by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
URBANNA —
COVID-19 had shut us down even though the state of Florida was “open” this winter. By this I mean everything was like it used to be in Florida before COVID-19 hit — children were in school, students were in college, stores, restaurants, courts and government offices were open and even though we chose to remain isolated as much as possible, we wore masks whenever we entered a public place. Many people did not.
One activity in which we felt safe was visiting a nature preserve in the Naples, Fla., area. Florida is a beautiful state of exotic flora and fauna so we decided to let Mother Nature entertain us.
Corkscrew Nature Preserve just north of Naples offered a 2.5 mile boardwalk through a cypress swamp cited as the largest stand of cypress trees in the world. This offered a perfect day trip provided we had a cool day. The natives refer to “cold snaps” that arrive occasionally in southwest Florida which was what we wanted before booking our tickets online. The last time I tried walking through a nature preserve it was beastly hot, what northerners refer to as “hot, humid weather under a searing tropical sun,” which is also part of Florida’s climate, and I barely survived that encounter with Mother Nature.
But the day we visited the 13,000-acre preserve was reasonably cool and as we walked on the boardwalk built two feet above the brackish water filled with gators, snakes and lesser reptiles, we could forget concerns about heat and enjoy the sights and sounds around us.
We first crossed a large grassy field (probably teeming with Burmese pythons?) on the boardwalk before entering the jungle of massive cypress trees and were immediately enfolded into a semi dark world, almost as if, like Jonah, we had been swallowed by a whale. (I hope it’s still acceptable in this politically correct world for writers to cite the Bible?)
We were fascinated by the giant cypress’ intricate root systems emerging from black water that supported the massive, silvery barked trees. Many of the roots provided home to blooming orchids and we also saw varieties of lilies floating in the water. The swamp was filled with birdsong and almost every dead tree had a hawk roosting on a top limb watching for something that they could swoop down and eat. The swamp provided a rather frightening background and I would not have wanted to have been lost in such a dismal place. I did not like being so starkly reminded of the grim system in nature where one species feeds on another.
The deeper we entered the swamp the eerier it felt as if we had entered a no man’s land. To add to my feeling of entering a prehistoric world far from all civilization, I came upon a massive alligator as black as the murky water from which it had emerged. It was no more interested in my approach than a fly landing on its leathery snout. To perfect the ghoulish scene just above him watching me from the top of a dead tree was a hawk looking for his afternoon snack. I hoped he was not thinking of me.
All pleasant experiences must come to an end and I was happy to return to sunlight and the end of the swamp encounter. A brochure from the visitors center told of the history of the sanctuary. Once a bird nesting area for many centuries but in an effort to stop the practice of killing of birds to gather plumes for the adornment of ladies hats, conservationists purchased 3,000 acres for safe nesting. Today the preserve, much larger now, is a birder’s paradise providing sanctuary for hundreds of bird species including hawks, owls, bald eagles, painted buntings, gnatcatchers, warblers, storks, ibises, blue herons, purple gallinules, anhingas, egrets and spoonbills.
Animals found there include river otters, panthers, deer, black bears, raccoons, squirrels and other rodents. We were told otters often enjoy basking on the boardwalks and who could blame them knowing the gators were in the water.
Frogs, toads, lizards, snakes share the swamp with the gators. I learned when we see alligators basking in the sun that is because they must have sun warmth in order to digest whatever they consumed during the night.
I was fascinated by deadly fig vines that wrap around the huge cypress trees that eventually kill the giant tree. We read of the many beautiful flowers in the swamp including iris, sunflowers, swamp lilies, ghost orchids and hibiscus.
Insects abound, but too many to list other than some magnificent butterflies including palamedes and tiger swallowtails, Halloween pennant and giant sphinx moth.
After the long hike we were glad to return to the COVID-19 induced social isolation of condo and the comfort of a good book. (Continued next week.)
© 2021
