492 



NATURAL HISTORY 



Palms and pine trees are often a favorite ref- 

 uge for wild turkey and deer. A flock of turkeys 

 took refuge in this particular grove just as we 

 suddenly rounded a sharp curve in the trail. 

 In the Big Cypress there may be prairies so ex- 

 tensive that woody vegetation can be seen merely 

 as a dark line along the distant horizon, or again 

 we may see at one time associations of palms and 

 pines, pure pine woods, solid broad-leaved ham- 

 mocks, cypress heads, and combinations of cypress 

 head and hammock 



Everglades, and although it abuts directly 

 on the western side of them, it has but 

 little in common with them. Instead of 

 I icing a vast prairie-marsh like the Ever- 

 glades, the Big Cypress exhibits a variety 

 of conditions and plant associations. There 

 are pinelands, prairie, sloughs, cypress 

 heads, hardwood hammocks, palmetto ham- 

 mocks, and lakes. 



Early in the afternoon we were prepared 

 to strike into the wilderness. After leaving 

 Fort Myers, roads disappeared and we took 

 to mere trails through the pine woods in a 

 southeasterly direction. As we proceeded, 

 strange plants and strange birds began to 

 appear. White terrestrial orchids (Gymna- 

 dcniopsis nivea) and single-flowered spider 

 lilies (Hymevocallis Jiumilis) dotted the dry 

 prairies, while uliginous creepers with vari- 

 ous colored flowers formed encircling 

 mats about all the shallow ponds. Ponds 

 and pools were the favorite feeding places 

 for the wood ibis, the white ibis, cranes, and 

 herons. The hammocks hid many flocks of 

 wild turkeys in their depths. 



For some distance outside of Fort 

 Myers we traveled through unbroken pine 

 woods. As we went on, the pine trees be- 

 came more scattered and areas of prairie 

 came into view. Farther on, the prairie 

 began to increase and the pines appeared 

 only here and there as isolated colonies. A 

 little farther on cypress trees appeared, and 

 we were really in the Big Cypress. Here, 

 too, the cabbage palm was much in evidence, 

 and in some places it formed hammocks of 

 almost pure growth. As we proceeded, the 

 prairies grew larger and the cypress grew 

 less, until there was open prairie in all di- 

 rections almost as far as the eye could see. 

 Then the hammocks clothing the Okaloa- 

 coochee Slough appeared in the distance as 

 a mere line on the horizon. It is said that 

 the Seminole word "Okaloacoochee" signifies 

 "boggy-slough." Consequently the usually 

 associated word "slough" is really super- 

 fluous. 



As we approached the slough we observed 

 immense flocks of ibis collecting at their 

 rookery for the night. The confused sounds 

 they made as they flew over the tops of the 

 tall trees could be heard for a distance of a 

 mile. The sight of the great flocks of 

 ibis and the racket of their croaks or 

 squawks as they collected in their rookery 

 we shall long remember. 



