Upcoming events

A lichen for your enjoyment

We aren't quite into planning our end game here, but things are getting busy. Some neighbors from UA spent most of a day here and we enjoyed showing them around. We showed them our dwelling as well as our lab and they got to peer into the microscopes at some lichen. Saw lots of 'gators too. I attended a day of workshops on orchid culture and (ahem) bought a few plants. Mar. 2 is Vintage Days and Tom has been tapped to portray John Kunkel Small, a botanist from the Bronx Botanical Garden who spent a bit of time down here cataloging plants in the early years of the 20th century. He found a lichen, among other things, and took it back north with him. It was not found in the Everglades again for a hundred years and a day, when our lichen team leaders found and identified it. (They were sort of looking for it.) I will portray a member of the Florida Federated Women's Club, which was very important in getting a part of the Everglades preserved as a State Park in 1916. Various characters who had a part in Everglades history, both good and evil, will be wandering the grounds. There will be both a pre-party and an after-party for those playing roles and that evening is the all staff annual picnic. On Mar. 16 is the volunteer appreciation dinner.

We are planning to leave here on Mar. 26 and hopefully will be home by Easter. It's getting hot and consequently buggy. We turned on the AC for the first time. We'll be ready to go by then.

 

More snakes (No gory pics)

Arriving at work last Thursday, I noticed a large green mesh bag being hosed off near our lab. I went over and discovered there was a live python in the bag. I asked the sweet young thing holding it who caught it and she replied, "I did". It turns out she is a wildlife biologist who was tracking a couple of the male pythons who were microchipped, when she noticed they were very close to one another. She guessed that there may have been a female nearby so began to look and, sure enough. She and a colleague got it in the mesh bag and into a cooler for transport to the lab (There is a standard procedure to doing this- never approach while it is coiled as it is all muscle and can then spring half its length.). A small crowd was gathering and when chief snakeologist, Skip Snow arrived, they emptied in onto the grassy area and stretched it out. Sweet young thing had hold of its head in some way so it could not open it's jaws. It was measured at 13.5 feet and Skip was kind enough to show us what someone referred to as her "lady parts", for she was indeed a female. Pictures were taken and then back into the bag. I later heard she weighed 90 pounds, but have not heard whether she will be micro chipped or euthanized.

There are also diamondback rattlesnakes here in the park and our team leaders came upon one during a lichen collection trip. They are very experienced and heard it so they were able to avoid it. Jean said it was perfectly camouflaged and had it not rattled, and often they don't, they might not have seen it. It was not a good trip for them as Jean also got into some poisonwood. They say if you only learn to recognize one tree in south Florida, it should be the Poisonwood tree. Its leaves cause a reaction like poison ivy ( only much worse) and if you get too much it will get into your bloodstream and make you sick. Lovely flora and fauna down here, wouldn't you say??

The great python hunt has ended with more of a whimper than a bang. Although 1500 people were registered as hunters, only 50 pythons were turned in. The Florida Wildlife people put a good face on it, but many folks are calling it a big disappointment. To me it seemed rather meaningless as all of the Everglades Nat'l Park was off limits. They are still thinking about whether to do it next year. Seems like its good for tourism and publicity.

PS. I found out the young lady's name is Michelle.

South Beach

We spent a night in South Beach for our anniversary and had a great time. It's about an hour from here. I was not prepared for how many of the old buildings from the 30's and 40's survive and have been turned into boutique hotels, etc. Of course it is known for the nightlife and (some) shopping nowadays, but we enjoyed the food and beach and just walking around. It's a wonderful walking city. We put the car in the garage when we got there and never took it out. Our favorite thing was the guided walking tour of the historic district and hearing stories about the places, such as " So and so movie was shot here". The reason building continued here through the depression was that organized crime was flush with money from its gambling and bootlegging operations so it also functioned as a bank and loaned money. Miami vice, I guess. Our anniversary meal was Nuevo Latino food and we also went to a place called sushi samba which mixed sushi with Peruvian influences.

The South Beach Wine and Food Festival sponsored by the Food Network was to open the day after we left. We are too old for whatever that scene would have been like.

To the north and to the west were the tall skyscrapers that could have been any city, but South Beach was one of a kind and very worth our visit.

Somehow we had such a good time that we forgot to take any pictures!

Field Trippin'

We have now been on two field trips collecting lichen. Anybody else would call it bush whacking or breaking trail. But we call it collecting lichen. First, an explanation of the landscape is important. There are several predominant type of vegetation. There is the famous "River of Grass", which is the 40 mile wide, shallow river that flows south from lake Okechobee to Florida Bay. Then there are the pine lands which are contiguous limestone reefs on the Atlantic side, made from sea shells and coral, where pine trees grow, and lastly there are hammocks which are slightly higher islands within the sawgrass which can support hardwood forests. Most lichens are found in the hardwood hammocks.

Trip 1

We ( Rick, Jean, and we 3 new volunteers) began from the research center and walked toward an area which is undergoing severe remediation to remove an invasive species(Brazilian pepperwood). Around us was heavy equipment joking called a brontosaurus, chomping up this invasive species and scraping it into huge piles. I won't go into this more right now, but it costs $20,000 per acre and is paid for by companies who need to buy credits for wetlands they are destroying.

After passing through this area we entered the pine lands on a fire road. After a mile or so we left the road to the Pinelands proper, which pose a significant hazard. The limestone surface is very susceptible to breakdown by acids to form solution holes. Acids can come via acid rain or decay of pine needles, etc. so as one walks along, hidden under the vegetation are holes. They come in all sizes, so we move slowly and probe the ground ahead with walking sticks and alerting those following. After going through the Pinelands we arrived at Junk hammock, named after a person, not what we might expect to find there. The outer edges of the hammock are exposed to sun and therefore have thick vegetation, a thicket, you might say. The interior of the hammock is more shaded, so less dense. After forcing our way through the thicket, we wandered around the interior of the hammock, Rick looking for a specific lichen while the rest of us tried to identify the trees we were seeing. Although Rick did not find what he was looking for, nonetheless he took several samples, which were put into sample bags with notes on which tree it was growing on, hence our need to learn the tree species. The ground in the hammock was incredibly spongy, due to decayed leaves-almost like bouncing on a bed in places. We saw and avoided the solution holes. Once we found a clearing with some logs for sitting, we broke for lunch and conversation. We had seen some wild orchids and various ferns and wild flowers and tried to recognize the difference between lichen and fungus on the trees. More tramping about after lunch and then walked back to the research center. About 5 hours.

Trip 2

Trip 2 was quite different. This was supposed to be easier, so we were told the poles weren't necessary. Lucinda was not along as she had fallen and injured her wrist elsewhere, but Keek, a second year volunteer was along. We all piled in Rick's four wheel drive and headed off on a dirt road until it became impassable, then walked for about 2 miles on a diminishing road, muddy at times. We then went into the sawgrass, wet underfoot, toward Bequard hammock. We got through the thicket, but for reasons unknown to me, there were also many solution holes there (usually in pinelands). The procedure was the same as before, except it was wetter and the solution holes were treacherous. Imagine a pit 6 to 30 inches deep upon which branches have fallen and then years of vegetation such as dead leaves have covered. All but Keek fell into one of these pits. I was walking behind Tom when all of a sudden his left leg went down into a pit up to his hip. Shortly afterward I stepped into a shallower pit and lost my balance and fell forward onto the rough pock-marked rock. I came to rest on my knee and the heel of my hand. The knee bled, but the hand was ok. It was particularly hard getting out of this hammock-thick vegetation-and then retracing our steps. We were a sore and muddy bunch by the time we got back. For these trips we wear long pants and shirts, and sneakers which can be hosed off. Actually Tom and I hose each other off outside and the clothes go straight to the washer. Next time we vowed to bring our poles, no matter what we are told. Time was 6 hours.

Do I enjoy these trips? Hmmm... Not sure yet. They are good exercise and we see interesting plants, but if we have another trip like second one above, or if the weather gets hotter or it gets buggier, I may reconsider.