Everglades Life

Little Shark River, Florida Everglades
No LL

Aside from seclusion, the main attraction of the Everglades is the profuse wild life. So what have we seen?

Mangroves, lots of mangroves. Endless mangroves.

Birds: Cranes, Herons, Egrets, Turkey Vultures, Pelicans, numerous others we can't identify. We saw some beautiful birds with the same size and shape and features as a Great Blue Heron, but pure white. When no people are around, the primary source of sound is the angry graaak noise that the Herons make.

Dolphins, lots of dolphins. Fish of unknown type jumping everywhere. There is also some creature that raises its head above water for several seconds, that I can't identify. The last time I saw it, it looked like a 6 inch wide mouth rising out of the water. Surprisingly, there are no clam shells clinging to the mangrove roots, nor any crabs visible on the banks at low tide.

Yesterday, Libby and I paddled a long way up a side creek. The creek was only 8 feet wide. There was no room to row with the oars, only to paddle like in a canoe. It was shady and pleasant and very quiet deep in the mangrove swamp. We got very close to some big white birds before they spooked. We also saw some spectacular orb spider webs that shone in iridescent interference pattern colors when viewed obliquely to the sun. I tried to photo some of those, we'll see if I succeeded in getting a
picture of the colors.

What have we not seen? Our friend June told us to watch for the beautiful white pelicans, and the little sharks jumping for which this river is named, and to watch out for the voracious mosquitoes. Our cruising guide jokingly says to bring a shotgun to fight off the mosquitoes. Sadly, we saw no white pelicans, no little sharks, and happily we saw only a few mosquitoes or other insects. It must be a matter of winter season. We also saw no crocodiles, alligators, or snakes although I'm certain
they are there.

We have also not seen any large animals. In fact, the mangrove roots that form the floor of the swamps make it look impossible to walk across. I'm sure that a man on foot would find it almost impossible to travel more than a mile per day. On the other hand, animals are very adaptable. I suspect that deer, bears and puma find no trouble moving through the mangroves when they have to. I also suspect that the interiors of these islands may have some ground high enough to be free of mangroves,
and those areas would be easier to walk in. At the very least, the mangrove swamps make a formidable barrier for human hunters, so whatever animals live on the interiors have superior protection. In three days, Libby and I have yet to see a single place where we could go ashore and walk.

Today, Saturday, there were a lot more fishermen zipping around in motor boats. That surprises me because the closest places that I can see on the map to launch a boat are 40 miles away from here. I asked one fisherman and he said they traveled 17 miles at sea to get here.