Cooperative Living July 2022 - 31

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the backbreaking work, he promptly
decapitated her - and her headless
spirit still haunts the swamp today.
" If you go to the swamp after dark, "
Jamie says, " and turn off your car, honk
your horn three times and flash your
lights three times ... " A heron slicing
through our paddling party momentarily
interrupts her. " ... Big Lizz will appear,
holding her head, and your car won't
start back up. "
In the security and confidence of
broad daylight, we decide we'll probably
test the legend tonight.
DINNER OPTIONS
A white egret flies high above our
heads as we continue paddling. Jamie
tells us about the various wildlife that
thrives in the refuge, including muskrats,
which the locals eat. In reaction to our
surprise and revulsion, she admits she
can't understand the craving either,
but is adamant that people she knows
relish muskrat meat. We ask her what
it tastes like.
" It's hard to say what it tastes like, "
she tells us. " It's unique. It tastes like ...
muskrat. "
A little wind has kicked up in the
later part of the afternoon, and we strain
against the small waves it generates as
we make our way back to the harbor at
Blackwater Adventures. A little chop
smacks at the nose of my board as
I paddle, sending rivulets of water across
its surface, wetting my dogs' feet and
the bottom of my paddling bag.
Jamie tells us about the invasive
snakehead fish that have infiltrated the
Kayaker Ashley Unger
looks at an eagle's
nest during a guided
paddle with Blackwater
Adventures.
Great blue heron
White-tailed buck
Little Blackwater. They make a delicious
meal, so fishermen are eager to catch and
eat them. Two fishermen are out on the
water today, and one has caught a 22eat
them. Two fishermen are out on the
eat the
Two fishermen are out on the
inch snakehead. He opens a small tank
on the side of his kayak and holds it up
for us to see. He'll eat it for dinner
tomorrow.
After an effort much more strenuous
than anticipated, we arrive, somewhat
winded, at Blackwater Adventures.
Tonight, we will take a self-guided
driving tour ofthe Blackwater National
Wildlife Refuge and maybe try to
conjure Big Lizz.
A REFUGE DRIVE
As the afternoon wanes and the sun
begins to sink toward the horizon, we
pile back into the car for the 10-minute
drive to the wildlife refuge.We pay our
$3 vehicle entrance fee, and begin to
drive slowly along the paved, nearly
44-mile-mile route.out
I put the car in reverse when a bird
I don't recognize lands on a sturdy stalk
of nearby grass. It's black and gray and
orange, about the size of a robin. Ashley
uses her Audubon app to identify it:
probably a northern parula.
As we continue the drive, an indigo
bunting, some bluebirds and several
swallows flit across the road. Bald eagles
call to each other overhead, and we stop
the car to admire
two perched on
dead trees in the
middle of a grassy
marsh, their white
heads almost
glowing in the
evening sun.
On a wooded
part of the trail,
Ashley and
Stephanie exclaim
co-opliving.com
about something they see in the trees.
I slowly back the SUV up and see ...
a squirrel. Stephanie and Ashley are
convinced it's something else; it's so
much larger and lighter in color than
the squirrels we're used to at home.
Sarah and I are convinced they're
under the influence of the magic of this
place, their yearning to see something
novel making everything they see novel.
Later, we learn that Stephanie and
Ashley were right. It was a Delmarva
fox squirrel, not the run-of-the-mill,
gray squirrels we have at home.We see
l
at
stop sig
We
a few more before the drive is over.
When we reach the stop sign that
ov r.
th
signals the end ofour route, the sun is
low and the shadows are long, but we
all agree there's enough daylight to do
one more loop on the wildlife drive
oute, the sun is
but we
to
wildlife
before it closes at dusk.
And then, I say, maybe we can
"
"
ma
try to find Big Lizz. "
" But ifthe car won't start after
star
get home? "
k
up at
er
she appears, " Sarah says, " how will we
" Well, it'll start back up at some
s, " how will we
point, I'm sure, " I say, turning back into
the refuge.
urning
On our secondour
back nt
On our second tour, we enjo
our, we enjoy seeing
a snake zigzag across the road; several
monarch butterflies, wings aflame with
ruby sunlight; a great egret; a solitary
deer, blazing sorrel in the rosy sun; an
eastern kingbird; a lizard and a raccoon.
Th raccoon lumbers and lilts along
in front of our car briefly before stopping
in some grasses along the shoulder to
turn and look at us with his deep, black
eyes. A gray fox dashes across the
pavement, and trots along a mowed path
to our left, causing a fl rry of excitement
in our car.
It is almost dark when we leave the
refuge - the perfect time to go looking
for Big Lizz. But nobody mentions it,
and I don't bring it up. I'm too tired
and hungry.
Or at least that's what I tell myself. 
For more, visit blackwateradventuresmd.com
and fws.gov/refuge/blackwater.
July 2022 ● Cooperative Living ●
29
we
"
driv
re
PHOTOS COURTESY SARAH
BLANCHARD PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO COURTESY SARAH BLANCHARD PHOTOGRAPHY
http://www.blackwateradventuresmd.com http://www.fws.gov/refuge/blackwater http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living July 2022

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