This state park confused me. There are different parts, or at least different access points, so that you have to drive a fair ways to get between the two (or more?). I first went to the main part:
which had a neat lookout tower.
Some days this view provides glimpses of wild horses (Florida Cracker horses) and cattle (Florida Cracker cattle), both of which date back to the conquistador days with fairly pure lineage having been maintained along the way - by the Florida Cracker cowboys, as well as various Indian tribes, most notably the Seminoles (the park being named after one of their members). Both are very rare today, mostly only kept alive by a few people dedicated to keeping the breeds going. More recently (than the 16th century! Try the 1970s...), plains bison were reintroduced, so you might see them as well. I'm not sure if I saw any of the above, although a few of us up there saw some brown dots in the distance...
More visitors to the treehouse.
Fern-laden branch.
Yes, these trees were literally dripping with moss!!
Pretty wild petunia.
Another five-lined skink (believe it or not!). The young skinks are the ones with the fun rainbow coloring (seen in a previous post). The adults mostly lose their striping, and this type here is actually called a "broad-head." The boys in this breed change not only head color, but also size and shape during the spring and early summer. This one here is a good example of a mature male during mating season.
The lovely road into the park. Time to migrate to the other part of the park - where the gators are...!!
No comments:
Post a Comment