Join me for another jaunt through the woods!
It's time to hit the trail...
It's been at least two years since I've hiked the trails at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve so I decided to stop in and hit the trail for a couple hours while I was in St. Petersburg. This park has always been known to have a large population of gopher tortoises so I was hoping to possibly catch a glimpse of one.
I decided to hit the swamp woodland loop trail first to see if there were some wading birds out and about. Looks like they have renovated the boardwalk since I was last here!
As I made my way along the boardwalk I didn't really see many signs of life except a few ibis flying overhead. I got close to the end of this wooden path and just happened to look over the railing.
This little alligator is probably around a year old, looks like he's sunning himself to warm up a bit. I continued on down the trail towards the sand scrub section of the park in search of a gopher tortoise. The trails are very well marked here unlike many parks and preserves that I've visited. It would be pretty hard to get lost here.
Along the way I stumbled upon this insect in the midst of a metamorphosis!
I'm not 100% on this but I believe it is turning into one of the big colorful grasshoppers we have down here in Florida which I think are called Southern Lubbers. There were plenty of those things hopping around on the sides of the trail here.
Eventually reaching the sandy flatwoods I was on the hunt for burrows. Gopher tortoises are protected here and it is unlawful to touch gopher tortoises in any way, feed them or even stand on their burrow. Not only are they a protected species but abandoned burrows provide homes for many other endangered species found in Florida. Here you can see one of their burrows in the sandy topsoil.
Looks like nobody's home. While you're not supposed to be on the burrow at all, there is always some idiot that thinks he can just stick his arm in there and pull the tortoise out for whatever reason. Lots of people are bitten by snakes as a result of doing this. The burrows are known to be home to rattlesnakes and other less lethal species.
This sign here has probably been here for quite a while.
Indigo Snakes are one of many endangered species that call the burrows home. However, due to habitat depletion they are rarely found in central & southern Florida. They're most likely to be spotted in the Florida Panhandle and north. I have never been lucky enough to see an Indigo in the wild but I did have a chance a while back to work with some folks who are breeding them and successfully reintroducing them into the wild.
A little bit further down the trail I spotted a tortoise that was headed towards his burrow after seeing me. Unfortunately by the time I reached it I didn't get to see the end of him I wanted to!
It was kind of strange that it didn't go all the way in like most usually do. Oh well, I got a picture of one at least! I started heading towards one of the loop trails that I haven't been on before. There was plenty to see along the way, like this small sample of the many wild flowers all over the place.
Contrary to common belief, we do have cacti here in Florida. Here's a small patch of it along with some bitter gourds that were just off the trail. The gourds are a wild edible but should only be consumed when green and cooked.
Just up the trail is something you would NEVER expect to see while hiking through a nature preserve....some AMAZING recycled art!
That's one mean looking armadillo! I honestly forgot these sculptures were here but was pleasantly surprised to see them again. They're made from recycled material like old car bumpers and other miscellaneous things that would normally just go to waste in a junkyard somewhere.
It was the middle of the day by this time, around 98 degrees and humid as hell...welcome to Florida! After a couple hours of walking around and probably a few pounds of water weight lost from sweating, I decided to head back towards the trail head and call it a day.
As I got within a half mile of the entrance I glanced down one of the side trails. I saw something small sitting on the trail but couldn't tell what it was. It was definitely moving though, very slowly. I picked up the pace and was very happy to see this little guy before I left.
It's a baby gopher tortoise! He was understandably on guard as I quickly approached him, but after I sat down and gave him some room he felt comfortable enough to come out of his shell and continue on his way.
I followed close by to make sure he made his way back to the scrub cover to provide him some safety from predators. Thanks for joining me on this adventure, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
until next time...
all photos captured with Canon 80D/18-135mm
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In case you missed the last post in this series you can see it here:
Adventures in Florida #12: Rescued Raptors at Largo Bird of Prey Center
