A Southern Hunting Tradition : The Squirrel

Being from the left coast, I've come to love the diversity of the south and its little known traditions.  I have discovered that each southern state has a unique heritage and that one label does not fit all.   One of the things that I have come to love about the south is squirrel hunting.  It's a great way to get outdoors, especially after deer season when for me cabin fever sets in.

Where I'm originally from, most people view the squirrel as some kind of backyard lawn pet.  Here in most parts of Appalachia and other parts of the south, they are considered a valuable source of protein.   There is a vibrant southern tradition of hunting and eating these tree living furballs, and of course, they taste like chicken.  You must understand that squirrel hunting was once a part of survival in the rural south.  In the past, a squirrel stew might have been the only thing on the dinner table.

Hunting with dogs is also an old southern tradition.  Running around after these dogs chasing squirrels is a whole lot of fun.  I meet up with some good friends that I have met through deer hunting near my farm in Houston County, Tennessee.  They grew up squirrel hunting; it is in their blood, part of their DNA.  They have squirrel dogs that tree these little rascals.

So on a cloudy winter morning, we let the dog loose, and we wait for the bark of a tree'd squirrel.   The dogs have tracking devices on them.  You can tell by the bark that they have seen a squirrel and more than likely chased it into a tree.  Sometimes they're there, and sometimes they're not.  They can be hard to see in a tree against a grey cloudy sky like today.

We make our way on four-wheelers towards the sound of the barking. Once we get there, it's easy to determine whether the squirrels have been chased into a hole.  So if we can't spot a squirrel, it's rinse and repeat.  We did get a Red Fox squirrel, which is a larger cousin of the common gray squirrel.

Today was a hard day of hunting hunt we shot 5 and because of overcast skies, we probably lost more than usual.  It was a fun time going after those tree rats, its a great way to shake off the wintertime doldrums.  Now it's off to make some squirrel and shrimp gumbo, cajun style.

Avery Island: Tabasco an Iconic American Brand

One of the highlights during our trips to the Southern Louisiana bayou was the Tabasco Plant and Jungle Gardens on Avery Island.  Tabasco, an American Icon in the hot sauce trade, has been produced here since 1868.  Tabasco is one of the few American brands that supply the Queen of England by royal appointment.  Located in the Bayou of lower Lousiana west of New Orleans, it seems to be a place frozen in time.

Crossing on to the Island on a small wooden bridge gives you the feeling of stepping back into a different world.  The trees covered in Spanish moss and the brick Tabasco Hot sauce factory that could be from the civil war, it gives you the ghostly sensation of past unwritten history.

Their free tour gives you the Tabasco story; you even get to take a walk through the production lines.   It is still a family-owned business.   There are 136 shareholders with an estimated worth of over 1 billion dollars.  If you do the math, each man, woman, and child family member is worth about 7.5 million dollars. 

Tabasco is named after the pepper that is used in the hot sauce. It originated in the state of Tabasco in Mexico.   All the peppers used in the sauce at one time were grown on Avery Island.  Today the plants on the Island are used for seeds stock for the peppers grown in South and Central America.  This guarantees a constant flow of peppers to be processed at the factory.

An additional bonus was the Jungle Gardens, which is also on the Island.  It was started by Edward Avery McIlhenny, the second son of Edmund McIlhenny, the Tabasco founder.  The gardens span 170 acres of semitropical foliage.   Along with the gardens, you will see alligators and Egrets.  It is a beautiful place, with a collection of Camellias that is one of the best in the Nation.  It also contains a rare Buda Statue from 10th Century China that was purchase by Mr. McIlhenny in 1936.

Avery Island is not an island in the traditional sense.  It really is just a hill in the swamp in the middle of the Bayou.   There is an Egret breeding ground that was started with a single pair when they were endangered.  Now the flock runs into the thousands.  Avery Island is one of those unique American sites that must be seen.

Riding the Cajun Riviera: The Creole Nature Trail

When you go somewhere, do you ever feel like you have unfinished business there?  That you just didn't see enough of the sites, ride enough of the roads, or eat enough of the good food.  I felt like this after riding the Cajun Riveria.  This stretch of beach lies between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Port Authur, Texas.  What did we like most about it?  It's not a tourist destination yet!!! That it is relatively desolate and remote.  To me, motorcycles are meant to be here.

You're not going to find Ripley's Believe it or not here, but you will find some great motorcycle roads.  Some roads with no traffic running along the ocean.  In the bayous and swamps, some high speed turns that will take your breath away. We left Lumberton, Texas,, on a foggy 62-degree morning headed to the Cajun Rivera. After a quick stop at the Big Thicket National Preserve, we ride through Port Arthur we take Texas 82 towards Cameron and Holly Beach. We are riding the Creole Nature Trail. That is a circular loop along the beach and through the Bayous of Southern Louisiana.

As we cross the Sabine Lake Causeway Bridge, you can see the Louisiana Marshland and the Ocean in the distance. It stretches to the horizon. Most of Louisiana south of Interstate 10 is one big swamp, along the coast is a strip of land that forms partial Barrier Islands Running along the ocean on Highway 82, which is mostly a straight road with some High Speed turns. A right road with almost no traffic with swamp on one side and the Ocean on the other traveling 70MPH. It’s a unique experience.

We ride through the metropolis of Holly Beach, which in reality, is a sleepy little town on the beach with just a few beach homes and an RV park.  We stop in Cameron for lunch at the Anchor Up Grill for the world-famous Kick-in Shrimp Po-boy. It was worth the 140-mile ride one way. After lunch, we catch the ferry and head back up the bayou on Louisiana 27, then it’s Interstate 10 for a quick trip back to Lumberton.  These are some magnificent high-speed roads with highspeed turns running through the bayous.  Not a soul for miles except the occasional lake fisherman parked on an access road into the swamp.  

I wish we could spend more time riding more of these roads, but the weather is getting ready to turn, plus we are running out of time. So maybe on the next trip.  So there is unfinished business here, I just hope they don't run out of Oysters before we get back.