John K. Flores: Famous groundhog doesn't have much to say about Louisiana

Several weeks ago, when that seer of seers, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow on Gobbler’s Knob, he predicted six more weeks of winter. Such a prognostication may be true for Pennsylvanians, but for Louisianans who haven’t felt the icy edge of cold since Christmas we say “Bah!” What does a groundhog know about winter along the Gulf Coast?

The average January high temperature in Louisiana is 61.8 degrees Fahrenheit and in February even warmer at 65.3 degrees, with lows both months in the 40s. Essentially, while Pennsylvanians are throwing snowballs in February, Louisianans are throwing Mardi Gras beads along parade routes.

In the outdoors it’s way different north to south. There may be a few brave souls in Pennsylvania out on some frozen lake or pond staring at a tip-up ice fishing, but down here in February the local bass
clubs are already holding their first weekend tournaments.

It’s the same with sac-a-lait. When water temperatures reach 55 degrees sac-a-lait start to spawn, typically in depths of 1 to 6 feet. And when that occurs, it typically gets exciting for Louisiana anglers across the state.

Something else you won’t likely see on Gobbler’s Knob during the first week of February is a plate full of frog legs. February is a good month to hunt frogs around these parts.

Much of the semi-tropical vegetation along bayou and canal banks is flat from the few winter frosts we did experience through the holidays. On those warmer nights in February, frogs come out of the marsh and in some cases it’s relatively easy to pick up good numbers before midnight.

In tidal areas during the month of February, quite often the water is at its lowest all year. Frogs will come out of the marsh and bury themselves in the mud along the edges of ponds and bayous. The only thing you see in the dark is their eyes shining when the light from your headlamp hits them.

Frogs hunted in the winter aren’t as spry as frogs hunted in the summer. To catch these mudflat frogs, I like to use a long marine antenna that’s seen its better days and fix a frog net to it. A marine antenna gives you up to 8 feet of additional reach. All you do is drop that ring over them and they’ll practically jump right in the net.

There’s still a full month of rabbit and squirrel hunting in February in Louisiana. There’s nothing like walking up a few rabbits in the marsh. Again, much of the vegetation is down and flat along bayou and canal banks. Rabbits tend to find protection from raptors, coyotes, and bobcats in the thickest cover they can find, which is usually briar patches and roseau thickets.

Walking up rabbits in the marsh isn’t for the faint of heart. When the temperature is in the mid 50s and 60s, you can get downright hot trying to work one out of the thickets. Maybe colder northern temperatures are an advantage in that regard, but I do recall hunting rabbits one time in the north country. I was so cold afterwards I stayed next to the fireplace the rest of the day when we got home.

In the south, squirrels do a lot of their foraging on the ground in February. When there’s danger on the ground, they skedaddle up a tree, but with no leaves they become easy targets.

This is a good time of year to take your dog squirrel hunting with you. The dog doesn’t need to be a pedigree Feist or Jack Russell either. If your pet dog is not gun shy and handles well, they’d love a romp in the woods that includes chasing a few squirrels up a tree.

Another difference between Pennsylvania and Louisiana is we sure do have a lot more birds at this time of year than they do. In fact, many of those Yankee birds spend their entire winter right here in Louisiana. Just last week, I spent a Sunday afternoon at Brownell Memorial Park & Carillon Tower doing a little birding.

To my surprise, one of the 19 species of birds I got to see was a Wilson’s Warbler. Males of this species are nearly all yellow and sport a striking black toupee.

They’re beautiful little rascals, but hard to keep up with as they flitter here and there beneath the undergrowth of the swampy marsh areas they prefer to forage.

No, down here along the Gulf Coast we may not have Punxsutawney Phil, but we do have Parish the nutria, who lives at the New Orleans Audubon Zoo. According to Parish, she says we’re going to have an early spring. So, let’s all enjoy it and throw some Mardi Gras beads this weekend!

John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.