Travels with Vicki and Barry: He's back....

He swoops down on a piling right next to us and pretends he's just looking around. But I know he has lyin' eyes.

Reader Karen ID-ed this guy as a Black-crowned Night Heron or, according to Erika, just a Night Heron. A nature website says it's a stocky and compact heron which tucks its neck into its body creating a hunchback look. Thus, the Bernie S. look-alike. (I'm so bad.)

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Catfish sting (and bite)

Last week a young kayaker paddled into the marina asking the dock master to call an ambulance. Seems he caught a catfish and it stung him, resulting in an anaphylaxis reaction. He was wheeled down the dock on a gurney with IV and oxygen.

So...........I thought I'd do a little research.

Catfish are nasty. They get their name from the whiskers. However, it's not the whiskers that sting. It's the fins, or spines on his back, that do the damage if you grab it the wrong way, which can cause tissue necrosis and gangrene requiring amputation.

Catfish can also bite, chomp down, and than go into an alligator roll, tearing your skin. Notice the frequent use of the word "can."

A slightly sadistic, slightly funny short video of person getting bitten by catfish. Warning: adult language at the end. (copy/paste)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZoQZWWwzLA