At the end of 2017, I decided my mantra for 2018 would be “The Year of Positive Change”. Well, I’ve come to learn that “positive change” is a relative term, and in the wise words of those who came before me: “Be careful what you ask for”. But because I so firmly believe in my…
Idling slowly among the cypress knees in a shallow-draft boat, one can only imagine what the Maurepas Swamp would have looked like 100 years ago—before the Great Flood of 1927, before the leveeing of the Mississippi River, and before the virgin cypress were cut down and hauled out to be milled for house and boat…
The Swamp Next Door: Restoring Maurepas Swamp for Wildlife and Communities Written by Wendy Billiot for Louisiana Wildlife Federation Driving southeast from Baton Rouge on Interstate 10, many people may not realize they are driving through the second-largest contiguous coastal forest in Louisiana–the 140,000-acre Maurepas Swamp. Its southeastern boundary is near where Interstate 55 and…
Swamp Things: The Wild Side of Maurepas Swamp Written by Wendy Billiot for Louisiana Wildlife Federation The early morning sun rays streak through the wispy Spanish moss, casting long shimmers of light across the surface of the water. A prothonotary warbler sings high in the bald cypress while the great blue heron flaps to a…
Come on in and do some holiday baking with me. This is what’s going on the BW Holiday Kitchen today! These are kid-friendly and provide something to do together once school is out and it’s too cold or nasty to go outdoors and play. Place in festive holiday tins, and you’ve got a great gift…
Dolomedes tenebrosus derives its name from the Greek for “wily” and the Latin for “dark.” We call this three-inch spider, one of the largest in Louisiana, the dark fishing spider. The conniving arachnid can be found lurking in the swamps, on the trunks of the bald cypress and tupelo gum near the edge of the water,…