Adventure and nature photos on the Gulf of Mexico

Adventure and nature photos on the Gulf of Mexico . Let me take you on a tour of Gulf Coast, Mississippi. You probably know that the Mississippi Gulf Coast is covered with swamps and nature is abundant with animals and plants. The Gulf of Mexico is famous for it's oysters and shrimp and many other types of sea life. Many of the species you will only see in habitats surrounding area close to the coast. Mississippi has a large variety of animals and on this adventure you will see some of the diversity of these creature.

My former home was located in Pass Christian Isles, a country type atmosphere and our home was built several blocks fro the Gulf of Mexico. I will take you their to start our adventure. Although my home was taken by hurricane Katrina, many of the animals and plants have returned. On my property we have a few acres on this small island where the bayou snake along property lines and give easy access to the open water. Many people lived here before the storm and very few since. So the animals watch over my property and have well worn pathways through out the property.

In the tree are a number of herons, a large bird which remain relatively quiet for the most part. I seem to come across them sitting in their hidden resting areas and they usually scare the tar out of me as the fly off swooping past me too close for comfort. They are a large white bird with long legs and when they fly they straighten them straight back toward their tails. They stand about 3-4 feet in height and when the fly by they create a trail of wind behind themselves.

This is a pelican sitting and waiting for a fish to go by so he can get it for his supper. This one appears to be young, he doesn't have the scares that many of the older one do. Quite a few pelicans on the coast sit on the piers and the docks near the beach. You can see them swooping and diving into the water retrieving fish, shrimp and crabs.

Crabs and shrimp are a main stay for the animals as well as the humans on the Gulf of Mexico. It is easy to see them in the water when you stand on a pier. Some of the locals in the area make a habit of putting down crab traps for a continuous supply of crabs. The fishing industry on the Gulf of Mexico is the livelihood of many people in the deep south. Everyone's heard of Bubba Gump's Shrimp made popular by the movie Forrest Gump.

During the winter months near the Gulf of Mexico there is much more biodiversity since many birds make their way to the deep south for the season. We see quite a few species of water fowl such as Canadian geese, and vast variety of seagulls. Songbirds are also abundant as well as a huge variety of hummingbirds. Mississippi is a piney forest combined with swamp. Much of the Gulf of Mexico area is at or below sea level. Our homes are on pilings and here where I lived before Katrina now requires 23' tall one to build houses on top of them. That is one of the reason we moved to the other side of the Bay of St. Louis after the storm.

Squirrels are abundant and we have many pecan tree, ancient oaks, water oaks, and other tree which produce food for them. There are also many animals you really don't want to see on a nature walk here. Some of the include venomous snakes, alligators, possums, raccoons, and others that can get aggressive toward people. We don't feed the animals since it keeps them to close for comfort.

Once we get to the end of the nature walk adventure I was hoping we could see some dolphins playing near the beach. They are very friendly and sometimes when we swim in the gulf they come to investigate. My husband once had one look him eye to eye while we were swimming one day.

I think we are lucky to have nature so close to us and as a science teacher I have enjoyed seeing it daily. Some mornings when I would get up to go to work a raccoon mother and her babies would be playing in the tree in from of the house. Other times I have seen opossums with their babies looking for food.

Sometime in February armadillos come out for mating season. It seems as if it makes them suicidal since they all try to cross the road and end up on the side of the road and road kill. Also during that time of the year we have hatching of tree frogs. The little tiny kind with the sticky feet. One day when I came home they had come in through a cracked open window and covered my bedroom wall clinging with their sticky little feet.