#long pine key

Everglades Moon with a Sunrise #ENP #Miami #Florida #Canon #Everglades #Travel

Got up at 4am to meet my friend in the Everglades, We met at Long Pine Key in the parking lot around 5:30am. I got dressed for the occasion with long pants, long shirt sprayed with Deet, vest, boots, buff neck guard, hat with head netting. I also used a set of golf gloves for both hands because the mosquitoes nailed my hands last time – even with bug spray! I was ready for those blood suckers…

For my last night in south Florida, I camped at Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park. The campground is situated on the edge of a large pond. I’m not entirely positive, but the pond seemed to be a borrow pit — a pond  artificially created by pulling land from this area for use in other parts of the park. It wasn’t the picturesque pond you might imagine swimming in as a kid. Heh. Growth blanketed the shorelines, jagged limestone lined the edges, and the water had a bit of a stench to it. Still, being the Florida Everglades and all, I figured I’d find something down there… so I headed down with my headlamp and camera.

Wouldn’t you know it, within five minutes I found a young Florida banded watersnake (Nerodia fasciata pictiventris) trying miserably to disappear into a limestone crack. hashtag-winning, it really wasn’t a very good hiding spot. Not only was the snake easy to find, but it was also quite easy to catch the snake for closer study.

The Florida banded watersnake is a common, non-venomous watersnake found throughout much of peninsular Florida. Of the three “big” Nerodia species commonly found throughout Florida, the Florida banded watersnake is seemingly the most malleable when it comes to habitat preference. If there’s fresh or brackish water, you have a decent chance of finding a Florida banded watersnake — assuming there’s prey in the water to be found. As for this individual, it was leaning a bit on the thin side, but that’s not terribly surprising or concerning at the tail-end of winter and the dry season. No doubt, as spring thickens into summer, this snake will plumpen up in short order — unless, of course, it gets snagged by a predator. Hopefully it found a better hiding spot after our little encounter…? I sure hope so.

Pine Rocklands at Long Pine Key 

The Atlantic Ridge goes down Florida’s East coast and begins to taper off around Miami. This has formed islands or keys that tend to stay dry while being surrounded by swamp. On these islands there are many species of plants and butterflies that adapted to the unique conditions found there and as result many of those life forms became new species and are now found nowhere else on Earth. Unfortunately these islands usually stay dry during the wet season and where some of the first area developed as Miami began to grow. Today there are a few spots where this ecosystem exists and even those are in danger of development. 

Pinelands of Long Pine Key

Due to development this ecosystem only exist in a few other locations in South Florida.