Alligators and Caterpillars and Sawgrass, Oh My!
Written: Apr 25 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Visit a unique Ecosystem
Cons: Bugs aren't actually all that tasty
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| ErgoPropterHoc's Full Review: The Everglades |
There are two things you should be absolutely sure to bring with you when going to visit the Everglades: sunscreen and bug repellant. If you leave either one behind, you're going to regret it later. (I came off the airboat with a nasty sunburn, as I neglected to use sunscreen during my excursion.)
I had a chance to visit the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, which is not technically a part of Everglades National Park, but still a part of the everglades. The everglades actually extend much further north than the boundaries of the Nation Park, arguably all the way up the Florida peninsula. (That is debatable, but everyone agrees the ecosystem extends at least up to Lake Okeechobee.)
We took a one-hour airboat tour of the refuge, travelling a few miles into the marsh. Our tour guide and air boat operator had a general aura of being a backcountry hick, yet was extremely knowledgeable about the local ecosystem, as well as how to help people who got a bug in their eye. This event is not particularly uncommon, but eminently avoidable with a pair of sunglasses. You will also learn very quickly to keep your mouth closed while the boat is moving, unless you enjoy all manner of bugs and other small objects in there.
You might think that the front of the airboat is a good place to ride – nobody's in front of you to block your view. But nobody's in front of you to block branches from trees, bugs, pollen, and anything else floating around either. If you are going to sit in front, take advantage of it by bringing along your camera – and have it ready at a moment, as most photo opportunities last only a few seconds.
Alligators don't particularly like airboats, so you probably won't get too close to any before they swim away. We saw one on our trip, but it ran away pretty quickly. Pictures of 'gators won't come out all that well, either, since they swim around mostly underwater, with just a tiny bit floating above the waterline.
One thing you can see only in the northern part of the Everglades is the Snail Kite, an endangered hawk that preys only on snails. There are only a few hundred Snail Kites left, and they all live in the northern everglades.
There's much more than just animal life to see here, though. The Everglades is home to a number of unique plants as well, including sawgrass and cattails. The ecosystem in the everglades is extremely variable; a few inches more or less rain on the Florida peninsula can change the water depth in the everglades by five feet or more, a dramatic change for a river that averages less than three feet in depth.
Much of the Everglades lies within the South Florida Water Management District, a region of governmental regulation primarily created to ensure adequate supplies of fresh water to the population of South Florida, and simultaneously prevent flooding of inhabited areas. The water in the refuge is primarily from rainfall, although there are a couple of pumping stations, which provide additional water. A great deal of the water comes from agricultural runoff, so it's fairly rich in various agricultural chemicals. The cattails, although native to the Everglades, have expanded far beyond their traditional boundaries due to this artificial fertilization. They're starting to choke off much of the usual vegetation, so if you want to see what it used to look like, you'd better go soon. (By soon, I mean within the next decade or so, not necessarily this month.) There's still plenty to see, but you never know what might happen to such a fragile ecosystem.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ErgoPropterHoc
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Location: Evanston, IL
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 66 members
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