We left our campsite early and headed for Shark Valley.
There we had made reservations to be on the nine thirty tram. Of course, we ran
into construction delays but we still made it on time. The park interpreter
informed us that we were the only ones signed up for the tour. Luckily a few
more arrived and I for one was glad, (I had taught for thirty years and once
had a small class of only two people, it had been difficult to keep myself
concentrating when the class was so small).
The first leg of the tour was along a roadway that took us
to the observation Tower. The road itself had been made in the thirties when
Humble Oil had drilled a discovery well. They did find oil but at the time it
was so little that the land was eventually donated to the Federal Government,
(as a tax write off in which both sides were grateful).
As we drove along the tour guide talked of the ecosystem,
the Cypress Swamps, the Sawgrass Prairie, Gator Holes, and Woodland Hammocks.
She told us of the forty different kinds of mosquitos and natural plants that
kept them away, (another way to view the road is to rent a bike and pedal the
thirteen mile length, next time
Herons flew and Renita captured a great shot of a Great Blue
Heron in flight! We had to stop occasionally to flush a gator off the road She
told us that often bikers would run over the slow moving alligators and that
one had crashed only to be bitten by the surprised gator.
The tram operator stopped when ever he and the guide saw
wildlife and that meant frequent stops. I spotted a green heron and they
stopped so all could see, (I really doubt many saw it as it was back in the
shadows). Along the way we came across alligators with their mouths wide open.
It was just like a dog panting and was a way for them to get rid of excess
heat.
At one stop a mother gator guarded her offspring and kept a
wary eye on the tram. We passed quite a few bikers and they all stopped as they
were required to, the tram has the right of way. Near the end the guide told us
of some of the invasive species that had been released by pet owners. The worst
one is the boa which has decimated the mammal population. Sure enough, we have
yet to see a single mammal.
We never saw any orchids, the tour guide told us that most
had been poached, and that they were now rare. Too quickly the two hour tour
ended. Everyone was glad they had taken the tour and we highly recommend it!
The rest of the afternoon found us driving the Loop Road.
It’s a gravel road and again the way was filled with gators, herons, and egrets.
There were many culverts where the water flowed under the road and each one had
a resident gator. It was pretty obvious that they had been fed as they
approached and seemed to beg food, much like a troll would guard a bridge,
(feeding a gator is a violation of state law). A fed gator is a dead gator and
so we resisted any urge to satisfy their hunger.
It was a good day filled with more gators and birds then we
could count. Unfortunately we never did spot the one bird we hoped to see, the
endangered snail kite. The bird only feeds on a snail called the apple snail
and its only found in one special habitat, (most of its habitat has been
destroyed by development). Perhaps tomorrow as we plan on taking a hike in the
right habitat for the snail kite. Clear skies
Another great post.
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