F is for the Fur and Wildlife Festival and the Rayne Frog Festival

Continuing on with the A to Z Blogging Challenge, today's letter is F, which takes us to Cameron Parish for the Fur and Wildlife Festival. I have never been to this festival, but I've read about it. They have competitions for muskrat and nutria skinning, oyster shucking, trap shooting, duck and goose calling, and dog trials (the dogs that fetch the ducks out of the water after you shoot them). There's music, carnival rides, and food, including a gumbo cook-off.

The festival was born in 1955 when a Mr. Leon Hebert (pronounced A-bear) skinned 5 muskrats in 53 seconds and won the Louisiana title. He placed fifth in the nation that year.

You'll have to wait until next year for this one, as it is held every January. In 2014, I had a guest blogger post a report from this festival. Read her account and see her fantastic photos here. For more information on the festival, see their link here.



Next we go to Rayne, Louisiana, the "Frog Capital of the World." Naturally, they have a festival to celebrate the status. Competitions include frog racing, frog jumping, and frogs in costume. (There's something to see!) Pageants and parades are always a big part of these festivals, as well. For more information of the Frog Fest, see their website here.



I've never been to this festival either, but Rayne is an easy stop off I-10, and we did visit the town once. I was enchanted by the many and varied frog murals throughout the town. Read my post and see photos of the murals here. I love the way the frog looks like he is stepping off the wall in the mural below.



Tomorrow we'll visit the Great Acadian Awakening and a Gumbo Fest!

In Search of the Pink Dolphin

I belong to a terrific club called the Pelican Paddlers. We're a kayaking group really, but occasionally, some folks with canoes come along. Early this morning, we went south to Cameron and put in at the ship channel by the ferry. Dolphins love to hang out around there. And I wanted to see some. Specifically, I wanted to see the 'pink dolphin.' Several years ago, boaters in that area started sighting this rare albino. I know a few people who have seen it. I've heard it is one of only a few known albino dolphins in the world.

We paddled around Monkey Island. I asked why they call it that. No one knew.

We saw pogie boats, which are blue-bottomed vessels that catch a type of fish called menhaden. These fish, also called pogies, are rich in oil, and are processed for industrial lubricants. The waste is used for fertilizer. If you drive past a pogie plant, it smells really bad. I learned all this today.

We also saw dozens of shrimp boats.

Can you guess what this boat with the tall black yellow-tipped poles is for?

It goes out into the Gulf and the poles go straight down to the seabed. It’s a platform. Probably something to do with oil rigging. I learned that today, too.

Yes, we did see some dolphins. They were a good distance from us (I was hoping one would come right beside my boat and I could pet it -- other kayakers say they've experienced that -- but it didn't happen) and we did not see a lot of them. It's also very difficult to get a photo of them. If you look closely, you can see a fin here.

And no, sadly, we did not see the pink dolphin. Not this time.

Do you have a kayak or an interest in paddling? Come join us! We paddle every Wednesday evening during DST at 6:00 p.m. from the I-210 beach kayak put-in. And occasionally on Saturday mornings.

Mother's Day 2012 at the Pintail Wildlife Drive

So, it’s Mother's Day. The one day of the year I am guaranteed to do most anything I want to do. Today was a beautiful day, so naturally, I wanted to be outdoors. I wanted to explore a park I’ve never been to before. I wanted to walk. I wanted to find wildflowers. I settled on the Pintail Wildlife Drive, a 3-mile car path through marsh grass in Cameron Parish. I’ve been there before, several times. But they recently added a boardwalk, and I hadn’t been there since its completion. Pintail is part of the scenic Creole Nature Trail.

We saw plenty of wildflowers.

Pintail is a great place to bird watch.

My favorite wading bird is the roseate spoonbill. I was thrilled to see a couple spoonbills at Pintail today!

It’s a great place to spy alligators, too! We initially kept tabs on how many we saw, but quickly lost count.

How did you spend your Mother's Day?