by Mary Wakefiled Buxton –
NAPLES, Fla. —
Every morning during the winter months I sit in my third floor lanai that overlooks a lake and listen to southwest Florida wildlife. The tropical birds’ chitters, chortles, chirps, chatters — even an occasional scream, squawk or shriek — play in my ears like a Dvorak symphony. I love to listen to the birds. Their incessant songs are as pleasant and relaxing as classical music.
The lake and wild mangroves along Haldeman Creek support many species of fish, fowl, animal including reptiles, lizards, iguanas and alligators. I even occasionally hear coyotes at night.
I have been warned when it freezes in Florida, and it does every now and then, although rarely, iguanas fall out of the trees and lay helplessly on the ground until it warms up. They are not in a pleasant mood when they come back to life and the wise keep their distance. Not that anyone would be tempted to approach a groggy iguana to check how it’s feeling.
I have never seen a python beyond once viewing a 24-foot one at the Naples Zoo in a secured wire pen that lay motionless in several massive coils like rope on a very large boat’s deck. If I ever did, I probably would leave Florida setting a new speed record for an 80-year-old Urbanna grandmother on the run.
There are “gators” living in the lake and occasionally sunbathe in front of my condo. They like the sunshine as I do, actually they need to lie in the sun to help with digestion, and they are a protected species so we get along the best we can.
Outside of the fact they are ugly with bulging evil eyes that “eye” you as they patrol the shore looking for a meal, (you have never really been “eyed” before until an alligator has you on his radar), they also can run exceedingly fast if they confront you on land. Keep that in mind should you ever feel curious and want to approach one for a closer look.
The way they get their food is nasty. They patrol the lake hoping to find a fat fish to gobble in one snap or they lay without moving on the shore waiting for some bird or small animal to come by — the scary part is a child, dog or cat will do nicely. Then they move so fast your heart stops as they snap up the poor thing and crunch it in a set of sharp teeth in
powerful jaws.
If an alligator is in view it ruins enjoyment of my cup of tea and crossword puzzle. For example, as I consider a four-letter word that was once a symbol for the Houses of Lancaster and York and a bird draws too close to a gator — I don’t think “rose,” I think “flee!”
Seeing an alligator with white feathers sticking out of his mouth is upsetting. Worse, during mating season, alligators roar like male elks who’ve come down from the mountain looking for ladies. My best advice is to leave the area immediately should you ever hear such a noise.
Then, pythons. Some say they got their start in Florida when a hurricane swept through a lab one day and carried off specimens of python eggs and strew them throughout the Everglades. Unfortunately for Florida and much of its wildlife, the eggs hatched in an almost perfect environment. Within just a few years the pythons grew into huge snakes
with no natural enemies.
I have read these hideous snakes have eradicated 97 percent of small animals in the Everglades. They are a real horror story for Florida and I have read they are now slithering their way to states further north. Whether they have yet reached our commonwealth, I do not know. Should anyone in Virginia ever see a python, please do not let me know.
Then, there are the old, lonely and the infirm. Florida attracts seniors because of abundant sunshine. I see some heartbreaking sights of those battling the ravages of disease or stroke and trying to keep going or as Father always called it, “Carrying on!”
Then there are the lonely for Florida has many singles that struggle on in old age without a loving companion. There may be no worse condition than loneliness.
Such sights are a part of winters in Florida. There is the good and the bad everywhere which only proves once again there is no perfection in this world as much as we crave it.
Along with the positive comes the negative chasing its tail like a cat after a rat.
We are left with little choice but to appreciate the blessings that come our way and carry an umbrella when we take a walk in case it rains … or to keep any frozen iguanas falling out of trees from hitting our head.
(This is the second in a series of columns.)
© 2022.
