Hunger's End

(Photo by Clint Bowman) Small lake on north side of Okefenokee Swamp

Hunger’s End

The young Timucua warrior stood quietly looking out across the darkening waters of the little open lake situated near the edges of the great Okefenokee Swamp. Hunger was punishing his insides. It had been three days since he and his small family living here on Cowhouse Island had been able to find food. This early in the spring, the last year’s corn and beans had been eaten. Several wild fires and a long drought had pushed much of the local wildlife far away from their little island home. Yesterday’s rains had been a welcome relief and now the little body of water in front of him was almost filled again to its usual level.

Now, he stood watching hopefully. Soon, he saw a slither of movement in the nearby bordering grasses. A quick strike! Now the hidden banded water snake had a small perch and was trying to crawl into a safe spot in the grass to work at swallowing his prey. That was not the young man’s target, though he would willingly eat both if he had to do so. His eye was on the ripples slowly spreading across the lake’s surface as a juvenile alligator sensed the snake and fish struggle and began to zero in on the disturbance. This would bring enough meat for the whole family to eat!

Mimicking the hunting style of the great egrets he often watched, he slowly shifted his weight, careful not to alert the closing hunter, now the hunted.  Slowly but steadily the hungry alligator closed on his intended target. The young man tensed, gripping his hunting lance tightly. He knew from long experience where to strike. He would have to move swiftly. There would probably be only one clean opportunity. Suddenly, the alligator seemed to launch himself across the surface of the dark waters! As his jaws snapped shut on the tail of the unsuspecting snake, the warrior stabbed out and down into the top of the alligator’s head with enough force to drive the spear completely through the skull. However, his satisfaction was only momentary.

As he leapt forward to grip his quarry and lift it out of the boggy edge of the lake, another hunter made his presence known! During his ambush of the alligator, the young warrior had stood close beside a large gallberry bush which provided a great cover for his attack. It had also concealed the large hungry male bobcat which had also spotted the young alligator and had worked cautiously to get into a position to launch an attack… an attack which occurred almost simultaneously as that of the hungry young warrior’s. The young man was only a couple of steps ahead of the large cat, who at the last second, tried to pull back from this sudden possible threat. His scream, hisses, and spit seemed to be an explosion of sound and fury causing the young warrior to spin quickly around prepared to fight for his life! The two stood, barely a long spear length apart, frozen, each waiting for the other to show some sign of backing down….. or attacking.

The water snake continued to writhe in agony, attempting to back off his catch so he could face the threat of the alligator. Slowly, the big male cat glanced away from the young man to the struggling snake. As if some type of communication had occurred between man and beast, the big cat took three quick steps, grabbed up the snake with the perch still dangling for his mouth and was swiftly gone. The young man’s long held breath exploded from his burning lungs! Then, his legs shaking, he pulled the alligator to him. Grabbing the now dead creature by the head, he managed to pull his spear free and turned for home.

Soon, as he walked quickly along the path towards the family’s two palmetto covered dome shaped huts, the young man’s heart celebrated with joy that he was the one who was able to bring food home to the hungry family. A joyous chant begin to throb through his mind as he thought happily of the food animals which would soon be roaming the region near the little water filled lake. Soon hunger would be a thing of the past… once again.

Clint Bowman

May 2020