Yesterday, Kat and I took our first official trip since beginning our RV adventure. Since it is Memorial Day weekend, we really did not want to go somewhere loaded with people. So, we drove 20 miles east of us to Hard Labor Creek State Park near Rutledge, Georgia. Kat and I really like this park as it is never crowded and plenty of nature trails, and 2 lakes for fishing, kayaking, swimming, etc. It also has a very nice campground with plenty of amenities, but we didn't stay there this time.
We took our 3 dogs (Nova, Ninja and Zorro) as we always do on hiking treks. Now, it is nice to have 3 dogs hiking with you ... unless you want to take nice photos. That can be challenging. The dogs have a different agenda then you do for the wildlife that you are trying to photograph. 2 of our dogs are Catahoula rescues which make amazing hunting dogs. In fact, Nova, the female doesn't only chase wildlife, she regularly catches it. She is extremely fast. Fast enough to catch and kill squirrels. She is 43 pounds of terror for wildlife and pure affection for her humans, think of Dino from the Flintstones. Zorro, her adopted younger brother is a larger version of the breed. At 70 + pounds, he is too slow to actually catch anything faster than a turtle, but he goes through the motions pretty well. Usually, he chases Nova who is chasing the critter. Thus, we keep them leashed when hiking. Our 3rd dog, Ninja is a long haired 12 year old Dachshund that believes he is Rotweiler when it comes to other animals and he is the one that usually instigates trouble.
So, when we came up on the family of Armadillos, we were amazingly able to keep all 3 dogs quiet and Kat got a couple of camera shots.
None of the shots were great and Armadillos aren't exactly exotic rare animals, but seeing a family in a burrow is not something you see every day.
Armadillo Facts:
The Armadillo found in the Southern United States is the Nine Banded Armadillo. Armadillo is a spanish word that means 'little armored one'.
Little known facts about armadillos:
- Armadillos are good swimmers and can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes
- Armadillos are the only creature known to have fire ants as part of their diet
- When startled, armadillos can jump 4 feet vertically, however, it would probably not be a good idea to try an experiment of eating fire ants to see if it gives you the ability to jump 4 feet. It is probably unrelated.
We did not see anything of note on the rest of the 3 mile hike accept for quiet and serene nature, but no complaints there.
I am sure that our pictures will improve over time as we
get more experience.
Until next time,
Kit
