Bag of Bones on South Padre Island Last weekend, my business partner, Steve Hathcock and I took some visiting friends, Dan and Laura Martone from Los Angeles, California, up to the Mansfield Ship Channel (the cut) for a day of beachcombing on South Padre Island.  This was their third trip to the island in the past five years.  They love the area so much their plans are to return each year for at least three months. I was anxious to show Laura where to look for sea-beans but this particular outing produced only one sea heart and some mundane drift seeds known as sea coconuts.   But every outing on South Padre Island produces an interesting treasure of some kind and this day was no exception. Walking between ridges of tall sand dunes, carefully avoiding the fragile plant life, we followed animal tracks towards the salt flats. Some of these tracks were so fresh it was obvious they had been made only moments ahead of us. Animals of the coastal zone are special, having adapted to wind, salt and sand in an environment that is frequently flooded.  They are really tough. Stopping to admire the beautiful landscape, a tall-eared jackrabbit darted silently past, seeking refuge from the scorching Texas sun. Heading west, rounding the base of several dunes, Dan was surprised by three Texas whitetail deer.  What a treat for our L.A. friend! By early afternoon, Dan and I were walking a short distance ahead of Steve and Laura when he noticed a small skull lying on the sand.  Strewn around it were various bones, which I placed in a zip-lock baggy and dropped into my backpack to bring back for Beachcomber's Museum.  (I have always loved finding bones, I'm not exactly sure why). At the same time, Steve and Laura, who were only about 10 or 12 yards behind, happened upon another skull.  Theirs was larger and in remarkably good condition.  Only one tooth was missing from the stark white, sun-bleached specimen.  I suggested we gently dig around a little to see if we could find any additional bones and that's when Laura and I really got excited.  It only took about 5 minutes to find almost the entire skeleton. I'm no expert when it comes to identifying animal remains but I have an old friend, Dr. John Cozad, a veterinarian who recently became a resident of South Padre Island who will be able to tell me what kind of animals these two skulls once were. The small skull is the oddest looking of the two.  I am thinking it might be from a western diamondback rattlesnake. The larger specimen looks to be either a dog or perhaps, and this of course is what I hope it to be, a coyote. On the drive back to town, we sat quietly reflecting the day, watching countless sea gulls and sandpipers scurrying along the water's edge, scavenging through the “all you can eat buffet” better known as sargassum seaweed.  Unusually large number of my favorite birds, brown pelicans, glided just ahead of our jeep, which by now was loaded with sun-baked bodies, interesting driftwood and a few prized shells. These are the kinds of days that keep me longing for my next adventure on South Padre Island.