The Bullfrog, Bigfoot and the Beast on the Bayou

Buddy the Bullfrog’s heroic deed of distracting, (he didn’t do any serious damage to Water Wolf), was applauded throughout the Bayou D’Loutre valley. Buddy was safe. Bigfoot was safe. Truly, Clear Branch and the entire Bayou D’Loutre valley has but a word to say, - “good ridance!” As far as the Bayou wildlife knew, this Green River intruder known as Water Wolf as sunk out of sight, out of mind, and out of existence. This will be one to tell the grandchildren. It will never be accepted as fact, just old-fashioned folklore. And that’s al-right, just as long as the episode of terror is over! But wait! Sad to say, the episode is not over. I’ve got so really terrible news for you. Water Wolf is alive! He feigned death when he realized that Bigfoot was getting the best of him; Oh, why did that blasted frog have to startle him by jumping on his back. If only Water Wolk would have reacted differently. He could have shaken that little creature off his back in a flash. But it had all happened so fast. For now he will nurse his wound on the floor of the Bayou, but he will return. “I will return.” He will even the score with Bigfoot if it’s the last thing he ever does. Life was peaceful on Bayou D’Loutre one again. Fishermen slipping and sliding in their effort to reach the unloading ramp. Mayhaw pickers gathered the berries that were transformed into sweet jelly. Fishermen told their “fish stories” and now they had something else to talk about. Bigfoot and Water Wolf provided the fodder for their tall tales. The stories were stretched until it seemed they had reached there limit. Then, someone would come up with a different twist and off they would go. Rambling on and on, Buddy literally rolled, once even rolling off a log in laughter as he listened in unbelief. It was pure amusement to him as he knew the story. Water Wolf would bide his time for now. It was summer and he surmised that his “surprise” would be delivered in the fall. This would have given him time to heal. By fall the story of his death would have “died” down a bit. But oh, what a come back he will make. He will stalk Bigfoot if it’s to the end of the earth. No “man-life” creature is going to get away with deflating his pride and making him look weak and vulnerable. No sir. One particular point of interest must be put on record. Up until now Water Wolf had looked upon man as an enigma. He had never attacked man, never felt threatened by man, never feared man. Amused, yes. But nothing more. That is until now. Water Wolf view Bigfoot as a large man. Perhaps he recognized that Bigfoot was a different kind of man, but man he was. At least he thought so. This new understanding of man caused him to have mixed emotions about how he would deal with man in the future. Surely, nothing could never be the same. If Bigfoot was a threat, then all men were a threat to his survival. Would he declare a vendetta against all humans? No, he seemed to understand that such an attitude would jeopardize his freedom to remain in the Bayou D’Loutre uplands of Louisiana’s bayou system. No, he would not go on a killing spree. But until he could find and kill Bigfoot, he would put the fear of God into some random hunters in the fall. When duck season opened in late fall, Water Wolf slowly and steathily made his exit from the bayou he had come to love. It was on a Saturday morning that he heard the spinning wheels of a jeep coming down to clear branch. As Water Wolf knew where they would probably park, he lingered out in the woods and waited for them. Now this is important to know. Water Wolf, though he could break their necks and eat them with his powerful 42 razor sharp teeth, he won’t. If his own life is not threatened, his only intention is to scare the living daylights out of them. By scaring these hunters, the word will spread that what happened in the summer was no legend, but something real. More witnesses will avow that they saw him, when in fact, most of them did not. It’s all about propaganda. Fuel the fire! Spread the rumor! Perhaps this will “decrease the surplus population.” When the duck hunters had motored down the bayou about a mile, they exited the boat and entered their duck blind, a makeshift hut, opened in the front for them to extend their shotguns and shoot ducks when they came close to land in the water. Water Wolf could run with the speed of lightening. More importantly, he could swim at the speed of lightening as well. With the noise of the outboard motor roaring toward their destination Water Wolf is in hot pursuit, swimming until he realized they had stopped. So did he. He carefully climbed up the bank of the bayou several hundred yards away. He sneaked around behind them and tip-toed up behind their makeshift hut. Now Water Wolf was aware of the powerful shotguns that might well be trained on him if he made one mistake. He would make no mistakes this time. Note, he only want to scare the hunters, and scare them he will! The hunters were very quiet once they got situated in their hut. It’s just a matter of time before some ducks descend to a lower level in the air, searching for a good place to land. It wasn’t long before the hunters heard them coming. They gripped their shotguns tightly and with barrels protruding out of the front part of the hut, they take aim. Easy does it, Fred, says one hunter. A small flock of mallards descend and decide this is the place. As they come in low and just before landing in the water, - boom, boom boom; boom, boom, boom! Water Wolf sensing they must reload their shotguns realizes that this is his chance. He rips open the canvas on the back of the hut and let’s out a shrill cry. Totally surprised and scared to death, the hunters forget about the 2 ducks that awaited their retrieval in the water. Unnerved by the sight of Water Wolf, they scream loudly, “Lord help us, Lord help us.” Dropping their guns and shells they scramble to get into the boat. Clumsily they somehow make it into their boat and turn the ignition. Oh yes, it started! They wheel around in the water, churning the water into white foamy waves. And off to the races they go. They knew their mercury motor was powerful, but it had never been tested like it was going to be tested. When they reach the truck, they leave the boat at water’s edge, get in their pick-up and spin the wheels as they head back toward the road and safety. When they get to town they go immediately to the Union Parish Sheriff’s Department and tell their story. They are excited. They both speak at the same time, hoping the Sheriff’s Deputy will organize a party to go after this creature that everybody in town has heard about, but few believe. The Sheriff’s Deputy begins to laugh, others in his office join in the laughter. This angers the hunters. They say, “don’t you believe us?” At this the laughter subsides and the Deputy with a not of seriousness says, “why, sure boys, I’d like to see him myself,” with a veiled grin barely visible as he speaks. In the meantime Water Wolf had gone back into hiding at the bottom of the bayou in a place where he would never be found. As for now, Bigfoot will have to wait. In fact, Water Wolf would be hard pressed to find him as he is now constantly on the move. There was a sighting of Bigfoot in Tennessee the next spring. Maybe one day you will see him. Who would you rather see, Bigfoot or Water Wolf. Be careful when you are in the woods, you never know if they might be watching.