"Scat"tered about the Pier

  I have not spent a lot of time on the pier as of late.  It seems that either chores call or the weather is not playing nicely.  When the pier is icy, I prefer to stay off of it.  It is not my desire to go slipping and sliding off into the cold mud.  Plus, since the old dog is a bit wobbly now, we tend to stay where he will not hurt himself if he falls.  

  Today, however, the sun was shining and the north wind was blowing.  It was chilly but no ice had formed on the boards so I was able to enjoy the pier to its fullest.  While there, I watched the pelicans, cormorants and a few loons as they fished.  The birds always entertain.  As I turned to head back to the Little Bayou House, I noticed that some critter had defecated on the pier.  This is not unusual as the aforementioned birds do not care where they poop but this was not bird poop.  The scat was filled with fish scales and tiny fish bones.  (Yes, I looked at poop.)  The content answered the question of what critter had visited the pier.  Obviously, a well fed otter had lounged a bit after getting its belly full.

  While I will "look" at a scat to identify a critter, I am sure not going to go into a full scale investigation.  There are those folks who will poke and pry the mess to see what the animal had eaten.  Nope.  Not happening.  But if (as in this case), the evidence is quite visible, I will observe before making the call.  So...at least I know who was visiting the pier in my absence.  The otter is the culprit that dirtied the pier!  Delightful...not.  Hopefully, the upcoming rains will clean the pier once again and the otters will have second thoughts about their bathroom habits.

Using Your Wits

  Here on the Bayou, life is all about survival of the fittest.  If a weak or sickly critter is meandering about, it becomes food for something stronger.  If a critter is a bit dull witted, a smarter predator is there waiting for it.  This goes on night and day.  At night, you can hear the tussle of critters as they fight for the right to the territory.  The strongest of critters get the good nesting sites and the right to choose their mates.  The weaker ones either are killed or move to a different area.  The squeals and cries of those not strong, are reminiscent of a horror movie at times.  It is not much different during the daytime hours.  Predators abound...some are strong...some depend on their wits...but other critters have to be wary at all times.

  Just today, I watched a few of the wilier ones at work.  While I was not near enough to get photographs of the largest of the bunch, I knew exactly what was occurring.  With the northwest wind whipping about, I knew there would be a low tide. The critters knew this as well.  They are cunning and watch the weather changes.  An otter had made deep slides in the mudflats.  These slides were several inches deep and about a foot wide.  A mishmash of trails literally created a maze in the mud.  The otter was aware that the bull minnows are not the brightest of critters so she created this maze to catch her supper.  She has little ones in the marsh nearby and cannot leave the nest for long to fish.  Her fishing now would rely on this trap.  The dimwitted bull minnows would dawdle about long enough for the tide to trap them in the maze of ruts.  Once the exits were cutoff by lack of water, the minnows would aimlessly go round and round in the maze searching for deeper water.  There was none.  The only water to be found was in the otter slides.  Now it was like catching fish in a barrel for the otter.

  Mama Otter was not the only one smart enough to use the maze to catch her dinner.  A small Gulf Saltmarsh Snake had slipped out of the marsh to patiently way for the minnows to turn a curve in the maze.  The snake would dart in and grab a minnow.  As it swallowed the first one, the minnows frantically swam through the maze only to wind up right back in front of the little snake.  It did not take long before the snake had eaten its fill of minnows.  It then relaxed a bit in the warm sunshine.

  Had the otter visited her maze trap and found the little snake, she would have happily munched it as well as the trapped minnows.  The snake was smart enough to quickly dart back under the roots of the marsh grass when it heard the splashing of the otter.  Both had used their intelligence to gather a meal for the day.  The otter will be back out again tomorrow but since another cool front is coming with the winds, the little snake will stay snug.  Its belly is full so it will wait out the next few days safe and sound under the roots.  Life goes on with the strongest and most intelligent surviving.

Brisk Winds and Low Tides

  The blast of cold air that has hit the area came with some pretty stiff winds.  These winds from the north pushed the tide out from the Bay. The shorelines were far more exposed by the lack of water thus providing many critters with a feast of seafood.  Minnows and small mullet were trapped in tide pools allowing free access by birds and coons.  The roots of sections of marsh clumps usually covered by water allowed nutria a bit of fine dining.  Still, the happiest of the critters might have been the otters.  Clams and mollusks were much easier to grasp with the water gone.  Evidence of a massive feast was laid at the edge of the pier.  Shells of all kinds were literally stacked one upon the other where the otters feasted.  

  When the tide is low like it was today, I am always fascinated by what is unseen during higher tides.  There is something almost magical about being able to see beneath the murky waters of the Bayou.  Logs, shells, crabs, fish, trash discarded by not-so-nice folks, all of this lies beneath the surface only to be seen on days like today.  As I was peering into the water, one of those "aha" moments struck. So that was how I was losing all of the hooks!  A new log had been exposed by the constant beating of the waves.  A lot of fallen limbs and logs are usually covered by the soft mud but when currents swish over them, they, too are exposed.  A couple of new "hook snatchers" could be seen.  These will have to be lugged out and put on shore.  Each winter, a chore of clearing the area around the pier is a must.

  I could have stayed on the pier most of the afternoon just staring into the clear water but another round of brisk breezes caused me to be chilled.  Ms. Ez, the old dog, and I headed back to the warmth of the Little Bayou House.  Another log stoked the wood stove to warm both of us.  Life is good.

A New Generation of Thieves!

  For the past few years, we have had numerous critters stealing our crab bait.  For a while it seemed that the otters were doing the best job at the thievery but then the alligator came along and beat their best efforts.  The turtles added their jaws to the job and our traps took a beating.  Mark constructed new traps and improved the bait boxes. That solved the problem for a short bit but, then, our bait started disappearing again.  My word! What are we going to have to do to get a few crabs?

  Early this morning, Mark and I were on the pier enjoying a mug of coffee.  There is just something rather nice about this bit of calmness before the hectic day starts.  While we were sitting staring at the water, I noticed Ms. Ez's ears flick.  She heard something!  Not a lot gets by that old dog.  I turned just in time to see a large "break" in the water between us and the shoreline.  Wow!  That was a huge fish!  I was just about ready to tell Mark to get the fishing poles ready when I saw bubbles..lots of bubbles.  Bubbles making a beeline for one of the crab traps.  Uh oh!  I knew in an instant just what made that splash!

  
  Sure enough, the rope attached to the trap started to wiggle. Something...some critter...namely an otter was raiding the trap.  This guy was quite nervy!  We were sitting on the pier with a large dog and, yet, the otter thought breakfast should be served.  Hmmph!  I don't think so.  I eased close to the edge of the pier and gazed down into the murky water.  Aha!  I saw the otter's tail just beneath the surface...then lots more bubbles.  In just a matter of seconds, a head popped up right under the edge of the pier.  There was the little rascal!  

  This was one of the young pups that were born earlier this year. Obviously, Mama Otter had trained her little ones the fine art of stealing the crab bait and the little guy was just following her lead.  Still, I was amazed at how brazen the otter was.  The head bobbed back beneath the water and the trail of bubbles headed for the next trap!  Oh, my goodness!  At this rate, I will never get any crabs!  What can be done about an adorable otter youngster that wants breakfast at the expense of my crab traps?

Wastefulness!

We live in a "throwaway" society.  Most folks think nothing of tossing items instead of reusing them.  Also, most folks waste food on a daily basis. I have this thing about wastefulness.  Granddad used to always tell me "Better save that..you might need it one day!"   I passed this along to my kids and pushed them to not be wasteful.  To this day, it makes me cringe when I see things being tossed that might come in handy.

 It is a rare thing for one of Mother Nature's critters to be wasteful.  For most wild critters, food is hard to come by and is definitely not considered to be inedible just because it is a day or two old!  So it was a surprise when I found food left behind after some serious foraging.  On the pier, thirty or so nice, plump bull minnows were left to rot.  Some critter had caught more than it could eat and wasted the rest.  Why did the animal keep catching the little fish if its belly was already full?  Perhaps it was just the thrill of the catch.

I suspect the critter in question was none other than one of the otters that live in the marsh.  Time and time again, this otter will kill masses of little fish with no intention of eating them. My brother has told me of times when the critter will raid the bait wells of his boat and merely lay all of the minnows out to die.  The otter does not eat them, he just kills them.  I wonder if seeing the bull minnows trapped in the wells triggers some instinctual desire to catch the prey.  The same could be what caused the otter to catch the minnows left on the pier.  Low tide most likely trapped a good many minnows in small tide pools under the pier.  The otter had easy pickings so a frenzy occurred.

I was surprised that one of the many seagulls had not discovered this treasure trove of free food.  The minnows were all laid out on the pier in full view of the "not-so-picky-about-what-they-eat" gulls.  Granted by the time I found the minnows, they were rather, ummm, stiff but I do not think that would have bothered one of the gulls or even a raccoon.  They are not above eating someone else's leftovers!  Now the problem..how am I ever going to convince that otter to stop wasting food??

Telltale Signs!

My hike to the pier this evening was quite interesting.  Near the spot where the marsh ends and Bay begins, I found the telltale signs that I interrupted someone's meal.  The tide was low so areas that were flooded earlier, now were left high and dry.  It was on one of these mudflats that I spied some recently opened shells.  Some critter had supper!  I surveyed the conditions of the mud around the opened shells and found a few small footprints.  Just as I had expected my friend the otter had been cracking the shells.

The otters will eat most anything that they can catch or find including shellfish.  Today, the otter had dined upon mussels.  These mussels are found attached at the bases of marsh clumps throughout the Bayou. Most are about three inches in length although I have seen some at large as five inches.  The muddy brown exterior of the shell makes it blend well with its surroundings.  However, once the shell is opened and dried, the beautiful interior can be seen.  Although not as refined as "Mother of Pearl", this nacre has a lovely iridescent tinge.  Regardless of how pretty I think the shells are, I am quite sure that the otter was oblivious to the beauty.  It only saw the shells as housing a tidbit of food!

It amazes me at how deft the otters are at finding a meal.  They are not limited as are a lot of the Bayou critters.  These smart animals can catch a fish on the swim, crack shells of mussels and clams, make a meal out of carrion, snatch bugs from a reed and..open my crab trap doors to steal a fish or softshell crab!  Very rarely will an otter go hungry!

Tomorrow, I will try to retrieve the shells left behind by the otters.  These I can use in craft projects.  In a way, the otters were merely helping me.  In search of a meal, they ripped the mussels from their bed and cracked open the shells.  With their agile little "fingers", they cleaned the shells of any morsel. All I have to do is wash and dry the shells.  The nacre is mine for the using!  Thank you, Otter!

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!

Creatures from Inky Waters and Creatures made from Ink!

There was a lovely sunrise this morning!

I was up early this morning!  Too early!  At just about three o'clock, I was wide awake and ready for a cup of coffee!  So...out of bed and into the kitchen I went!  After downing the first mug, I thought that I might head to the pier.  Ms. Ez thought that I was a tad loco but she tagged along anyway.  She probably thought that she had better keep an eye on me as I was acting a bit out of the norm!  On the pier, it was dark!  The only light was from the three-quarter moon that was still directly overhead.  It was peaceful in an eerie sort of way!  Then..I got the bright idea that I should be fishing if I was on the pier so I started looking for minnows to use as bait.  This proved a bit difficult because the water was inky black..well, everything was inky black! Then I heard a little splash! Aha! Bait!  I tossed the net in the general direction of the splish-splash sound and to my surprise instead of minnows, something large..very large dove away from the net!  What was that!  The net was being tugged this way and that!  Then whatever it was, broke free. The wake from the critter moved quickly to the east for about ten feet.  Then..a head popped up out of the water!  An otter stared at me in disbelief and then had the nerve to start barking at me!  I guess he did not like being nearly entrapped in the netting!  (And, I hate to tell Mark this but there is a rather..ummm...large hole in the net!)  It seems that otters are quite adept at ripping out of a net!  I had to start giggling at the critter as he fussed and fussed at me!  All the while, Ms. Ez merely stood and watched!  Crazy dog!  I could have been pulled into the water by the "Fierce Creature of Inky Bayou Waters" and she would have not cared!  Instead of leaping into action and protecting me from all evil, she was eyeing the torn net as if there were minnows for her to eat!  Oh, my goodness!

After the encounter with the otter, I was not able to catch any fish.  My day was not starting off too well!  But at least I still had lots of day left to change all of that!  It was only five o'clock when I ventured back into the Little Bayou House.  I thought of the morning's event and decided that I needed to train Ezzy to be a more aggressive watchdog!  She should be strong..she should be valiant..she should be ferocious!  I turned to see her on her bed with her paw over her nose.  Nah...no use.  That dog will never be anything but a big, overgrown puppy!

Now for a bit of Halloween!  The mantel in the dining room is decorated in what I call "Implied Creep".  None of that gore stuff is in my house!  Again..I do not mind skeletons, skulls, ghosts and goblins but keep that blood and guts stuff away from me!  The "Implied Creep" gives the insinuation that something dire is about the place but is not sickening!  With a few black candle sticks, some creepy cloth, a string purple lights, bits of antique jewelry and a couple of old books and the mantel was starting to take shape!  The old, haunted house feel was starting to come about!  Think Abbot and Costello here...one of their escapades might take place in the Little Bayou House by the time it is fully decorated!

I did place one piece of whimsy on the mantel as the "unexpected piece".   Using the program "Paint" on the computer, I drew a spider and web.  Superimposed over this I typed "Along came a spider..".  This was another idea that I got while searching for decorating hints.  I thought "I can do this!" and I did!  This cute little picture was printed, framed and stuck on an easel atop some old books. Amazing what a little ink can do!  The mantel is finished!  October is fun!