Fish Crow to the Rescue!

  Being tightly bound to the small gardens once again, I miss my bayou critter friends.  So far, none have ventured up to the gardens to do a check on me like six years ago when I had to crown myself "Queen of the Small Gardens".  Then, everything from turtles, snakes, raccoons, owls and hawks ventured into the gardens.  I cherished each of the visits and had some of the best "conversations" albeit one-sided.  I was just happy to have them nearby. 

  This go-round, someone new has taken to a thrice daily visit.  If I am in the back part of the gardens, a Fish Crow will perch itself on the peak of the house and call to me.  It watches my every move and will come down to accept peanuts from the fencepost.  If I am in the front gardens, it perches itself about twenty feet up on an old, dead oak branch. There it calls constantly until another handful of peanuts is proffered.  These are carefully placed on an upturned flowerpot on the arbor.  The bird happily accepts each gift.

  While most folks are not overly fond of crows, I have come to love this bird simply because it gives me the feeling of usefulness in an otherwise useless situation. The bird came to my rescue just when I needed it the most. Perhaps the bird senses that I am "on hold" from my daily routine until the body heals or perhaps it just wants those peanuts.  Either way, I am grateful that it has chosen to visit the Small Gardens.  

Added note...American Crows are much more abundant across the entire nation but Fish Crows are usually found coastally.  While their appearances are similar, their calls are distinctly different.  This is definitely a Fish Crow!

Saving the Polyphemus!

   Son often tells me that I interfere with nature too much.  According to him, each time I rescue a critter, I am depriving another.  Perhaps.  Maybe I am being a bit too pushy when I rescue skink eggs from tropical storm waters or save a frog from dehydration after being stuck in a bottle.  Maybe not.  I feel that every creature has a right to live and if I can help, then I should.

  He shook his head at me again yesterday and gave a long sigh.  I had "saved" yet another critter from certain death.  While out on my morning hike about the place, I noticed a cocoon on the ground.  The night before, we had a storm with copious rainfall and some pretty stiff winds.  Obviously, the cocoon fell during the storm.  At first glance, I thought the cocoon might be empty and perhaps the moth had emerged before the bad weather.  Picking up the cocoon, it was evident that the moth was still inside as there was no exit hole.  Hmmm?  Could it still be alive?  It definitely would not last long on the ground where any number of critters would be searching for an easy meal.  So...I held onto the cocoon for the duration of my walk.  

  About ten minutes later, an odd thing happened.  The cocoon started shaking!  Yay!  My moth friend was still alive!  Umm...now what do I do?  I pondered where to put my new friend.  The greenhouse!  Yes!  The cocoon could be propped among the plants and the moth would be safe!  I scurried in to put the thing in its new home....uhhh...maybe not.  As soon as I sat the cocoon down, I noticed frogs!  Frogs were everywhere!....and lizards!  Everywhere!  That's what I get for rescuing them and putting them in the greenhouse for the winter.  Nooo! They would surely eat the moth as soon as it emerged. Time to rethink this situation!

  So, a thin wire slipped into the broken cocoon hanger became the exact thing needed to save my friend!  Since these cocoons are usually found in either oak or hickory trees, I walked back to where I found it on the trail and wired it to a low hanging oak limb.  Whew!  Now do your thing, Moth Friend! 

  The moth that will emerge soon is a polyphemus moth.  This moth is a giant!  Its wingspread can be up to six inches!  Hopefully, a photograph of a lovely specimen will soon be had but, for now, there is only a brown, leathery cocoon. Yes, Son did ask if I checked the cocoon after the bad weather of today. (He does care!)  Nope, it still has not emerged.  

Grass Rescue

   Other than the obvious destruction that hurricanes bring to coastal cities, there is often long term effects that not too many folks even consider.  The high winds and storm surges can change the flora and fauna of an area.  After Hurricane Katrina, we had a massive influx of brown widow spiders that I had never noticed before here on the Bayou.  We had the occasional black widow but never any brown widow spiders.  Spiders are not the only creepy crawly critters that come riding in on debris.  Before Hurricane Camille, not many folks around here had ever seen an eastern lubber grasshopper.  We have had limpkins from Florida, strange fish from who knows where and even lizards from the islands.  Sometimes, the critters adapt to their new home and, sometimes, they move on in search of their own kind.

  Plants, on the other hand, really cannot "move on".  Once here, they stay...for better or worse.  One of the "hurricane transplants" to the Bayou is cordgrass.  This plant was brought to us by Hurricane Katrina, also.  I first noticed a few sprigs on the east side of the pier not long after that storm.  Now, it makes up about 30% of the marsh in this area and is spreading.  While I do not mind the looks of this newcomer, I do have a complaint.  It is displacing the needle grass that was originally here.  Great clumps of the needle grass are being washed away with each new storm as the roots of the cordgrass has disrupted the root systems of the needle grass.  With the past two storms (Zeta and Ida), I have been trying to restore the clumps that wash into the yard.  It is no easy task to drag the heavy (50 to 100lb) clumps back down to the water but I figure it is necessary as a preservation act.  Plus, the mussels that are attached to the root systems need that brackish water to live.  There is not much I can do to eliminate the cordgrass but perhaps I can save a bit of the needle grass.  

I Was Too Late

   I try to rescue as many critters as I can whether they be domesticated (throwaway pets) or wild.  I will go out of my way to gather up an injured or lost animal.  All of our pets have been ones that others have tossed out car windows or were going to kill because they did not want them any more.  As for wild critters, I just recently saved a cicada from ants but, in the past,  baby mockingbirds from dogs, a catfish from being stranded in a puddle and newborn skinks from flood waters.  The skinks were most likely my most dramatic rescue as that was done during the midst of a tropical storm.   All in all, rescuing critters is pretty satisfying.  You just feel good helping.

  This morning, however, that rescue did not happen.  As usual, I was up before dawn and down on the pier awaiting the sunrise.  As soon as the sky started to lighten in the east, a fluttering in the water caught my eye. Something was struggling to keep from drowning.  Oh, wow!  Time to drop the camera and help a friend in need.  Grabbing a long pole, I tried to gently lift a beautiful swallowtail butterfly from the water.  It took a few tries as the insect kept slipping off of the pole.  Finally, I had it!  Whew!  That was tricky.  

  The butterfly was hauled up to shore and placed on a pier pole that had washed in on the hurricane.  The sweet thing needed to dry out and rest a bit.  The warm sunshine would help it greatly.  Sad to say, the butterfly perished.  I was not on the pier soon enough to save it.  It obviously had met with some predator as its wings were tattered.  Poor thing!  I hate when rescues just do not work out as planned.  

Beautiful Music!

   After spending the morning in the kitchen making plum jam and the afternoon in the laundry room painting the trim work, I figured it was about time to make my escape from the confines of the Little Bayou House.  While I love my little house, I also love the freedom to roam the Bayou.  So, out I went, camera in hand and a need to feel the breeze on my face.  

  My hike did not get too far before I heard a weird "buzzing" or "rattling" sound.  The noise was quite loud.  It stopped me in my tracks.  What was that?  I slowly searched the ground which was rather difficult since I was on a mulched pathway in dappled light.  Ok, so something was in distress here and I could not find it.  Stop, listen...find.  Sure enough, I found.  A hapless cicada had fallen on the pathway and its wings were buzzing against the dry mulch.  The sound echoed making it much louder than I would have expected.  Reaching down, I scooped up the critter and attempted to put it on the arbor frame.  The cicada struggled to stay put.  Kerplop!  Down it went again.  Ok, so perhaps something was amiss with my friend.  Time to check the welfare of this fine creature.

  Sure enough, a fine silken web was wrapped around one wing.  Poor critter!  Bug in hand, I carefully removed the spiderweb from the wing and legs.  The cicada sat calmly in my hand while I worked.  Once it was clear, I held it back against the arbor and the creature climbed carefully up for a few inches before resting.  Goodness, it felt good to help!  This evening, the cicadas are calling loudly and I cannot help but smile thinking that one is surely my friend.  What beautiful music that is to hear!

Helping The World One Turtle At A Time!

  Earlier today, I was working in the garden and Son was remodeling the shed when suddenly his work got really quiet.  Hmm, either he was pondering something difficult or had gotten distracted.  It is not like him to just quit working in the middle of a project.  After a bit, the curiosity got the best of me and I went to check on him.  Yep, he had gotten distracted...by a box turtle.  When I came through the garden gate, he was sitting on the shed deck and the little turtle was on the ground just looking up at him.  "I think she is hungry, Mom." he said.  This translated to , "Go find something for me to feed her."  I did.

  In the kitchen, there just happened to be a couple of apples sitting on the table.  Turtles like apples!  A quick slice and I was back out the door.  Son gently laid the apple within inches of the turtle's nose and she readily tried to eat.  For some reason, that turtle could not get a bite off of the chunk so Son picked up the apple and broke it into tiny pieces.  As soon as he went to place a piece down, the turtle came forward and took it from his fingers.  He snickered a bit and got another piece.  Same thing.  The turtle came forward and gently took the piece.  She tried to eat it all but dropped some.  In the meantime, he had another piece in hand and she left the morsel on the ground for the one in his hand.  Several times, she would patiently wait just looking at him until he broke another piece. Son sat hand-feeding a turtle for ten minutes.  One thing that I noticed about the turtle was that she was very, very careful not to bite Son as she took the morsel.  She cared enough not to harm the very one helping her. 

  While this may not seem like a momentous event to most folks, I found it endearing and appropriate for the day.  It is Earth Day, after all!  Be kind, folks.  It only takes a moment and could make a big difference.  Let's heal our old world.  It sure needs every helping hand it can get.

She Is Feeling Better!

  A little over a week ago, a longtime friend of Son's came to the Bayou.  We kept our "distancing" by staying outside.  I was running the weed trimmer and Son was repairing the lawnmowers.  Chris sat near the Frog Pond where he could still talk with Son.  Occasionally, I would stop to add my two cents worth to the conversation but mostly I buzzed away with the trimmer.  At one pause, Chris made mention that there was a turtle in the pond.  Ok, so there was nothing unusual about that other than the fact that turtles have a hard time climbing back out.  The sides of the little pond are steep and slippery.  In reality, I forgot about the turtle.

  Fast forward until today.  Yep, that turtle was still in the pond.  She was weary from swimming as the only place she could rest was on the waterlilies.  When I first saw her, she was skittish and went underwater but the second time, the small turtle came right up to my hand and allowed me to lift her from her predicament.  I was a hero!   I had just rescued a Bayou Friend! 

  After setting the turtle on the ground, she soon disappeared.  A bit later, a rustling in the leaves told me that the little one was hunting for food.  She obviously was starving!  Ok, second rescue time.  Since we were near the compost, I found a quick meal.  Fresh pineapple was on the menu!  Who knew that turtles love pineapple!  She immediately started ripping off pieces to eat.  Well, second course needed to be served. I am probably the only one who will go scrounging for food for a critter. Her next course was dewberries!  After a handful of those, the turtle needed a nap so she buried herself under the cool leaves and stayed put for nigh on two hours.  Later, she came back to munch a bit more pineapple and a bit of raw chicken liver.  

   Even though a lapse in memory left her in the pond longer than needed, the little box turtle seemed highly appreciative of the rescue and meals.

Why the rescue?

  Hardhead Catfish are the bane to most fishermen down here.  They are not deemed fit to eat, have sharp, jagged spines and can grab a bait before any other fish gets a chance.  Local folks are just not overly fond of the fish.  So?  Why did I rescue one?  Well, why not?  The poor fish deserves a chance at life just as much any other critter.  

  The tale actually started yesterday when Son noticed a rather large catfish swimming in (what we call) the cut.  This is a small inlet that fills with high tide and empties with low.  When the tide in the Bay falls, the inlet becomes nothing more than mudflats.  It was high tide when the fish was noticed.  It had followed a school of little mullet down the long chute from the main bayou but then seemed to get lost in the tide pool.  Somehow, the fish survived low tide...probably by burying itself in the soft mud.  If it wallowed out a large enough space, perhaps the water seeped in.  It is amazing that a coon, fox or otter did not find the hapless fish and make supper of it.   This fish did survive.  Today round noon, I emptied some crab shells into the cut for the bull minnows and noticed our catfish becoming stuck again as the tide was falling.  It had not found its way back through the chute to the main bayou. Ok..so I felt really sorry for the fish.  It looked forlorn as it slowly pushed its way to an even shallower place.  I think it had just given up hope and was preparing to die.

  Nope!  Not going to happen as long as I had a scoop net!  I called Son and he came to help me rescue a catfish!  Between the two of us, we managed to shove the fish from the opposite side of the tide pool to be within reach of my scoop net.  Son pushed with a long pole and I stretched as far as I dared over the marsh.  I did not wish to topple into that mud!  Finally, the fish was in my net!!  Success!!  Almost.  Ugh!  I tried releasing the fish but could not. Being a catfish with those serrated horns, it became stuck in the net!  It took another couple of minutes of me holding the large catfish and telling it that we were trying to help and Son carefully trying to undo the net.  Finally!  The fish was released into the water at the end of the pier!  Away it swam giving us hope that it was going to survive after all it had experienced!  It sure gave Son and me a grand feeling.

Rollie Pollies Are Smart!

  I was pondering something today.  With all of the stress that has been suddenly added to my life (ailing family member and aging dog being the most prevalent), I figure I should seek some sort of refuge where I can escape now and again.  It does not necessarily have to be some exotic place or even some faraway place.  It just needs to be a "me" place where I can close myself off from the worries of the world for a few hours.  This would allow me to regroup and face dilemmas with a renewed energy.  I need the proverbial "she shed".  I really, really need this!  A place like that would be ideal as I could literally run and hide. The shed could come equipped with a sign that says something to the manner of "No One Allowed!"  It then occurred to me that some critters have built in "she sheds" where they escape from the reality facing them.

  Armadillos were the first critter that I thought of when I was thinking "portable she shed".  These critters can roll up in a little ball and escape whatever is not to their liking.  Of course, my mind wanders a lot so I started thinking how pill bugs are so like armadillos.  The ones around here even have reference to that in their big, ole fancy name Armadillidium Vulgare!  I have always (like most folks) just called them Rollie Pollies!  It is a much easier name to remember and, well, I need easy things to remember at my age.

  Rollie Pollies are actually crustaceans that have made the trek to land and decided that it suited them fine.  So..there they stayed.  They feast upon rotting vegetation and roam about the place unnoticed...at least until something wants to eat them.  Then, they roll up in a tiny ball hoping the predator will either lose interest and go away or have trouble eating them.  When things start to get a bit rough, I am going to roll up and hide! Sounds good.  Real good. 

Then There Is This One...

  Critters are relatively smart beings.  Although they do not attend any school other than the "School of Hard Knocks", they usually do pretty well at figuring out what works and what does not.  Most animals learn from experience and it only takes once before they have something in their heads as the right thing.  Most animals...then there are those that have to be smacked by life a dozen times before they get the notion that something may be amiss.  (I know a certain dog that is either as hardheaded as a brickbat or has trouble learning things.)  Anyway, all in all, animals are pretty good at learning survival techniques.

  Then there is this one...a box turtle.  This rascal has decided that the little concrete Frog Pond is the perfect place to get a drink.  This does not bother me.  Most animals on the Bayou prefer fresh water and will often come either to the pond or the creek.  The turtle, however, seems to manage to get stuck in the pond.  Not being able to climb up the slippery slope has been problematic from the get-go for the turtle.  For the past few years, I have had to weekly pull the turtle out of the pond.  Yes, turtles like water.  Yes, they can survive as long as there is some method to come ashore occasionally.  Box turtles are actually members of the family of pond turtles but do need a bit of shore time (especially to lay eggs).  To remedy the stuck turtle problem, I decided to put several large pieces of driftwood in the pond to make a bridge to outer edge.  My resident turtle has yet to figure out how to climb the logs.  Next step was to make a stairs out of concrete pads leading up a gentle slope to the edge.  The turtle could not navigate the two inch incline.  Perhaps a series of potted plants with varying heights would encourage our (knuckle-headed) friend to climb out of the pond.  None worked.  No matter what I tried, the turtle stayed in the water swimming round and round the edge.  The weekly retrievals continued.

  This afternoon, Mark and I spied the turtle looking rather waterlogged yet again.  She was exhausted and allowed me to hoist her out of the murky waters.  Water poured from her shell.  When finally on dry ground, she hustled underneath the orange tree to dry off a bit.  Still, I have a feeling that come next week, I will see that little head poking out between the waterlilies and I will, once again, have to scoop her out.  She just never learns...or maybe I do not.  She may just be lazy and waits for me to lift her from the water.  It has become a comedic ritual.

Sometimes I Do Not Like People!

  Sometimes, I just do not like people.  Not folks.  I like folks.  Folks are those kindhearted, generous, understanding ones in your life who try to do right by others.  People, on the other hand, are those who don't give a rat's tail about how they treat others.  I repeat...sometimes, I just do not like people.

  This afternoon while we were on the pier, I caught a catfish.  While there is nothing unusual about that, I quickly noticed that something was amiss.  The poor catfish was suffering.  Yep, we will use catfish as crab bait but we kill them quickly and do not let them suffer and we never kill anything needlessly.  But...this poor fish had been maltreated by somebody.  Obviously, someone caught the fish then decided that the fish needed to be on a stringer.  The clip was placed through the gill and out the mouth.  Granted, what happened next may have been purely by accident but somehow the catfish got away with the clip still attached.  

  Obviously, this happened some time ago as the clip was now embedded, not only in the fish's mouth but even in its side.  Where the clip pressed against the side of the fish, there was a great indentation.  The side of its mouth was bloody and sore from the clip rubbing against the skin.  With the clip snapped in the locked position, there was no way for the fish to ever escape this slow and very painful death.  

  Yeah, like I said earlier, we will kill a fish for food or for bait but never let one needlessly suffer.  My heart went out to that poor, old hardhead catfish.  The fish was unhooked and Mark carefully removed the clip.  He tried not to tear the fish's skin any more than necessary to remove the embedded clip. As we held the fish, it seemed to know that we were trying to help it.  Not once did it try to flip around and stab us with its sharp fins.  After a few photos, I gently let the fish back into the water.  It seemed mightily grateful for our efforts to help.  I can only imagine how much easier the catfish's life will be now. 

  It is people who do things like this that I do not like.  There was no earthly reason to stick that stupid clip into the fish.  My goodness!  If you wish to keep the fish, use a bucket or, at least, be careful not to release the fish with that horrid thing still attached.  Whoever did this rates right along up there with the wannabe fishermen who use 5 lb test line with a steel leader and huge cork.  I have caught many a fish with the rig still attached to them.  Pulling that cork around eventually kills the fish.  People....use commonsense!  No wonder I do not like you!  You cannot fix stupid.

Its Always A Good Day To Save A Life!

  Today was an all around good day here on the Bayou.  I was up long before dawn and managed to get the daily chores knocked out before the others were out of bed.  Then, just after daybreak, Mark and I headed to the pier.  We wanted to get in a little fishing early in the day.  Well, that morning fishing spread into an almost all day affair!  The fish were biting so we were not leaving!  Whenever we can get enough, we share the cleaned fish with a lot of the elderly folks in the neighborhood.  We have done this for years and have no plans to stop any time soon.  The morning's fishing went smoothly but during late afternoon things went a bit haywire. 

  I had just returned to the pier from the Little Bayou House, when I got the surprise of the day. While Mark was on the phone with Darling Daughter, Elizabeth, a seagull dove down next to the pier to retrieve a discarded bait.  When the bird tried to fly back up, it became quite entangled in my fishing line.  The more the poor bird struggled, the more it became tangled.  There was only one thing to do. I gently reeled the bird closer to the pier and reached down to grab it.  Ok, so those beautiful birds are a bit feisty!  Being terrified of the monster that had entrapped it, the seagull did the one thing that came natural.  It tried to peck me.  I managed to get the bird on the pier and Mark used a bit of quick thinking to come to my rescue.  He placed the small minnow net over the bird's head!  This allowed me to work on the bird without getting ripped to pieces by that sharp beak.  

  At first, the seagull was terrified but it settled down as soon as it realized that I was trying to help it.  I flipped the bird this way and that as I untangled the mess of line.  It took only a few moments before I had my new friend free from a certain death.  That sweet bird would live to see another day!

  I learned several things from this experience.  One..seagulls weigh practically nothing and two..birds do recognize kindness when it is offered.  This poor bird had already been through the mill.  I noticed when unwrapping the line that somehow, the bird had previously been injured.  Although it was completely healed, the bird was missing a foot.  Poor thing!  

  I am thankful for the fish we caught today.  I am thankful that we are able to share our bounty.  I am thankful that the bird was freed.  AND  I am thankful that while I was untangling the bird, no fish tried to take the bait that was on the end of that line!  Had I gotten a bite on the line that was tangled about the bird, the poor seagull would have been mangled.  But all is well that ends well and overall it was a grand day on the Bayou!

Happy Birthday, Mark!