Critters Defeat Campers

The swampy seacoast of Georgia is filled with critters like gators and snakes. It is also swarming with biting gnats, and crawling with deer and raccoon. “Look at this wonderful array of wildlife”, I said, as we settled into our site. “Let’s buy some flowers and put them in pots around the campsite. It will feel more like home”. So we did.

We were admiring our pretty set-up when it became crystal clear that we were only temporary tenants, the gnats were the landlords. We already had a screen-room, but it was not very tightly sealed, so we made an executive decision. It was time for a new, pop-up screen room that would provide better protection. It was easy to assemble and we were feeling smug about defeating those pesky proprietors, until they demonstrated that no screen had a small enough weave to stop them. Soon we had a brand-spanking, new shelter that was full of flying insects that were determined to feed on us. Gnats win.

Bugs aside, it was still really pretty, and summerlike outside. We would simply have to admire the new, potted flowers from inside the RV. No defeatist attitude here. This is when we discovered that we have been vagabonds for far too long. Somewhere in our travels we had forgotten that deer would love our new flowers even more that we did. It was a veritable salad bar for those four-legged foragers. We now have five hand-painted flower pots filled with stalks. Deer win.

This may not be a surprising revelation, but Gypsy is spoiled. She has had nothing but breed-and-age-specific Royal Canin food (at over $100/bag) since the day she came to live with us. We lug that food around in the back of the pick-up truck since it is too bulky to put inside the RV. Helpful Hint: It’s always best to completely close the truck-bed cover. Did you know that raccoons have a keen sense of smell, and that they are quite fond of expensive dog kibble? Raccoons win.

Still unwilling to raise the white flag of defeat, we headed away from wildlife and into the city of Savannah. It is such a walkable urban area. The squares and streets are park-like. The monuments and aging architecture provide seemingly endless living history lessons. The shopping and restaurant districts are absolutely bustling.

I love immersing myself in bygone eras and imagining what life was like for our forebearers. We visited Wormsloe, a colonial estate established in 1736 by a compatriot of James Oglethorpe.

We also spent at day at Fort McAllister, which had been attacked by ironclad ships during the civil war, but survived these bombardments because it was an earthen-work fort, rather than a masonry structure. The fort eventually fell, as it was the last stop on General Sherman’s March to the Sea.

The critters on Savage Island had a resounding 3-0 victory over the campers, but we are looking for a rematch at our next stop in Myrtle Beach.

Stay tuned…