Crawfish Week Brings a Gator to Tunica!

By Travel Tunica on Wednesday April 14, 2010

outdoors, rivergate-festival

Ahhh….Spring has sprung here in the Mississippi Delta.  This week in Tunica is aptly called “Crawfish Week” by my family and myself.  The annual Rivergate Festival is being held this Thursday, Friday and Saturday in downtown Tunica, with over 15,000 pounds of mudbugs ready for the taking!  “Suck the heads and eat the tails”….that’s what my seven-year-old daughter says!

New to this year’s festival is an early morning bike race.  So, with visions of Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France, I set out early Sunday morning to log in a few miles and get ready for the Tour de Town of Tunica!  Little did I realize that this practice session would be a lesson on the diversity the great Mississippi Delta has to offer in Tunica.

Around mile marker 11, and on the banks of Tunica’s Beaver Dam made famous by the hunting tales of legendary hunter and outdoor writer Nash Buckingham, it was a nice sight to see a car and two people on the horizon.  Huffing and puffing, pushing and “peddl’n,” I needed a break, and boy, am I glad I stopped.

I had the pleasure of meeting two outdoor tourists who were in Tunica County to take photos of the bald eagle family that resides on the lakes north end.  After exchanging the usual hellos and small talk about the eagles and their habits along Beaver Dam, I learned that the couple had been visiting Tunica from nearby DeSoto County for the last two years.  They were eager to show some of their shots, and I was eager to learn about the eagle’s nest just outside my back door.  Having rested up, we said our good-byes, and I was back on the bike for more punishment.

Less than a half mile down the road, I was met by a family on the side of the road.  They were staring out at the lake in disbelief at what they were seeing.  Could it be? Is that really what I think it is?  Needless to say, my new friends with the cameras were hastily summoned and yes, here’s the proof – it was and still is to my knowledge, Tunica County’s only resident GATOR.

Tunica’s known for many different things….Casinos, Catfish, Golf, Tennis, Crawfish, Beer, Ducks and Deer but who knew….Eagles and Gators, too!