The Giant Bayou Sloth

   Sloths are most notably known for their slow movements and the constant "smile".  The smile is more of a coloration thing but it does make the critter look incredibly happy.  They are also a bit of a curiosity because most are green.  There are just not a lot of green-furred critters in the world and that makes the sloths of the wild quite interesting.  A little lesson here...sloths are green due to algae growing on their fur.  They live in such a warm, humid place that the algae grows on anything that sits still long enough.  Well, sloths literally cannot outrun algae so they become covered with the stuff and appear green.  Nice!

  Well, this morning, Son and I found the Giant Bayou Sloth.  True to sloth fashion, it was not moving and was green due to algae.  To be honest, though, I could not tell you if our sloth is entirely happy or not.  There were no facial features to be found.  

  As Son was bailing out the small skiff, I was poking around in the marshes.  It was in the shallows that I came across a huge mass of algae covered coonstail (an invasive aquatic plant).  Ugh!  That stuff nigh on clogged the Bayou and even the Bay last summer and is making a comeback with the hot weather.  I mentioned it to Son who looked up and noticed something odd about my discovery.  "Looks more like a quadrupedal covered with algae."  This man of few words went back to his chore.  Hmm...yep.  Well, indeed, it did.  It is hard to tell by the photograph but the outline of a large, four-legged critter could be seen.  The fluffy plants had grown in the perfect shape of a sloth!  The algae covered the plants and made the underlying leaves look a lot like long fur.  I had a Giant Bayou Sloth in all its slow-moving, algae-covered glory!  Wonder where its smile went?  Maybe sloths do not like being stuck in marshes.

  The coonstail plants and the green algae will soon fill the entire waterways once again.  Wildlife will struggle simply due to the stupidity of people.  The plants were dumped into the Bay by folks clearing ponds and those and the algae are being fed by runoff of fertilizer from yards.  People never think about the consequences the natural flora and fauna pay for their quest of the perfect lawn.  The price we all pay.  

Welcome to Puddle Pond

  Four weeks....just four weeks ago, I was in the midst of creating Pebble Creek and renovating Puddle Pond.  These two features of the yard make use of the drains to capture water from the rooftop.  Instead of letting the runoff wash gullies in the yard, I dug a trench, laid in pond lining and filled it with gravel.  This I called Pebble Creek.  With the help of a pond pump located in Puddle Pond and a long hose running the length of the "creek" water is recycled to make it appear as if the creek is actually running.  Along about halfway, a small foot bridge crosses Pebble Creek and allows for passage into the Small Gardens.  Since falling on bad health just as I completed Pebble Creek, this area has become my new domain.  It is where I must do my healing and I am fully appreciative of the hard work that went in to creating my special place.  I had pushed myself to create the space so I figure that I have every right to call myself Queen of the Small Gardens.  It was my doing and now I shall take refuge here.  

  While basking in the sunshine this morning, I saw that the frogs and toads that visit the gardens nightly have been busy.  Hundreds upon hundreds of tiny tadpoles are in Puddle Pond.  This makes me happy as I know that the project can be considered a success if the critters feel at home in it.  Most folks would have dumped some fancy goldfish or tropical fish in the little pond but it suits me fine to have local critters here.  The frogs are just as adorable and they help out in the gardens by eating a lot of unwanted pests.

  Puddle Pond is a delightful place to watch my little tadpoles as they grow and change to froglets!  It is only about 18 inches deep so the clear waters allow me to view the babies with ease.  Ahh, a bit of hard work has paid off.  I feel rewarded.

The Bayou Runs Orange

  Years ago after Hurricane Katrina washed huge ruts in our hillside, we were told that refilling them was a no-go.  "Any fill dirt would only wash down into the Bayou and Bay.  It would pollute the area and be detrimental to wildlife."  All fill dirt had to be kept "1000" feet from the marsh edge to assure that we would not muddy up the Bay.  Sounded rather stupid, if you ask me.  So, we had to find other means to level the ruts left by debris and tidal surge.  It was hard but Mark scraped things level with the tractor and I moved dirt around with a bucket and shovel. Finally. we succeeded in getting the hillside somewhat even and after the grass grew over the spots, no one was the wiser.  

  Now comes a problem.  With all of the torrential rainstorms that we have had lately, runoff from nearby construction sites is filling the Bayou and spilling out into the Bay with each change of tide.  Today when I meandered down to the pier between rains, I could see a vast splotch of orange water rushing out of the Bayou.  This coloring was from the red clay that was hauled into a site across the way.  New houses are being built and red clay seems to be the foundation of choice on which to pour a concrete slab.  Dump trucks haul the mountains of clay to the homesite and there it sits while homeowners wait on the construction crews to build their house. The crews are waylaid by the rains but, in the meantime, the rains wait on no one.  The downpours pelt the mounds of clay and eat away at the mountains.  The runoff spills down the hillside and into my Bayou.  My Bayou runs orange.

  All of this is in the name of progress.  While I do not begrudge anyone the right to build a home, I do find it strange that this runoff is not considered "pollution" if my meager fill dirt was.  Soon my Bayou will be nothing more than a bog.  The red clay is fast filling the low spots and making the water flow less and less.  Beyond the road where the creek that feeds the Bayou originates, things have vastly changed and not for the better.  The flowing creek has been filled to make space for more houses. That creek is nothing more than a small trickle now compared to what it was when I was a kid.  Soon, my critters will have to find new homes....and perhaps I will have to do the same.  Sad.