Sea Cow II
Mrs. Ltd. and I were out for a paddle the other day when she pointed
to a bunch of algae-covered rocks a few feet off shore and said, in her
excited-about-nature way, "What's that?"
"That a bunch of rocks, honey," I said in my world-weary seen-it-all way. I had seen them too, in fact I dinged my paddleboard on those selfsame rocks one time. But Mrs. Ltd. is from South Dakota and everything in the ocean excites her so she wouldn't let it rest.
Her patient, long-suffering husband paddled closer and was about to make a smart remark when he saw that the largest rock was bobbing up and down like an old mossy tire. But it wasn't a tire, it was a small Sea Cow nudging up into the shallows with his fat little back pushed up in the air. His head was in a few inches of water, getting those tender morsels of seaweed apparently only available there.
When I got next to him, he backed out and went to Mrs. Ltd, sticking his nose up and taking a breath just as he got to her. Naturally she fell into a paroxysm of happiness. She lives for this stuff and, no denying, this was good stuff. He was tiny for a Manatee and didn't really look like he should be on his own. He let us scratch him and generally hang around and be bummed we didn't have a decent camera or even a phone. No PIT Head post for this, I thought. The strictures of the guild are very clear on photographic proof.
Back home an hour later Mrs. Ltd. was giving me a haircut and when she finished I went out to the little canal we're on to shake my lustrous locks over the water. As I was leaning and shaking our friend swam up, looking at me with his watery little eyes. We'd left him far behind--or so we thought--and the way back to our canal is no straight shot so I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or we were followed.
So happy reunion all around, and photos this time. Our neighbors came out and marveled at a little fellow like that on his own. More pictures.
Manatees need fresh water now and then so he tanked up while I held our hose. After a while I just left it running and let him hold it. The little camel sucked on it for over half an hour. Giving them fresh water is discouraged, of course, but not because it hurts them (even the wildlife gestapos admit it doesn't), but because it alters their 'natural' behavior. If only humans were part of the natural order.
"That a bunch of rocks, honey," I said in my world-weary seen-it-all way. I had seen them too, in fact I dinged my paddleboard on those selfsame rocks one time. But Mrs. Ltd. is from South Dakota and everything in the ocean excites her so she wouldn't let it rest.
Her patient, long-suffering husband paddled closer and was about to make a smart remark when he saw that the largest rock was bobbing up and down like an old mossy tire. But it wasn't a tire, it was a small Sea Cow nudging up into the shallows with his fat little back pushed up in the air. His head was in a few inches of water, getting those tender morsels of seaweed apparently only available there.
When I got next to him, he backed out and went to Mrs. Ltd, sticking his nose up and taking a breath just as he got to her. Naturally she fell into a paroxysm of happiness. She lives for this stuff and, no denying, this was good stuff. He was tiny for a Manatee and didn't really look like he should be on his own. He let us scratch him and generally hang around and be bummed we didn't have a decent camera or even a phone. No PIT Head post for this, I thought. The strictures of the guild are very clear on photographic proof.
Back home an hour later Mrs. Ltd. was giving me a haircut and when she finished I went out to the little canal we're on to shake my lustrous locks over the water. As I was leaning and shaking our friend swam up, looking at me with his watery little eyes. We'd left him far behind--or so we thought--and the way back to our canal is no straight shot so I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or we were followed.
So happy reunion all around, and photos this time. Our neighbors came out and marveled at a little fellow like that on his own. More pictures.
Manatees need fresh water now and then so he tanked up while I held our hose. After a while I just left it running and let him hold it. The little camel sucked on it for over half an hour. Giving them fresh water is discouraged, of course, but not because it hurts them (even the wildlife gestapos admit it doesn't), but because it alters their 'natural' behavior. If only humans were part of the natural order.
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