Rip Currents, Red Flags and Game Cams!

Published on Monday, August 25, 2014 by Katherine

This weekend brought us red flags in Corolla. Red flags mean rip currents. REALLY REALLY BAD RIP CURRENTS. This means no swimming. A rip can take you even if you are knee deep. But for some, red flags mean, “I’m on vacation. The rules don’t apply to me.”

Lucky for these folks, Corolla Ocean Rescue gave them some skoolin before the ocean gave them a worse skoolin! I have nothing but respect for Corolla Ocean Rescue. Late August gives them fewer people to watch the beach. Saturday this poor woman couldn’t speed up and down the beach fast enough to get the rule breakers out of the water. Little did they know that her quick explanation about red flags and rips could have possibly saved their lives.

This gentleman saw great opportunity when the red flags flew. I wish I could see the images he captured!

And speaking of capturing images… my son got a game cam for his birthday. Saturday night we set it up with a lovely plate of cat food and oyster crabs as bait.

We learned a bit after viewing the images. Next weekend the camera needs to be placed higher and further away from the food. The game cam was so close to the critters that the flash completely obscured the wildlife.

wild cat

We don’t feed the critters normally. You don’t want to draw the animals any closer to the houses than they already get. But this area is a regular path for the foxes. Two special finds in a summer won’t change anything they are already doing.

I’ll share the pictures we get from our next attempt. I think height and distance will be the key to some really great pictures of the nighttime Corolla wildlife.

And speaking of pictures… I have so many “colorful” pictures for Friday’s photo challenge that I don’t know which ones to choose. So I’ll be sorting through a bunch this week, and hope to see you then!