Like a Sitting Duck

  Life on the Bayou can be perilous at times.  There are always predators on the prowl looking for an easy meal.  It is a wise move to take precaution and be alert.  I feel more at ease with the old dog on my hikes as one never knows what might be just around the bend.  Several times before PJ came to stay with us, I walked up on coyotes and once a bobcat.  I was fortunate that these potential predators were curious but not vicious.  They kept their distance as did I.  Plus, the alligators. cottonmouths and snapping turtles can give nasty bites given a chance so it just pays to be wary at all times.  

  Not all predators are easily evaded, though.  This afternoon, the tide was low..so low that the mudflats were fully exposed.  Tiny rivulets were all that connected one shallow tide pool to another.  More oft than not, these rivulets were formed by a snake that had slithered across the mudflats in search of a quick meal.  The shallow tide pools were mere puddles in the mud.  These were not fit for any living critter but were, indeed, housing thousands of minnows.  The small bull minnows had become trapped by the falling tide and did not make it to deeper water.  They were stranded.  

  The stranded minnows were like sitting ducks.  Any predator seeking that noontime meal had easy pickings.  While I was watching the minnows frantically trying to skim across the mud to the next puddle, a small garter snake came out of the marsh and wiggled its way to the first puddle.  It was no hard task for the garter snake to catch a minnow....then another...and another. Watching the garter snake feast made me think of how easy it would be for a heron or egret to eat its fill from the very same puddles.  Raccoons, rice rats, otters, turtles, birds snakes and crabs make use of the low tide to fill their bellies.  It is a matter of survival of the fittest.  Had the minnows not lingered in the shallows, they would have been able to reach deeper waters and safety.  Now they were sitting ducks that had nowhere to go.  I started to attempt a "Catch and Release" program but, then, thought better.  Yes, it was a sure death situation (by their own doing) for the bull minnows but the other critters were able to survive merely on this mistake.  The little garter snake soon had its fill and slithered into the marsh to rest....far away from predators!

I Caught One!

  Early this morning, I headed to the pier.  Knowing that a lot of chores awaited my attention, the hike would have to be cut short but the water called.  Near the pier on the mudflats, four rails were busy scooping up bull minnows that were trapped in the tide pools.  The birds hardly noticed my presence and kept on fishing even though I was a mere few feet from them.  

  One young bird was having a particularly tough time catching his fill of bull minnows.  Time after time, he would plunge his bill into the shallow water and come up empty.  The minnows would scatter in the now muddy water and escape being eaten.  After several tries without catching anything, the bird tried a new tactic. He forewent the minnows and went after the fiddler crabs.  The small crabs had buried themselves in the soft mud as protection against the cool night.  Our friendly rail had success in catching its meal with the first attempt.  The tiny crab was not giving up its fight.  It wriggled enough that the rail dropped it twice before snatching the crab and running to the harder mud near the marsh.  There, the bird could drop the crab and stab it. Once it was dead, the rail could pull it apart and devour it.

  Of the four birds that were working the mudflats, only the one was interested in the fiddler crabs.  The other three feasted upon fat bull minnows.  Perhaps the young bird needed a bit more tutoring on the fine art of spearfishing or perhaps it had a taste for crab.  He was pretty excited when he caught that first one!

The Fun One

  We can go plodding along through life and miss all of the fun or we can slide around, skid to a halt and have a blast.  I prefer the latter.  In my older years, the discovery was made that if you are going to do something, at least enjoy it.  Really delve into it.  Get involved in it.  Live it.  Life is too short and too uncertain to fret and worry.  Just jump in feet first and slide down that hill....just for the fun of it.

  Today while strolling about the hillside, Son and I came across otter tracks on the mudflats.  With the tide pool shallow, the critters decided to take to open water to catch breakfast.  While the entire mudflat was covered with the little footprints of those taking care of the business of catching their meal, one otter was obviously out to have a little fun.  The playful pup had been sliding in the mud on its belly.  Tracks to the water from the mudflats were slick from the otter's belly slides.  The others followed the same trail but were definitely walking as their tail left a track between their footsteps.  Mr. Fun Guy merely used the mud to his best advantage.

  What fun this otter must have had sliding about in that slick mud.  Then, he was off to take a bath in the open waters of the Bay before settling in to the morning chore of hunting the little mullet that were to be his breakfast.  The playful pup was enjoying the morning to its fullest.

  We should all strive to be more like the fun, little otter.  Wake up happy, enjoy life a little, then settle down to business.  If that business can be enjoyable, then, by all means, let it be!  Why not take a morning hike or, in the case of the otter, a morning mud slide each morning?  You just might feel better about the day.

You Can't See Me!

  Down by the pier, there is one spot in the marsh that was wallowed out by the folks that came to pound in the posts when we built the pier. These folks were doing a fine job of getting the long poles down in the mud until the driver of their machine got careless.  The huge trackhoe that he was driving slid off the skidder and into the marsh.  Instead of using his brain to figure out how to get the tractor out of the mire, he simply made matters worse by sloshing about the marsh.  Needless to say, by the time a wrecker came to haul the machine out of the mud, a gigantic hole was wallowed.  This was ten years or so ago but the hole still exists.  While, at first, it aggravated me, I soon came to realize that this hole was to our advantage.  It gives us a relatively safe place to secure the small skiff during storms. 

  This spot also gives critters an ideally protected place to rear young. The tide-pool fills with clean water with each rising tide and also is home to a number of different minnows. These minnows become food for many shore birds, otters, turtles and even snakes.  One snake, in particular, finds this area a perfect haven!  A small garter snake has called the wallowed out hole home for quite some time.  Dozens of baby snakes have been born here to let the saga continue.  The one snake, however, had become quite the steadfast friend.  We see this little one almost daily and its fear of us has diminished greatly.  Usually, it will just slither to one side or, as in the case yesterday, the snake will sink under water.  All that can be seen is its little head.  While it thought we could not see it, the snake kept a watchful eye on us.  

  It surprises me just how many folks are scared of snakes.  Yep, some are venomous and can inflict nasty wounds but most are harmless.  We are more threat to them than they are to us.  I can't say there is any snake around the Bayou that would go out of its way to "attack".  They are just not that way.  Most bites are caused by a defensive snake that is being attacked by someone trying to kill it.  Leave the snake alone and it almost assuredly will treat you the same way.  Unless a venomous snake happens to be trying to come inside the Little Bayou House, I am good.  If the snakes stay in the marsh or any place that is deemed "snaky", I am good.  If the snakes are doing what comes natural, I am good.  The little garter snake, while not venomous, was doing all the right things so it is more than welcome to stay in the wallowed out spot of the marsh.  I rather like the little critter.