June 17 & 18, 2015

Day #14 & 15

     In recent years, snakes from around the world have been turning up in and around Everglades National Park.  One of the largest snakes on earth, Burmese pythons, are now breeding in the park and spreading throughout south Florida.  The female can grow to be 15 feet and the males to 12 feet.  Since 2002, over 2,000 pythons have been removed from the park and surrounding areas.  They believe this to be only a fraction of the total population.

     Burmese pythons have been introduced into the Everglades either accidentally or on purpose by people who have had them for pets, but no longer want them or can no longer handle them.  They have been found to feed on a variety of mammals and birds in the Everglades-even the occasional alligator! By preying on native wildlife, pythons are seriously impacting the natural order of south Florida's ecological communities.

     Since a female reproduces about once every two years, with an average of 40 offspring each time, reproduction has played a huge factor in the establishment of the snakes in Florida.  The female will protect her eggs, which discourages predator wanting to eat the eggs.

     Now that I’ve told you all this, I’d like to show you the campground where we stayed for 2 days ( I repeat—2 days) on our trip through Alligator Alley.  Yes, it is empty and pretty much stayed that way except for Richard’s brother, who is traveling with us, one other camper and a man in a tent, who came in on a motorcycle.  Richard took him a hot plate of spaghetti and salad I’d fixed for dinner.  We were happy to see he had survived the night.

Empty Campground Midway Alligator Alley

     BTW, we were warned to be on the lookout for black panther.  They actually have signs for panther crossings like we have for deer.   Also, the pond we were parked next to warned us not to swim and not to feed the alligators. 

 

 

 

I found this sign on the road in Alligator Alley
It won't mean anything to my non-writer
friends, but for them, I need help figuring out
what Romance Writers of America
has to do with alligators?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

     Needless to say, we did not venture out after dark.  Road kill takes on a whole new meaning through Alligator Alley.  It certainly isn't the armadillos and possums we have in NE Florida. We literally saw several alligators crushed to death on the side of the road. 

     We took a back road through an Indian village and had to stop while a gator crossed from a housing development to a canal, which had another group of houses on the other side of it. 

 

We stopped for this 6 footer to
cross the street.  I guess he wanted
to get to the other side.  hahahahaha

 

     While we were in this area, everyone but me took an airboat ride.  If you know me well, you know I don't do boats.  I've taken the tour of the Everglades on an airboat a couple of times back before I went to boat-riding rehab.  The boys had a ball.  They saw something the guide said he had never seen before.  A huge alligator jumped out of the water and caught about a 12-inch fish perfectly.  They made a quick refreshment stop at an Indian village.  


From the airboat

Richard's brother, Ronnie and his wife
Gail on the airboat.  Not sure what
they saw, but it must have been something
exciting.

Peter, Paul and Harry at the Indian
Village

     Fun was had by all including Grandma, who enjoyed the peace and quiet.  I would have loved to have gone for a walk by the water, but I was the only human in the whole park.  Well, you know . . . gators and snakes and panthers, OH MY!!!

Until next time,

Dolores