Alligator Bait

We live across from a fresh water pond located adjacent to a several hundred acres of good old Carolina Low Country swamp; the very same swamp that gave Revolutionary hero Francis 'Swamp Fox' Marion (pictured below) his cover for 'revolutionary' guerrilla war tactics and many Colonial victories over a far superior British fighting force. The battle of Parkers Ferry, which lead to the hanging of colonial sympathizer Issac Hayne, was fought just down the road from our home. (Information on Hayne can be found at http://south-carolina-plantations.com/colleton/hayne-hall.html)

With any swamp comes an array of wildlife. We regularly see osprey, bald eagles, deer, wild hogs, foxes, alligators, etc. And alligators are welcome guests as long as they do not make neighborhood pets a part of their daily diet. However, every once and a while one of the alligators gets aggressive and has to go.

This 7 ft. gator did not hesitate to approach the wrangler when he offered food. The gator had lost all fear of humans. Not good. Not good at all.

The alligator wrangler captured the gator, taped the mouth shut, taped a clothe over the eyes, tied the legs, and lifted it into the back of his pick up truck. Easy as pie.

After the alligator was calm and secured, the wrangler allowed the kids and the gathering crowd to touch and pet the gator while he answered many questions and told alligator jokes. This was not the first group of onlookers he has entertained.

A true professional can make even the most dangerous tasks look easy.

Sea Creatures and Guests

 Our fishing vessel, Dirt Claw'd, is expanding its crew, or at least its guest log. We have been blessed with a number of guests out to fellowship with friends and work for food. Dirt Claw'd has a full docket of guests for the next few weeks with more folks interested in coming along for the adventure. Thus far, all have had fun with surprisingly little sea sickness.


Of course proper deck behavior is an issue, as Casey threatens to chomp down on shrimp while the kids work to sort shrimp.







Sea creatures are always welcome aboard.  A shovel nosed shark found his way on to the deck (pictured left), as well as a few stingray and a dog fish, which are all in the shark family. As an interesting note, dog fish are a popular food treat in Japan. Fisherman here on the East Coast would pack dog fish in wet straw and ship them all the way to Japan. And these hardy little survivors would still be alive after weeks of travel. Amazing!


Every once in a while we pull up a particularly fierce critter like this little puffer fish. He sucked in a pile of water and blew himself up like the 'incrediable hulk' of girth. All aboard were terrified of his imposing roundness. In real life they do this expansion trick to keep larger fish from being able to swallow them.

As I have grow older, I find myself performing this same girth enlarging trick as the puffer. It is going to take a pretty big fish to swallow this man's belly. In fact, I think I'll go into the kitchen and expand my anti-Jonah physique. You can never be too safe at sea !

Courageous Kids

One day a year, our boat club shuts down the ramp and sponsors a carnival for families with kids battling cancer. The organization is called 'Courageous Kids.'  Members of the club, along with local law enforcement, news crews, pony rides, jump castles, and many others come together to create a day when these families can forget about the struggle and just have fun.

Prior to the event starting, our gang got a chance to ride on a air boat. Which if you have never done ... well, don't miss the chance if the opportunity arises.






The SCK's volunteered to get dunked in the dunk tank and prepared for duty. The funny thing is, is that when I came back around, the SCK's were throwing the balls while the 'Courageous Kids' gang had formed a long line to get dunked! Whatever!




It is all about letting them have a day of fun.

As a family, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve others in the name of Jesus.

There's Always Something New

The shrimp are getting bigger as the season progresses. We are definitely looking forward to cooler weather so the jellyfish will 'go away' and quit stinging us. But each time we go out we get more efficient and catch more shrimp. And catching shrimp is ultimately the goal. But along the way we will have fun and discover new creatures.

Baby sand sharks made an appearance. You will find when you start catching sharks in the net, it is time to move to another area. They will scatter the shrimp and make you work twice as hard for the same volume. But these little guys weren't much bigger than the shrimp. So they didn't seem to disrupt the count.

Mantis shrimp are an interesting creature. Fred Dockery, a local fisherman and great source of fishery information,  told us that he used to catch mantis shrimp off the New England coast 12"-18" in length. The tail contains the eat'n meat. Much like a rock shrimp or ( for our Cajun folks ) craw fish. I'm not sure if it is proper etiquette to suck the heads of mantis shrimp the way folks from the Bayou suck the heads of craw fish. So I will leave that decision up to the professional head suckers.

And then there is Mr. Stingray !  We have been catching a good many small stingrays but this was the first one large enough to consider saving for supper. About 30 minutes after this photo was taken we pulled up one about twice this size. And first mate, Momma, sauteed the filleted wings in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Good Eats !

 AnnahBelle has been going out with me more than anyone and she loves trawling. Because she is a natural born biologist. A real life Elly May Clampett. And bless her heart ... she can put a whoop'n the boys too. Momma is working with her on the lady skills.  I love that little girl's guts!!!