Mammals

COMMONBROMELIADS

STIFF-LEAVED WILDPINE

NEEDLE-LEAVED AIR PLANT

SMALL CATOPSIS

REFLEXED WILDPINE

TWISTED AIR PLANT

SOFT-LEAVED WILDPINE

SPANISH MOSS

BANDED WILDPINE

BALL-MOSS

One tree, the strangler fig, starts as an epiphytic seedling on the branches of other trees. Eventually, however, it drops long aerial roots directly to the ground or entwines them about the trunk of the host tree—which in time dies, leaving a large fig tree in its place.

Of allEvergladesplants, the epiphytic orchids are most fascinating to man—a fact which largely explains their decline. Of some 50,000 species around the world (the orchids being one of the largest of plant families), the park has only a few. Fire, loss ofhabitatdue to agriculture and construction, and poaching by both commercial and amateur collectors have brought about the extermination of some and have made others exceedingly rare. Some are rare because of special life requirements. For example, a few must live in association with a certain fungus that coats their roots and provides specific nutrients.

The largest orchid in the park is the cowhorn, some specimens of which weigh as much as 75 pounds. Unfortunately, this orchid has been a popular item for orchid growers and collectors and is becoming rare in Florida. Poachers have practically eliminated it from the park. In the late 1960s Boy Scout friends ofEvergladessalvaged many orchids fromhammocksabout to be bulldozed for the jetport. By laboriously tying them to trees in the park, they assured the survival of the plants.

The night-blooming epidendrum is perhaps the most beautiful of the park’s orchids. It is widespread and fairly common inEverglades, occurring in allecosystems. Flowering throughout the year, it bears its white, spiderlike blossoms, 2 inches across, one at a time. It is especially fragrant at night—hence its name.

SHOWY ORCHIDS OF THEHAMMOCKSAND TREE ISLANDS

BROWN EPIDENDRUM

DOLLAR ORCHID

NIGHT BLOOMING EPIDENDRUM

SPREAD-EAGLE ORCHID

BUTTERFLY ORCHID

FLORIDA ONCIDIUM

MULE-EAR ORCHID

OBLONG-LEAVED VANILLA

GHOST ORCHID

SPIDER ORCHID

CLAMSHELL ORCHID

WORM-VINE ORCHID

COWHORN ORCHID

TRINIDAD MACRADENIA

Epiphytic orchids have the smallest seeds of any flowering plants. Dustlike, they travel far and wide on the air; it is believed that over eons all species of Florida orchids arrived on the wind from South America and the West Indies.

The giant wildpine is a spectacularbromeliadthat grows on the sturdy limbs of buttonwoods, spreading to 48 inches and developing a flower stalk 6 feet long.

Of the approximately 20 species of epiphytic ferns in the park, the most common is the curious resurrection fern. Sometimes called the poor man’s barometer, it has leaves that in dry weather curl under and turn brown but with the coming of rain quickly unfold and turn bright green, making instant gardens of the logs, limbs, and branches on which they grow.

Watch for the air plants (as well as the trees and other wildflowers) that have been labeled along the trails and boardwalks. You will be able to examine some of them closely—but leave them unharmed for future visitors!

In the drownedhabitatsofEvergladesit is not surprising to find water-bound mammals such as the porpoise; or fish-eating amphibious mammals such as the otter; or even land mammals, such as the raccoon, that characteristically feed upon aquatic life. But to see mammals that one ordinarily does not associate with water behaving as though they were born to it is another matter. The white-tailed deer is an example. It is so much a part of this wateryenvironmentthat you will most likely observe it far out in the glades, feeding upon aquatic plants or bounding over themarsh. Very probably the deer you see was born on one of the tree islands, and has never been out of sight of the sawgrass river.

Many other mammals ofEvergladesare adapted to a semi-aquatic existence. The park’s only representative of the hare-and-rabbit clan is themarshrabbit; smaller than its close relative, the familiar cottontail of fields and woodlands, it is as comfortable in this wet world as if it had webbed feet. So don’t be startled if you see a rabbit swimming here! The park’s rodents include the marsh rice rat and round-tailed muskrat, also at home in a wateryenvironment.

The playful otter, though it may travel long distances overland, is a famous water-lover. Lucky is the visitor who sees a family of these large relatives of the weasel! The otter’s smaller cousin, theevergladesmink, is also a denizen of themarshand apredatorin the food web; but you are not likely to see this wary animal.

Raccoons and opossums, adaptable creatures that they are, live in all the park’s environments—except in the air and under water. Their diets are as wide-ranging as theirhabitat. The raccoon, though it has a taste for aquatic animals such as fish, frogs, and crayfish, also consumes small land vertebrates and various plant foods. The opossum eats virtually anything in the animal kingdom that it can find and subdue, as well as a wide variety of plant materials.

[1]In pinelands.[2]Estuaries.

[1]In pinelands.

[2]Estuaries.

South Florida is the last known refuge in the world for a sub-species of cougar known as the Florida panther. This large, beautiful cat is on theendangeredspecies list. Today many groups and individuals are working to keep thispredatora part of theenvironment. Their efforts have resulted in methods to assist panther recovery: lower speed limits and highway culverts and bridges, to mention only two. With continued assistance, the panther may remain a part of theEvergladesfor years to come.

Because it is much more numerous and much less secretive in its habits, the bobcat is more likely to be encountered by park visitors than is the cougar. Keep your eyes alert for this wild feline—particularly in the Flamingo area—and you may have a chance to observe it closely and at some length (even by daylight!). Such boldness and such unconcern for humans are not typical of this species, but seem to be peculiarities of the bobcats living in the park. Although bobcats are not known as water lovers, they are found in all theEvergladesenvironments. Their apparent liking for life in the park may be due to an abundance of food and to freedom from persecution by man and his dogs. Bobcats in Everglades, if their food habits elsewhere are any guide, probably live on rodents,marshrabbits, and birds, with possibly an occasional fawn.

In Florida Bay and theestuaries, look for the porpoise, or bottlenosed dolphin, a small member of the whale order that has endeared itself to Americans through its antics at marine aquariums and on television. Watch for it when you are on a boat trip in the park’s marineenvironment.

Much less commonly seen, and much less familiar, is the timid and very rare manatee. It’s probably the “most” animal of the park—the largest (sometimes over 15 feet long and weighing nearly 1 ton), the shyest, the strangest, and the homeliest; and it is probably also the most delicate, for a drop in water temperatures may kill it. TheestuariesofEvergladesNational Park are almost the northern limits of its normal range. But manatees are often found well north of the park on both coasts in cold weather, when they swim up rivers to seek the constant-temperature water discharged by electric power plants. Despite its size, the manatee is a harmless creature, being a grazer—a sort of underwater cow that is exceptionally vulnerable to motorboats because of its gentle nature and languid movement.

MANATEE

LONG-LEGGED WADING BIRDS OF THE GLADES, FRESH-WATERSWAMPS,MANGROVESWAMPS, AND FLORIDA BAY.

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON

LOUISIANA HERONGREEN HERONYELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON

From the pelican—whose mouth can hold more than its belly can—to the tiny hummingbird, the birds ofEvergladesNational Park add beauty, amusement, excitement, and drama to the daily scene. Much more conspicuous than the park’s other animals, they can be enjoyed with no special effort. But a pair of binoculars and a field guide will make bird watching a more rewarding pastime for you.

Many of the park’s birds are large and colorful, and so tolerant of man’s presence that you can observe them closely without the aid of binoculars. The Anhinga Trail and other sites on or near the main park road provide ready access to activity by herons and egrets, cormorants, gallinules, and other species that feed upon the fish, frogs, and lesser life of the waters.

The anhinga, after whom the park’s most popular trail is named, is a favorite with visitors. It is also called water-turkey, probably because of its large size and long, white-tipped tail feathers. A third name, snake bird, derives from the anhinga’s habit of swimming almost totally submerged with its long, snaky neck above the surface. The anhinga is a skilled fisherman, seeking out its quarry by swimming underwater. It spears a fish with its beak, surfaces, tosses the fish into the air, catches it, and gulps it down head first. During this activity, the anhinga has gotten soaked to the skin, for, unlike ducks and many other water birds, it is not well supplied with oil to keep its plumage dry. So, following a plunge, the anhinga struggles to the branch of a shrub or tree, and, spreading its wings, hangs its feathers out to dry.

The snail kite, one of America’s rarest birds, flies low over the fresh-watermarshes, its head pointed downward, searching for its sole food—the Pomacea snail. A sharply hooked beak enables it to remove the snail from its shell. More striking in appearance is its cousin, the swallow-tailed kite, aerial acrobat of the hawk family—a migrant that nests in the park in spring and spends the winter in South America. On long, pointed wings this handsome bird eats in the air while holding itself in one place on the wind. In themangroves, it hunts in an unusual way: skimming over the trees, it snatches lizards and other small animals from the topmost branches. Red-shouldered hawks, often seen perching on the treetops beside the park road, feed upon snakes and other small animals. The fish-eating osprey is another conspicuous resident of the park, and its bulky nests will be seen when you take a boat trip into Florida Bay or the mangrove wilderness. The bald eagle, which, sadly, is no longer common in North America and may soon be exterminated because of pesticide pollution of its fishing waters, is still holding out in theEvergladesregion, where 50 or so breeding pairs seem to be reproducing successfully.

LITTLE BLUE HERON

GREAT BLUE HERON

REDDISH EGRETWHITE PHASE

WOOD STORKGLOSSY IBISWHITE IBIS

AMERICAN (COMMON) EGRETSNOWY EGRET

LIMPKINAMERICAN BITTERNROSEATE SPOONBILL

The long-legged wading birds of the heron family are so numerous and so much alike in appearance that you will need your bird guide for sure identification. The waders are interesting to watch, because of the variety of feeding methods. Particularly amusing are the antics of the reddish egret as it hunts small animals in the shallows of Florida Bay at low tide. It is much unlike other herons in its manner of hunting: it lurches through the shallows, dashing to left and right as if drunk, in pursuit of its prey. This clownish survivor of the old plume-hunting days exists in Florida in very limited numbers.

Since about 300 species of birds have been recorded in the park, this sampling barely suggests the pleasures awaiting you if you plan to spend some time playing theEvergladesbird-watching game.

Everglades’ most famous citizen—the alligator—is looked for by all visitors to the park, who may, however, be unaware that many other kinds of reptiles and a dozen species of amphibians dwell here.

The American crocodile, less common than the alligator and restricted to the Florida Bay region, is a shy and secretive animal seen by few visitors. Similar in size and appearance to the alligator, it is distinguished by a narrower snout and a lighter color. Itshabitatoverlaps that of the alligator, which prefers fresh orbrackish water.

The turtles of the park include terrestrial, fresh-water, and marine species. Box turtles are often seen along the roads. The softshell and snapping turtles live in the fresh-water areas and are often eaten by alligators. Loggerhead turtles nest on Cape Sable beaches, otherwise they rarely come ashore. Their eggs are often discovered and devoured by the abundant raccoons. But man has been largely responsible for the loggerhead’s increasing rarity.

Although the park has about two dozen species of snakes, you may not encounter any of them. Most are harmless—several species of snakes frequent the waterways, and it is a mistake to assume that any water snake you see is a moccasin. Two worth watching for are theevergladesrat snake and the indigo snake, both handsome and entirely harmless to man. The former is a constrictor, feeding mostly on rodents. The indigo is one of our longest snakes—sometimes reaching more than 100 inches—and now in danger of extinction.

Ordinary caution and alertness when walking on trails is advisable; but keep in mind that the snakes are not aggressive, and that as part of the web of life in the park they are given protection just as are birds and mammals.

Of those close relatives of snakes, the lizards, theFlorida anole is most commonly seen. This is the little reptile sold at circuses as a “chameleon”; it is quite unlike the true chameleon of the Old World. The so-called “glass snake”—which got its name from its defensive maneuver of dropping off its tail (which is longer than the rest of its body) and from its snakelike appearance—is actually a legless lizard. The lizards, like the smaller snakes, are primarily insectivorous.

The park’s amphibians, too, are quite inconspicuous. The voices of frogs and toads during the breeding season, however, are part of theEvergladesatmosphere. You will enjoy the nocturnal serenade at egg-laying time—and it is quite possible to learn to identify species by their songs, which are as distinctive as those of birds.

The green treefrog, with its bell-like, repeated “queenk-queenk-queenk” call, is abundant, and can be seen and heard easily during the breeding season, particularly at Royal PalmHammockand on the Anhinga Trail.

The cold-blooded vertebrates, including fish, amphibians, and reptiles, play a significant role in the balance of life in the park, feeding upon each other and upon lesser animals and in turn being food for largerpredatorssuch as herons, hawks, raccoons, and otters.

“Fishing Reserved for the Birds,” says the sign at the beginning of the Anhinga Trail. Actually, the catching of fish in the fresh waters of the park is an important activity not only for herons, anhingas, grebes, and ospreys, but also for raccoons, mink, turtles, alligators ... and bigger fish. Not surprisingly in the drownedhabitatsofEverglades, even the smallest fish are important in the web of life.

One tiny species, the gambusia, is of special interest to us. This 2-inch fish is credited with helping keep down the numbers of mosquitoes by feeding upon their aquatic larvae. This accounts for its other name—mosquito fish—and for its popularity with humans. But its services to us are not the measure of the gambusia’s importance, for it is a link in many food chains in the park’s brackish and fresh-waterhabitats. Beginning withalgae, we can trace one such chain through mosquito larvae, sunfish, and bass, to end with the alligator. We can only guess at the extent of theecologicaleffects of the loss of a single species such as the little gambusia.

The larger fish ofEvergladesare the most sought after. Sport fishermen want to know where to find and how to recognize the many varieties of game fish, especially largemouth bass and such famed salt-water and brackish zone species as tarpon, snook,mangrovesnapper, and barracuda. Because of its cycles of flood and drought, and the shifting brackish zones, however, the distribution and the numbers of fish fluctuate greatly in the glades and mangrove regions. At times of drought, the fish concentrations are particularly evident. In mid- or late winter,sloughsthat are no longer deep enough to flow, pools, and other standing bodies of water will have a myriad of gambusia, killifish, and minnows. Larger fish seek the sanctuary of the headwaters of the Harney, Shark, and Broad Rivers. At such times concentrations of bass may be so great that the angler may catch hisdaily limit in a few hours. (There are no legal limits for the herons and ’gators!)

As water levels continue to fall, salt water intrudes farther inland; such species as snook and tarpon move up the now brackish rivers, and may be seen in the same waters as bluegills and largemouth bass.

In some years water levels drop so severely that concentrations of fish are too great for thehabitatto support. As the surface water shrinks, the fish use up the available free oxygen and begin to die. The largest expire first; the smaller fish seem less vulnerable to depleted oxygen supply. Even though many tons of fish may perish in such a die-off, a few small specimens of each variety survive to restock the glades when the rains return.

With no cold season when fish must remain dormant, and with a year-round food supply, bass and sunfish grow rapidly and reach breeding size before the next drought.

These fish kills are associated with drought conditions that occur in the ordinary course of events, and thus are natural phenomena not to be consideredecologicaldisasters. But man’s violent upsetting of the drainage patterns of south Florida, through airport, canal, and highway construction and other developments, can bring about such drastic shortages (or even surpluses) of water that irreparable damage could be done to the ecology ofEvergladesaquaticcommunities.

While fish watching may not be the exciting sport that bird watching is, you are the loser if you ignore this part of the life ofEverglades. Fish are so abundant in the park that no one has to haul them in on a line to discover them. You can hardly miss spotting the larger fresh-water forms if you take the trouble to look down into thesloughs, ponds, and alligator holes.

Identifying the species of fish, however, is more difficult. The voracious-looking Florida spotted garis an exception. This importantpredatoron smaller fishes, which is in turn a major item in the diet of the alligator, is quite easily recognized. Experienced anglers will spot the largemouthed bass and the bluegill sunfish. You’ll see these and others as you walk on the Anhinga Trail boardwalk.

As you watch alligators and other nativeEvergladespredators, you may get an inkling of how important in the web of life are the prolific fish populations of thesloughs,marshes,swamps, and offshore waters of the park.

Insects are the most noticeable of the park’s invertebrates. (At times you may find your can of repellent as important as your shoes!) In all the fresh-water and brackish environments, insects and their larvae are important links in the food chains—at the beginning as primary consumers ofalgaeand other plant material, and farther along aspredators, mostly on other insects. Some insects are parasites on the park’s warmblooded animals (including you).

The invertebrates most sought by visitors are molluscs—or rather, their shells. You may find a few on the beach at Cape Sable, but don’t expect to find the park a productive shelling area. Stick to marine shells—deadones. You cannot collect the fresh-water molluscs. Also protected are the tree snails of junglehammocks. Famed for their beauty, these snails of the genusLiguus, which grow to as much as 2½ inches in diameter, feed upon the lichens growing on certain hammock trees. Look for them—but leave them undisturbed, for they are a part of thecommunity, protected just as are the park’s royal palms and its alligators.

INDIANS IN SOUTH FLORIDA

Your first awareness of the south Florida Indians will probably come during a trip along the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41, the cross-State highway just north of the park). You will notice clusters of Indian homes close to the road. Some are built on stilts, are thatched with palm fronds, and are open-sided so that no walls hamper the flow of cooling breezes. Many of the glades Indians prefer to live as their ancestors did some 150 years ago when they were newcomers to theeverglades. Others have adopted the white man’s dwellings (as well as his occupations).

The Indians of south Florida—Miccosukees, sometimes called “Trail Indians”; and Muskogees, the “Cow Creek Seminoles”—are separate tribes, not sharing a common language. Today no Indians live inside the park boundaries.

The Indians arrived in Spanish Florida after the American Revolution. Many Creeks of Georgia and Alabama, crowded by the aggressive white man, fled south to the peninsula. They first settled in north Florida; when Florida became a State in 1845 they had to retreat farther south. Driven into the interior during the Seminole War of 1835, they eventually settled in theeverglades, where deer, fish, and fruit were available. Though their territory is now much more limited, they still retain much of their independent spirit, and have never signed a peace treaty with the U.S. Government.

Many earn their living operating air boats, as proprietors and employees of roadside businesses, and in a variety of jobs on farms and in cities. The women create distinctive handicraft items, which find a ready market with tourists.

No one is certain when the first Indians—the Calusas and Tequestas—appeared in south Florida; it may have been more than 2,000 years ago. Even morethan today’s glades Indians, these coastal Indians lived with the rhythm of river and tides, rain and drought. Hunting, fishing, and gathering of shellfish were their means of existence. We have learned this much of their life from artifacts unearthed from the many Indian mounds or washed up along the beaches. They lived on huge shell mounds, made pottery, used sharks’ teeth to make saws, and fashioned other tools from conch shells. They even built impoundments for fish—a few remains of these can be seen today. They were ingenious hunters. (Ponce de León and his Spanish explorer-marauders were said to have been turned back from theevergladesby the deadly arrows these Indians fashioned from rushes.)

Following the arrival of the Spanish, these early Indians disappeared from the scene. They were apparently wiped out, destroyed by the white man’s diseases as much as by his aggression; but somemay have escaped to Cuba. Perhaps a handful of them were still in theevergladeswhen the Creeks came down from the north in 1835, and were absorbed into the new tribe. Their known history ends here.

Proud, independent, and ingenious in wresting a living from the land and the water, the Indians knew how to live with nature. Unlike the white man, they fitted into the plant-and-animalcommunities. Today these communities have been severely disrupted. In the few decades that the white man has been “developing” the region, he has broken every chain of life described in this book.

Alligator populations have been much reduced in south Florida; their chief prey, the garfish, has in some places become so numerous as to constitute a nuisance (most of all to the fresh-water anglers, some of whom had a hand in the killing of alligators). The pattern of waterflow over the glades, through the cypressswamps, and into themangrovewilderness has been altered by highways and canals. Much of thehabitathas been wiped out by construction of homes and factories and by farming operations. An increasingly alarming development is the pollution of glades waters by agricultural chemicals.

Only through complete understanding of this fragile, unique subtropical world can man reverse the destructive trend. Only through carefully applied protective and management practices can we make progress toward restoring to theEvergladessome of its lost splendor.

Tropical thicket

ALGAE: (pronounced “AL-jee”) A group of plants (singular: ALGA, pronounced “AL-ga”), one-celled or many-celled, having chlorophyll, without roots, and living in damp places or in water.

BRACKISH WATER: Mixed fresh and salt water. Many species of plants and animals of marine and fresh-waterhabitatsare adapted to life inestuariesand coastalswampsandmarshes, where the water varies greatly in degree of salinity. Some animal species can be found in all three habitats.

BROMELIAD: A plant of the pineapple family. Manybromeliadsare air plants, growing (not parasitically) on the trunks and branches of other plants, or even, as in the case of “Spanish moss,” on telephone wires.

COMMUNITY: The living part of the ecosystem; an assemblage of plants and animals living in a particular area or physicalhabitat. It can be as small as a decaying log, with its variety of mosses, insect larvae, burrowing beetles, ants, etc.; or as large as a forest of hundreds of square miles.

DECIDUOUS TREES: Trees that shed their leaves annually. Mosthardwood treesare deciduous; some conifers, such as larches and baldcypresses, are deciduous.

ECOLOGY: The study of the relationship of living things to one another and to their physicalenvironment.

ENDANGERED: A species of plant or animal that, throughout all or a significant portion of its range, is in danger of extinction.

ENVIRONMENT: All the external conditions, such as soil, water, air, and organisms, surrounding a living thing.

ESTIVATION: A prolonged dormant or sleeplike state that enables an animal to survive the summer in a hot climate. As in hibernation, breathing and heartbeat slow down, and the animal neither eats nor drinks.

ESTUARY: The portion of a river or coastal wetland affected by the rise and fall of the tide, containing a graded mixture of fresh and salt water.

EVERGLADE: A tract of marshy land covered in places with tall grasses. (In this book, “theeverglades” refers to the river of grass; “Everglades” refers to the park, which contains otherhabitatsbesides everglades.)

EXOTIC: A foreign plant or animal that has been introduced, intentionally or unintentionally, into a new area.

FOOD CHAIN: A series of plants and animals linked by their food relationships, beginning with a green plant and ending with apredator.

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