there, I noticed that the tide was really low. In fact, what we call "The Cut" (a small inlet) was completely empty. Only a few small puddles remained on the mudflats but those puddles were teaming with minnows. The bull minnows (Gulf Killifish) had obviously hatched a few days back and were happily enjoying the warm weather until the north wind pushed the tide far out from shore. Now they were stranded in tiny puddles. There was no exit to larger bodies of water and this put them in extreme danger. The little minnows were trapped and were literally "sitting ducks". Any birds that wanted a quick and easy meal could catch its fill in a matter of minutes. It is amazing that any survive these low tides.
Gulf Killifish are resilient little critters. They usually live in the brackish waters but can easily adapt to fresh or salty water. As in their case today, they can also adapt to live in hardly no water! In fact, those that get stranded on the mudflats will simply wiggle down beneath the sloppy mud and wait for the tide to come in again. The fish can go for hours on end hovering just beneath the mud. Another strange fact that shows their hardiness is that often after a female lays her eggs, they become stuck to marsh grass. If the tide goes out (like the past few days), the eggs are suspended with no water. They can last for up to two weeks and still be viable! When the tide does fill the marsh again, the eggs are able to hatch and the baby fish show no ill effects from being high and dry.
It was good to see so many baby bull minnows in the puddles today but I hope that they survive. These little fish are good for our health. One of the most important parts of their diet is the mosquito larva. A single adult killifish can devour hundreds of mosquito larvae in a day. Not only is this highly important in view of the disease that mosquitoes can carry but, for any of us living around here, it means a few less mosquitoes to aggravate us. We owe a big thank you to this tiny fish!
With our lack of winter, the critters are already out and about. Critters of the insect type have decided that it is time to wreak havoc on the gardens and on us. Those dratted mosquitoes and gnats are out in droves and they have no qualms about eating a person alive. Battling these critters is a long term endeavor and not something that can be done with a simple shot of spray and since I abhor sprays, for the most part, I am searching for more natural ways of ridding the place of them. This means emptying things like the birdbath on a daily basis and planting "smelly" plants (as Son calls them) near the house. Plants such as marigolds, lemongrass, lemon balm, rosemary and even basil help to keep mosquitoes at bay. Since the Frog Pond seems to be a likely spot for the mosquitoes to lay eggs, I encourage dragonflies to also use the pond as their nursery. Dragonfly nymphs love to much on mosquito nymphs! These thing all help but, hey, I live on a bayou and near a creek. What about those likely breeding spots?
With the warm weather, the mosquitoes have been busy but Mother Nature has, too. I noticed thousands of "mosquito fish" (or pot-belly minnows) swirling about the shallows in the marsh. It seems that the overload of mosquito nymphs is a boon to these little fishies! They are happy campers at the moment. Their bright blue scales can be seen flashing in the sunlight as they happily chase the nymphs about the brackish water. While watching them, I had the notion to catch a few to see if I can acclimate them to the fresh water of the Frog Pond. It would be nice to have a family or two of the mosquito fish living there to help the dragonflies. Ponder, ponder.
As an added note, all is well here on the Bayou for any who are interested. After another round of severe storms thrashed about the place, things have settle down for the night. There were sightings of at least six tornadoes in the close proximity of the Little Bayou House and at least two known waterspouts in the Bay near the pier. The sirens sounded for a good hour but we were blessed with no damage. The Little Bayou House held strong once again.
