Garret's+Blog

Boom! Boom! “Get um girl! Get um!” is what ran through my head as I sat in what in the old duck blind. I had been sitting in the old bind with my dog Roxy and my old shot gun since 2:00am and I hadn’t seen a duck yet. I decided it was time to head home. Now 7:00am I garbed my stuff put the lead on the dog jumped out of the blind and started to walk the dock to get on the boat Pap got me for my birthday. I all ways wondered why pap had made the blind on the little island in the middle of the bayou. It was such a strange place for a blind. But I pushed the thought out of my head and made my way to the dock. I started the motor and headed home to get some sleep. It would be a while before we got home because the canal was drying up and fast so I had to go the long way around. The state was in a bad drought and the result was that all the wild life was being driven away and the water was going down fast. And that meant that all the hunting seasons were going to end almost a month before it would usually end. Just the thought of it made me shiver. As I came to the turn in the bayou the boat lurch forward and ran aground! I looked up and saw that in the bayou had dried up in the past 5 hours I had been gone! I reached into my pocket to get my cell phone. I flipped open the screen to see my phone was dead. Roxy started to whimper at the sight of the low water and my dead phone. I hoped out to investigate but it was no use the boat was completely bogged down in the mud. I tried to push it out but the mud was too thick. I had to think fast if I wanted to get home alive. I started to think of all the dangers in the swamp. Snakes, gators, and poison ivy. I decided to tie up the boat and start walking. With shot gun in hand and dog on lead I headed for the bank. It was hard enough to walk through the mud but the thick trees made it even harder. We stopped tried to rest after a long 3 hour walk but that was a mistake. As we sat down a 9foot alligator launched out of the water and tried to bite Roxy head off! I aimed my gun at the gators head and unloaded on it. With one last shot the gator died. We started to run away from the shore line. We walked a little more than 3 hours this time and sat down with more caution than before and I started to reload my gun. Once we got on the move again I looked at my watch to see it was 1:45pm. I had been gone for 11houres and 45 minutes! I wondered if my Pap and Ma were worded about me. After walking for a while we sat down not knowing that we were right on top of the deadliest snake in the swamp….the Coral snake! As Roxy sat down it launched off the ground bit her on the leg! I shot it and it died on the spot. Roxy was in pain.I couldn’t be leave I let Roxy get bit! I ran to her and saw that the rat got her good. I tied off Roxy’s wound as best as I could and tried to help her stand up but she was in too much pain so I made a split second decision and decided to carry her rest of the way. As I picked her up I sank into the mud knee deep. But we keep moving. It was now 4:45pm. The sun was getting lower in the sky. I started to walk to the bank to clean my face in the water. When I stuck my hands in the water and something bite my hand! It was a leech! God it burned like I pulled the little devil off my hand and crushed it like a grape and decided to leave my face the way it was, dirty. I picked up Roxy and started to walk again. It was now 6:00pm. We had to find shelter before darkness fell. I was so tired and hungry that I broke down and started to eat a grasshopper! It tasted like crap! It was now 8:50pm. And I was done for. I lay down and went to sleep not knowing the dangers that we would encounter. It was 1:43am. When I was woken by a howl and footsteps, I thought it was Roxy but she was sitting next to me. That’s when I saw it. It was a coyote! I garbed my gun but it was too late. It was coming straight at me! I had no time to aim so I just shot. Miss. This time I pointed the gun at his head. Boom! I got him! that was scary! But the good news was it scared Roxy in to standing up. That met that I didn’t have carry a 75pound dog any more. I was still shaken from the attack that I decided to start moving so we could cover more ground. Dang I was so cold but we had to keep moving. As we continued to walk I felt a drop of water fall on my hat, then another, that’s when I knew it was raining. At 4:00am it was coming down in buckets. The mud was getting deeper by the minute. It was horrible, the wind had picked up and thunder was booming in my ears, but we pressed on. We came to a tree that look as if it were going to fall at any second but with the rain in my face I couldn’t see it. That’s when it happed!! “Crack” the tree branch fell on my head! I was out cold. …….. When I woke up I saw that the bayou had risen over 3feet!! I look at my watch it was 11:30am! I had been knocked out for 7hours and 30min! I stood up and saw Roxy at my side. She had made it through the night. Then I heard something. It was a boat engine! I started to run to the water’s edge but it had risen so much that I was already there. As the boat approached I saw an older man in the boat maybe 50 or 60, Paps age! As it got closer the man yelled a name “Carter! Carter where are you!” My name was Carter! And the man in the boat was Pap! I yelled as loud as I could “Pap! Pap!” He saw me and drove the boat right to me and Roxy! And we knew it was all over! No more snakes, coyotes, gators, or falling tree branches! No more nothing! Pap jumped out of the boat and gave me a great big huge. And I know in his arms I was safe.
 * Blog #1**
 * September 28,2012**
 * First Six Weeks**
 * WildLife.**