Southern Florida 2018
Last year, shortly after my delightful trip to Ontario, my brother Paul decided to return to North America for some herping of his own. Florida was the destination, but after only one sleep-deprived night of road cruising in ENP, Hurricane Irma joined in and all plans were abandoned. Over motel Wifi at some point during his stay, I offered to return with him in the New Year to make up for lost time. We decided that Late February would allow us to escape some of the UK winter and should still provide some decent opportunities in The Sunshine State.
Following a short hop from Newcastle to Heathrow, we received an email saying there was a problem with our hotel booking. Without the time or facilities to resend card details, we emailed them explaining we were about to get on our flight and would sort out everything on arrival, kindly asking them not to cancel our booking (which had been confirmed a week ago). And so passed a nine-hour flight and an extra bonus hour faffing about with the inept services of Sixt car hire. My word these guys are useless. Easily the slowest and most frustrating service I’ve experienced in a long time. We queued for half a lifetime as customers flicked through laminated brochures and engaged in conversations like this:
“I’ll take a Mustang please”
“Sure, let me go and check we have one out back” (guy would stroll off behind the scenes somewhere for a solid 15 minutes) …“Yep, we have one, is blue ok?”
“I’d prefer red”
“Let me go check if we have that for you…(guy strolls off again for another 15 minutes)…red it is, would you like some water with that?”
“Yes please”
(Guy would stroll off again…)
Eventually it was our time for this joyous experience and at about midnight we finally arrived at our hotel, bottles of water in hand, only to find out that they’d given the room to someone else and now had no vacancies. At such a busy time of year it seemed a bit harsh to knowingly cancel a room when they knew we were currently on a long-haul flight! Budget Host Inn – you guys are an absolute disgrace. Judging by other online reviews it’s probably a good thing we didn’t experience the dump that you call a hotel. I will endeavour to advise others to stay elsewhere in the future.
“I’ll take a Mustang please”
“Sure, let me go and check we have one out back” (guy would stroll off behind the scenes somewhere for a solid 15 minutes) …“Yep, we have one, is blue ok?”
“I’d prefer red”
“Let me go check if we have that for you…(guy strolls off again for another 15 minutes)…red it is, would you like some water with that?”
“Yes please”
(Guy would stroll off again…)
Eventually it was our time for this joyous experience and at about midnight we finally arrived at our hotel, bottles of water in hand, only to find out that they’d given the room to someone else and now had no vacancies. At such a busy time of year it seemed a bit harsh to knowingly cancel a room when they knew we were currently on a long-haul flight! Budget Host Inn – you guys are an absolute disgrace. Judging by other online reviews it’s probably a good thing we didn’t experience the dump that you call a hotel. I will endeavour to advise others to stay elsewhere in the future.
Everglades National Park
Crikey, a few hundred words in and no herps to speak of, my apologies. Let’s get to it. After a classy rest at the Country Lodge motel, in the morning we headed off towards ENP, stocking up on assorted garage-based baked goods en route.
Crikey, a few hundred words in and no herps to speak of, my apologies. Let’s get to it. After a classy rest at the Country Lodge motel, in the morning we headed off towards ENP, stocking up on assorted garage-based baked goods en route.
The day was very much a stop-start affair, sussing out dead-end roads and ditches to explore, pulling over to watch various birds, and checking out some of the more well-trodden spots such as the Anhinga Trail, Pinelands and the Pa-Hay-Okee lookout. We had a fleeting glimpse of a Nerodia and spent a few minutes watching an everglades racer (Coluber constrictor paludicola) doing its thing.
That night’s roadcruising revealed only destruction, with countless DOR snakes, victims of the ridiculous speeds that people insist on travelling at even during dusk/evening.
The next day we headed back into ENP towards Flamingo, again enjoying more birdwatching in the extreme south before heading north to check out the delights of ‘Rowdy Bend’ and ‘Snake Bight’.
The next day we headed back into ENP towards Flamingo, again enjoying more birdwatching in the extreme south before heading north to check out the delights of ‘Rowdy Bend’ and ‘Snake Bight’.
That evening we waited for dusk at Flamingo, where a large croc drifted in from the calm sea as two manatees happily sucked on a harbour wall.
We then hit the road, and it wasn’t long before our first roadcruised snake turned up – a Florida Green Watersnake (Nerodia floridana). These guys do not appreciate a helping hand over the road, and even if there’s an oncoming 4x4 (frequently towing a boat) doing a casual 60mph about to flatten them they’ll still happily defend themselves and bite away. There soon followed another N.floridana, a delightful small Brown Watersnake (Nerodia taxispilota) and a Florida Banded Watersnake (Nerodia fasciata pictiventris) – it seemed we were finally up and running!
We then had the sadness of finding one of our target species DOR, a freshly killed Scarlet snake which dampened our spirits. However, more life awaited us as our next stops in the road were for some sort of crayfish, a large N.taxispilota, a Peninsula ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritus sackenii), and a Florida brown snake (Storeria Victa).
The final find of the night was what I believe to be an Eastern screech owl (Megascops asio), a tiny little owl tucked into some pines along a dead-end road.
Towards Everglades City and Ochopee
West of Homestead, we made our way north towards the Tamiami Trail through farm and residential land, stopping to flip various items including mattresses, boards, a bed frame, tarpaulin, chairs and assorted other junk. Within half an hour we’d rustled up another racer (Coluber constrictor paludicola) and two Corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus). A productive and enjoyable start to the day, echoed by Paul’s sentiment of “Who needs Disney World when there’s agricultural sh*t to flip?”
West of Homestead, we made our way north towards the Tamiami Trail through farm and residential land, stopping to flip various items including mattresses, boards, a bed frame, tarpaulin, chairs and assorted other junk. Within half an hour we’d rustled up another racer (Coluber constrictor paludicola) and two Corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus). A productive and enjoyable start to the day, echoed by Paul’s sentiment of “Who needs Disney World when there’s agricultural sh*t to flip?”
Hitting the Tamiami Trail heading west, it was a shame to see such a busy chunk of tarmac stretching through a splendid chunk of habitat. Again, the speed of traffic through an area so rich in wildlife is scary, I shudder to think of the carnage that faces the critters of the glades when darkness falls. We left this highway of destruction and continued through a National Preserve along a much quieter road, observing more birds, gators and snakes - but even then some creatures had been struck by passing vehicles.
In late afternoon we headed to some dirt roads for a spot of searching in the setting sun, finding a N.fasciata pictiventris and a ribbon snake in the fading light.
The Nerodia floridana then began to emerge, looking like giant black battleships boating out of the grass and onto the pale dirt as we followed the headlights down the road.
Night was now upon us, and dark clouds were beginning to tower over us from the east. Some flashes may have been distant lightning, but as the air was full of fireflies and our eyes were fixed on the track I don’t think either of us could really say for sure. We then saw a smaller serpent shape up ahead and climbed out of the car into the warm evening. Just as light rain began to fall we identified the little snake as a Florida scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea coccinea), one of our main targets – but with a somewhat aberrant pattern!
The rest of the night provided some frogs, another Ribbon snake (this one in a palm tree), and a chucklesome moment as Paul went to investigate a roadside ditch only to be violently shrieked at by a roosting heron.
We hit up the same dirt roads the following morning, adding to our tally of Ribbon and Corn snakes as the skies filled up with many swirling vultures.
We then headed north towards LaBelle, stopping briefly at a Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge on the way. In the UK we have killed off any large natural predators and replaced them with genetically-pimped cows and an assortment of horrendously unnatural pets which roam the agricultural mess we call countryside. In fact, we are afraid of anything that has not been bought in a pet shop and, indeed, going for a stroll along a path through panther habitat would not be a pastime recognised by many of my countryfolk. However, for the two of us, this refuge provided the opportunity for another brief creature search, and we were able to add another racer to the snake tally! We’ll thank the panthers for this one - protecting the big guys also helps the little guys.
LaBelle
After checking in at a hotel which also doubled as a rehabilitation centre, we dined finely at Subway before heading out towards some State Forests and WMAs, enjoying some cracking views of a male Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) quartering the grasslands. The relaxing glow of the late afternoon sun heralded the arrival of the magic hour (or more like two hours), punctuated midway by another tasty sunset. We also briefly spoke to a ranger at a State Forest who showed us a nice photo of an EDB he’d seen the previous week within the forest. He also informed us that snakes never turn up on the blacktop outside of the forest.
After checking in at a hotel which also doubled as a rehabilitation centre, we dined finely at Subway before heading out towards some State Forests and WMAs, enjoying some cracking views of a male Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) quartering the grasslands. The relaxing glow of the late afternoon sun heralded the arrival of the magic hour (or more like two hours), punctuated midway by another tasty sunset. We also briefly spoke to a ranger at a State Forest who showed us a nice photo of an EDB he’d seen the previous week within the forest. He also informed us that snakes never turn up on the blacktop outside of the forest.
About 15 minutes after sunset the Nerodia appeared, followed by a Corn snake zigzagging over the dirt. It then went a bit quiet until we found 2 snakes within 2 minutes along a 100m stretch of the blacktop we’d discussed with the ranger earlier…I suspect he may be in the 4x4 60mph club. Back on the dirt roads we found 5 Southern ringneck snakes (Diadophis punctatus punctatus) before calling it a night.
Sandhills and Clewiston
The next morning we breakfasted with a couple of guys escaping their own cold weather in Ontario then headed north towards some areas of sandhill habitat around Archbold and Lake Placid, briefly stopping to allow a tortoise to cross the road... The morning then turned into the more traditional (read frustrating) herping, as temperatures increased, all sorts of rubbish was flipped, but ultimately nothing was found.
The next morning we breakfasted with a couple of guys escaping their own cold weather in Ontario then headed north towards some areas of sandhill habitat around Archbold and Lake Placid, briefly stopping to allow a tortoise to cross the road... The morning then turned into the more traditional (read frustrating) herping, as temperatures increased, all sorts of rubbish was flipped, but ultimately nothing was found.
En route back to Clewiston we uncovered a skink under fallen billboards and returned to a roadside mattress Paul had originally discovered 4 years ago (and had subsequently flipped it three times, the most recent being during Irma evacuations). It turned out to be fourth time lucky as this filthy piece of soiled roadside refuge yielded a well-fed Corn snake! We only took a couple of phone shots of the snake, because after consuming what I assume must have been a large rat or family-sized summer sausage it didn’t seem fair to cause it any more discomfort. And with that, we left the bloated mattress-dweller in peace and went to explore further roadside habitat…with no luck.
We checked in at Clewiston, enjoyed a classy Domino’s pizza, and then headed out for another spot of roadcruising. The only new species of the night turned out to be an Eastern Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), with additional Ribbons and Nerodia being rescued from the road at regular intervals.
Our final morning was spent hunting kings in the canefields. Ditches were walked, rock mounds were stalked and trash was flipped, but no kings would be appearing this time. We did find a nice racer before being told we were trespassing…
We were also able to uncover some non-native Brahminy blind snakes (Indotyphlops braminus), but there’s something about a tiny worm-like creature (with a head matching its backside) that just doesn’t really satisfy the snake enthusiast in me.
We were also able to uncover some non-native Brahminy blind snakes (Indotyphlops braminus), but there’s something about a tiny worm-like creature (with a head matching its backside) that just doesn’t really satisfy the snake enthusiast in me.
And so the final countdown began: one more late afternoon to drive some State Forest dirt roads before the last spot of roadcruising. This started off nicely with 2 Racers, a Ribbon and a Nerodia within about 20 minutes. We then spent a few minutes watching a couple of swallow-tailed kites before continuing up the road and finding a beautiful Yellow rat snake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis).
Night time brought us a Glass lizard, another 5 Ringnecks, and our final species of the trip, a Southern Florida Swamp snake (Seminatrix pygaea cyclas). This little shiny guy was a delight to behold but an absolute nightmare to photograph. Not wanting to mess with it too much, we released it back into the night after some incredibly below-par photographs.
The temperature then dropped off as we made our way back, making our return to Clewiston largely uneventful – which is always welcome where busy roads are involved. Back at the motel we packed our bags ready for the morning’s drive back to Miami.
On arrival the ‘helpful’ airport staff made us chuckle, telling us we couldn’t check in until the desk opened at 12:00 even though our flight was at 12:01…
On arrival the ‘helpful’ airport staff made us chuckle, telling us we couldn’t check in until the desk opened at 12:00 even though our flight was at 12:01…
Flying out gave us a great view looking west over Miami and across into the glades. So much land has been claimed by the city, but luckily there’s still wilderness out there in Southern Florida, lots of it - for now anyway. The adverse effect of the park roads on wildlife is clear, and surely traffic and footfall will only increase as the planet continues to overcrowd - Southern Florida is an awesome place with so many cool creatures, I just hope it stays awesome…
Herping video at bottom of the page, also more photos from Paulo @ https://www.instagram.com/paulorowntree/ & https://paulrowntree.wixsite.com/herpsandthings/blog
Herping video at bottom of the page, also more photos from Paulo @ https://www.instagram.com/paulorowntree/ & https://paulrowntree.wixsite.com/herpsandthings/blog